Dolly Parton Songs: The Stories Behind Her Greatest Hits

Jolene (1973)

Written in Nashville · Same Day as I Will Always Love You

One of the most remarkable facts about Dolly Parton’s songwriting: Jolene and I Will Always Love You were written on the same day in 1973. Two of the most covered songs in the history of popular music — one a plea to a red-haired woman not to take her man, one a bittersweet farewell — written back to back in a single session.

Dolly said the name Jolene came from a red-haired bank teller she believed was flirting with her husband Carl Dean. Whether the story is entirely true doesn’t matter — the song captured something so universal that it has been recorded by more artists than almost any other song in country music history.

I Will Always Love You (1973)

Written in Nashville · A Farewell to Porter Wagoner

I Will Always Love You was written as a goodbye letter to Porter Wagoner — the country music star who gave Dolly her first major break and then struggled to let her go when she decided to pursue a solo career. The song was her way of saying thank you and goodbye at the same time.

Dolly recorded it herself in 1973 and it became a number one hit. When Whitney Houston recorded it for The Bodyguard in 1992, it became one of the best-selling singles in history. Dolly earned millions in songwriting royalties. She has said it is the song she is most proud of writing — not for the melody, but for what it meant to say something that true in that moment.

Coat of Many Colors (1971)

Written on a Tour Bus · Rooted in East Tennessee

Coat of Many Colors is the most autobiographical song Dolly ever wrote — the true story of her mother sewing her a coat from rags and scraps when she was a child in East Tennessee, and the other children at school making fun of it. Dolly’s mother read her the story of Joseph’s coat of many colors from the Bible as she sewed, and Dolly understood the coat as something precious rather than something to be ashamed of.

She wrote the song on a tour bus on a dry cleaning bag — the only paper she had. It became her favorite of all her songs and the one she said best represented who she was and where she came from.

9 to 5 (1980)

Written on Set · Jane Fonda’s Film

9 to 5 was written during the filming of the movie of the same name — Dolly’s acting debut alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She wrote it on set, tapping her acrylic nails together to create the rhythm of a typewriter. The percussion you hear at the beginning of the song is Dolly’s nails.

The song became one of the best-selling singles of 1980 and one of the most recognizable opening riffs in pop music history. Tennessee has announced plans to designate September 25 as “9 to 5 Day” in her honor.

My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)

A Letter Home · East Tennessee Roots

My Tennessee Mountain Home is Dolly’s love letter to East Tennessee — a detailed, specific portrait of the landscape and the home she grew up in. She described the song as a photograph in music: the smell of the wood smoke, the look of the mountains, the sound of the creek. It is one of the most specific pieces of place-writing in country music.

Dollywood in Pigeon Forge features a replica of the Tennessee Mountain Home cabin — a physical tribute to the place the song describes. The song and the park both reflect Dolly’s deep, lifelong connection to the land she came from.

I Will Always Love You — The Porter Wagoner Version (1974)

An Ending and a Beginning

When Dolly performed I Will Always Love You for Porter Wagoner to tell him she was leaving his show, he cried. He later said it was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever done for him. He released his own version of the song in 1974, a year after Dolly’s original. The two versions existing side by side — her farewell and his response — is one of the great untold love stories in country music. Not romantic love, but the deep love of two people who made something extraordinary together.