25 Definitive Dolly Parton Songs That'll Put You in a Better Mood (2024)

Based on Parton's own hardscrabble upbringing, "Coat of ManyColors" is a song that has resonated deeply with listeners, and she's even described it asthe most personal one she's ever written.

"To me, it's more than a song. It's an attitude. It's a philosophy. It speaks about family," she said."It's anti-bullying. It just covers so many things."

The song, which was the title track of Parton's 1971 album, told the story of a patchwork jacket that her mom made. It drew parallels with the biblical Joseph's coat of many colors, and went on to be a huge critical and commercial success.

A showtune, Dolly style, "9 to 5"is a celebration of the working class that doesn't simply gloss over the hard parts of the day-to-day grind.It's a bit more richly produced than her early work, with chugging drums, blasts of horn and piano, and spirited backup vocals, proving that Parton's music can scale up from its stripped-down singer-songwriter origins.

"9 to 5"earned Parton an Oscar nomination and a pair of Grammy Award wins (including B, and it even has a spot onBillboard's All-Time Hot 100. Few songs capture the tribulations and the small victories of working life as well as this 1980 smash.

Appearing onThe PorterWagoner Showhelped a young Parton find a crossover audience,and the pair went on to collaborate many times over the years. The duo released 13 studio albums between the late '60s and early '80s, none more compelling than their debut,Just Between You and Me.

The gender politics of 1968's "Two Sides to Every Story" do come across a bit dated, but the song's back-and-forth verse style and portrayal of a relationship fraying is undeniably compelling.

One of Parton's greatest songwriting featswas 1973's "I WillAlwaysLove You,"a touching tribute toPorterWagoner after she made the decision to leave his show. The heartfelt track topped the Hot Country Songs chart, but became a record-breaking international sensation in 1992 when it was covered by WhitneyHouston for the soundtrack ofThe Bodyguard.

But what might be even more stunning about "I Will Always LoveYou" is thatParton may have written it the same day she penned one of her other defining hits.

"It’s possible that ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ were written on the same day. When we were going through all my old tapes, we found that they were on the same cassette tape, back-to-back," she toldParade.

1983's "Islands in the Stream" has an interesting origin.It was written by disco sensation the BeeGees(of "StayingAlive" fame) and originally intended to be sung by Marvin Gaye.

Eventually they rearranged it and the song made its way to Kenny Rogers, who initially wasn't a fan until they made the decision to change it into a duet withParton, who happened to be recording in the same studio. "Islands in theStream"went on to top the Hot 100 and earn platinum certification.

Nearly 30 albums into her career, Dolly Parton could still power infectious hits, as she proved with"Why'd You Come in Here Lookin'Like That," another chart-topper featuring an engaging lead vocal performance and irresistible fiddle and banjo licks.

The song also features one of Parton's funniest music videos, a reality show-style audition series that allows Dolly to show off her comedic acting chops.

Born in the small town ofPittman Center, Tennessee, Parton experienced the intense longing for the comforts of home that many musicians do when they find themselves overwhelmed in big cities.She turned that feeling into "TennesseeHomesick Blues,"a song about missing grits and gravy, Sunday church, and her childhood bed.

"The greenest state in the land of the free /And the home of the Grand Ole Opry /Is calling me back to my smoky mountain home,"she sings wistfully.

The nostalgic country waltz of "Rockin' Years" didn't come out until 1991, but it plays like a pitch perfect throwback to Parton's early days singing duets with Porter Wagoner. This time paired with fellow country veteran Ricky Van Shelton, the duo sing about pledging love and loyalty, using clever wordplay with "rock."

"Rocking chairs, rocking babies, rock-a-bye, rock of ages /Side by side we'll be together always," Van Shelton andParton harmonize.

As a young, pretty woman in the music industry, Dolly Parton has had to battle not only negative stereotypes about herself but the misogyny inherent in the then male-dominated entertainment world. Always unflappable, Parton expressed her irritation with a laugh and a knowing eye roll on songs like "Dumb Blonde."

"I know people make fun of me. All these years, people think the joke has been on me but it’s actually been on the public. I know exactly what I’m doing," Parton told BarbaraWalters in 1977."I make more jokes about myself than anybody."

On "Old Flames (Can'tHold aCandle to You)," Dolly sings a lovelorn ballad about the one that got away, and how that feeling of absence has animated many bleary-eyed evening strolls downtown.

The song has endured culturally thanks to a surprising connection to pop singerKesha, who covered it, with an assist from Parton, in 2017. The original was co-written by Kesha's mother,Pebe Sebert, and the two turning it into a duet is a true Hollywood (or, should we say, Nashville) ending.

Given that they're two of the most important country music figures of the last 50-plus years, a Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson collaboration comes with pretty high expectations. They've only done a couple, but "Everything is Beautiful(In ItsOwnWay)" is a winner, a spiritual sequel to Louis Armstrong's "What aWonderful World."

"When I look out over a green field of clover /Or watch the sunset at the end of the day /I get kind of moody when I see such beauty /And everything's beautiful in its own way," Nelson and Parton remark.