Some of the best country songs of all time have had some unusual or surprising influences. The following three tunes were written about people or places that remain a hidden mystery today or have only been revealed in recent years. A couple of these might just surprise you!
“Coat Of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton (1971)
This song is very clearly about growing up in incredible poverty. That was Dolly Parton’s childhood in a nutshell, as she grew up in Tennessee among many siblings in a small cabin. However, “Coat Of Many Colors” isn’t just about a patchwork coat her mother made for her, despite their lack of resources. In essence, the song is influenced by how the notion of poor and rich is, more or less, a fabrication. The young Parton was thrilled about her colorful coat, despite it being made of rags. “One is only poor, only if they choose to be,” really nails that influence home.
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“Jolene” by Dolly Parton (1973)
Well, Dolly makes it to this list again. The story behind this song isn’t exactly hidden, but the identity of the woman who inspired it remains a mystery. The story goes, according to Dolly Parton herself, that she wrote the famous country tune “Jolene” about a woman who worked as a bank teller and quite shamelessly flirted with Parton’s longtime husband, Carl, who flirted back. Her name, of course, wasn’t actually Jolene. Parton took that title from the name of a young fan.
“He was a little embarrassed when I wrote the song ‘Jolene’ because, actually, it wasn’t as serious [as it seems],” said Parton on the BBC’s The One Show back in 2023. “I was just jealous ’cause she was a beautiful woman and he was just flirting.”
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver (1971)
This folky country classic remains John Denver’s most famous song. It’s a gorgeous ode to the great North American South, particularly West Virginia, which gets namedropped throughout the tune. You’d think this song was written about West Virginia by people who lived in and adored the state.
However, that’s not the case. Songwriters John Denver, Taffy Nivert, and Bill Danoff weren’tfrom West Virginia at all. Danoff grew up in western New England, Nivert was born in Washington, D.C., and Denver was famously not from West Virginia or Colorado at all. He was born in Roswell, New Mexico. The real influence and inspiration behind this song came from the feeling of small town nostalgia, not West Virginia specifically.
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