Country star Dolly Parton knows how to write a hit. She was born into poverty with her East Tennessee family, but went on to do more with an acoustic guitar and a sweet warbling voice than just about anyone.
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While many songwriters today take advantage of co-writers, Parton hasn’t gone that road too many times in her career. Indeed, most of her biggest songs were penned solo. To wit, we wanted to bring together several of those hits—if for no other reason than to bask in Parton’s considerable talent. Here are four legendary songs you likely didn’t know Dolly Parton wrote solo.
[RELATED: 6 Times Dolly Parton Absolutely Slayed on Stage]
1. “9 to 5”
Nope, this classic wasn’t co-written with Parton’s co-stars, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, in the 1980 hit movie of the same name. Parton wrote it on her own, about the perils of the working life and busting your hump for a boss who doesn’t treat you with respect. You probably know how the tune goes, but these lyrics are spot-on and relatable enough to take a gander at again:
Tumble out of bed
And stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life
Jump in the shower
And the blood starts pumpin’
Out on the streets, the traffic starts jumpin’
For folks like me on the job from 9 to 5
2. “I Will Always Love You”
This 1974 song was written for Parton’s former mentor and music and television collaborator, Porter Wagoner. And since it was made globally famous decades later by Whitney Houston, some might think Wagoner (or even Houston!) might have had a hand in helping perfect this classic composition. But Parton penned it on her own, consumed with the thought of how difficult it would be to break away from Wagoner and strike out on her own. It’s a tear-jerker…or at least a lump in the throat-giver:
If I should stay
Well I would only be in your way
And so I’ll go, and yet I know
I’ll think of you each step of the way
And I will always love you
I will always love you
Bittersweet memories
That’s all I’m taking with me
Goodbye, please don’t cry
‘Cause we both know that I’m not
What you need
3. “Jolene”
This one was not written about anyone named Jolene—well, not directly. Instead, it was written about a woman who, Parton says, was trying to flirt with her husband Carl Dean at the local bank. Parton saw the red-headed teller getting too close to her man and used how it made her feel (although she wasn’t really sweating it—who’s gonna steal Dolly Parton’s man?) to pen perhaps her most popular song. The 1973 track has since been covered by artists ranging from The White Stripes to Lil Nas X:
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m begging of you, please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him just because you can
Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you
Jolene
4. “Coat of Many Colors”
Written by Parton as a grateful ode to her family and especially her mother, she’s said this 1971 hit is her favorite song she’s ever written. The track was inspired by a real coat from childhood her mother patched together from the only bits of rags she had. It’s a powerful tribute to making something beautiful out of very little else but love and ingenuity:
Back through the years
I go wonderin’ once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
But every piece was small
And I didn’t have a coat
And it was way down in the fall
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin’ every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Image
