After writing more than 3,000 songs throughout a career spanning 49 albums, Dolly Parton has always been proud of her contributions. “I’ve got at least 3,000 songs and three good ones,” joked Parton during an interview with CBS in 2023.
Parton later elaborated on the three that stood out to her most, including her 1971 hit “Coat of Many Colors,” and her dual classics from ’73, “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” as some of her personal favorites.
“Well, I’m proud of all of them,” said Parton in a 2024 interview. “I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil ‘Coat of Many Colors’ because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance, and all that.”
She added, “Of course, the one that’s most recorded is ‘Jolene.’ That seems to be the favorite. Do you know that song has been recorded, somebody told me, 450 times in the last 52 years? I’m so proud of it. And ‘I Will Always Love You’ is one. … I’m very proud of that too.”
Along with the favorite songs that she’s written, Parton also connected to one particular ballad she first heard in the late ’70s.
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“Sometimes When We Touch”
By 1976, Canadian singer and songwriter Dan Hill had already released two albums, a self-titled debut in 1975 and Hold On from ’76, but still couldn’t break into the U.S. By 1977, Hill released his third album, Longer Fuse, which went to No. 2 in Canada, with an opening track that shot straight up the charts in America.
Hill originally started writing “Sometimes When We Touch” years earlier when he was 19 and trying to persuade a woman who was seeing other people to date him exclusively. She eventually left Hill heartbroken and with a hit song about unrequited love.
You ask me if I love you
And I choke on my reply
I’d rather hurt you, honestly
Than mislead you with a lie
And who am I to judge you
On what you say or do?
I’m only just beginning
To see the real you
And sometimes when we touch
The honesty’s too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you ’til I die
‘Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you
‘Til the fear in me subsides
Romance and all its strategy
Leaves me battling with my pride
But through the insecurity
Some tenderness survives
I’m just another writer
Still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prize fighter
Still trapped within my youth
Dolly’s Favorite
The ballad was one Parton instantly connected to and called one other all-time favorite song. “I always loved the song ‘Sometimes When We Touch,’” said Parton. “It’s an older song, but I just always loved it.”
To date, Hill’s classic love song has been covered nearly 150 times by everyone from Tina Turner, Tammy Wynette, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Darlene Love, and Bonnie Tyler, among many others.
Photo: John Seakwood/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Image
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