When the inspiration for a song hits, it hits. So, the songwriter needs to grab the closest writing utensil and semblance of paper they can find before it fades. Many musicians have taken to pieces of cardboard, cocktail napkins, and many other lyrical vessels to write their thoughts. Though, ironically, for “Coat of Many Colors” Dolly Parton wrote it on a dry cleaning tag.
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Like most stories of this nature, the folklore and context surrounding the song just bolster the intended meaning. However, in Parton’s ironic case, it seems that higher forces had a hand as in when the lyrics would come and the means she would use to document them. It truly is one of the cases in which fact is stranger than fiction.
Dolly Parton’s Traumatic Memory
Parton toiled with “Coat of Many Colors” for years given its traumatic context. Telling the Library of Congress, “The memory would come to the surface every now and again” and “then I would push it back down and then it would come around the bend once again.” Parton’s comment is referencing the bullying she experienced as a child for wearing the “Coat of Many Colors” made by her mother.
Given the traumatic sentiment the song’s memory entails, Parton seemingly avoided the feelings that ensued at all costs. She bobbed and weaved, and ducked and dived, to escape this traumatic feeling. However, when feelings need to be felt, they are felt. Parton, now armed with resilience, buckled down and wrote the song piece by piece for quite some time. “Each time I would be dialed into the memory” and “a line or the melody would come together,” said Parton
Parton’s Final Moment With The Memory
Dolly Parton finally put the memory and the song to rest in the best way she could while on tour with Porter Wagoner. “One day I was on the bus and the moment came where all of the lines to the song started to flow” and “I didn’t have anything to write down the words,” says Parton. “So I looked up and there was a dry cleaner tag on one of Porter’s outfits so I just ripped it off and started to put pen to paper.”
Thank goodness for Wagoner’s dry-cleaning, or else Parton might have never finished her infamous ballad. Moments like these show the mystical magic of songwriting. Furthermore, it proves that it’s far more than just throwing lines at a page and hoping that something sticks. Not only is Dolly Parton’s moment a cathartic one, but it’s also a testament to the vulnerability embedded in the nuanced craft.
Photo by John Seakwood/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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