Jacob Henley

DOLLY.

I remember my first trip to Nashville. I was 14 or 15, green as the grass, knowing almost nothing about songwriting and probably less about life.

I was talking to a songwriter at a restaurant. He was bartending, as Nashville songwriters often are, and started listing the writers he wished he could write like.

One was Dolly Parton.

Foolishly … and arrogantly … I laughed.

“Really? Dolly Parton?”

He looked at me and said:

“Kid, if you don’t know, you’ll find out.”

And Jesus did I ever…

Like a lot of people, I knew the persona before I knew the writer. The hair. The outfits. The b***s. The smile.

As a teenage boy, I was almost embarrassed by how much her songs affected me. I thought maybe Dolly wasn’t “cool” enough, or was somehow too feminine for a young AC/DC loving kid to admit I loved.

I regret ever thinking that.

The older I got, the more I realized Dolly Parton deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest songwriters this world has ever produced.

She was also fiercely independent. In an industry dominated by powerful men, she remained unapologetically herself and protected her songs like they were her children. When Elvis wanted to record “I Will Always Love You” and his camp wanted a huge piece of the publishing, Dolly walked away.

Imagine saying no to Elvis.

For years I said Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” was the greatest heartbreak song ever written.

Then I heard Dolly sing “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.”

It floored me.

She sang heartbreak with vulnerability, humour, melancholy and power … the kind of writing that sounds effortless until you try to write something that honest yourself.

So, to that bartender in Nashville who put an ill-informed 14-year-old kid in his place:

I found out.

Thank you for calling me on my ignorance.

There was only one Dolly Parton.

One of the very best to ever do it.

RIP