This Sunday we begin a three-part series entitled “The Gospel According to Dolly.” We will focus on the ways in which her life and songs speak to the suffering, joy, and longing for home that we all experience.
Dolly Parton grew up in the Great Smokies of Tennessee knowing that she could make music. The granddaughter of a preacher, she grew up singing church music and hearing stories from the Bible.
She was the fourth of 12 children and her parents struggled to make ends meet. One year, Dolly’s mother fashioned her a jacket to wear to school out of old corduroy rags of various colors. While she sewed the rags together, her mother told Dolly the Biblical story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. “I know now,” says Dolly, “that she told me the story so I wouldn’t be ashamed of my coat.”
But other children at school sneered at Dolly’s outfit, inflicting on her a hurt that stayed for years. “I kept saying, ‘Mama made me this coat. It’s like the coat of many colors in the Bible.’ They kept saying, ‘That’s just a bunch o’ old rags sewed together.’ “
She wrote a song about the whole incident called The Coat of Many Colors. I first heard this song when I was a child and I’ve never quite been able to separate the song from the story found in Genesis about Joseph and his coat of many colors. Her song reminds me of the enduring power of shame and the even more enduring strength of love and the value of turning even our most traumatic experiences into a story. Or in Dolly’s case, a song.
During our series, we will hear several Dolly Parton songs in worship including Light of a Clear Blue Morning, I Will Always Love You, and Travelin’ Thru.
What’s your favorite Dolly Parton song?
-Written by Rev. Amy Miracle
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Where, oh where do I begin? I love Dolly, especially some of her lest known songs. I love all the Trio albums with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt : three women with beautiful blending voices, in their prime. To answer the question, aside from the iconic ” I Will Always Love You”, which has so many meanings, one song I really like, although I have been publicly humiliated for admitting it, is the ” Hobo’s Meditation”. A thoughtful, simple song with a nice banjo bridge.
I too am a huge fan of the Trio albums. “I Will Always Love You,” and the story behind it will be the focus of the October 30th worship service!
My favorites are My Tennessee Mountain Home, Islands in the Stream and Sacred Memories. I love her stories about growing up, her faith and the music she created from those memories. Arthea Franklin is similar and also brilliant in this regard. Fun that you are shaping sermons from the inspiration of Dolly’s music. She wears her faith on her sleeve in a loving and powerful way that doesn’t seem to threaten anyone. We definitely need much more of that!
My favorite< "I Will Always Love You."