8 mo. ago • 93%

TIL Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" is not a love song

www.bbc.com The story of I Will Always Love You, 50 years on - from Dolly Parton to Whitney and Elvis

Dolly Parton's ballad endures after five decades - from Elvis Presley to Whitney Houston and beyond.

Parton wrote this song when she was about to leave her music mentor Porter Wagoner.

14 comments

It is a love song, just not a romantic love song.

48
- Platonic
  
  7
  
  My man Plato must be the biggest cock blocker in history.
  
  9
I think that’s still a love song, just not an “in love” song. Maybe deeper?

37
Dolly parton wrote this and Jolene on the same day.

25
What a blast from my past. Here I am sitting at home and and while listening to Houston's cover, somebody must have been cutting onions right next to me or something. Thanks for this from a generation X dad

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This is a great read. Those of you who only read the title or skim the first few paragraphs - I recommend you actually read through it all because there's loads of great parts in there like how she turned down an Elvis Presley cover.

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- Just finished reading her book Dolly Parton Storyteller. It goes in detail of where she got the idea for all her songs. And this song and explanation was in the book. It also has songs that have never been released or re-released. Great book I highly recommend.
  
  9
Dolly Parton is in the same league with “y’all”, barbecue, Dale Earnhardt, and OutKast as the the greatest things to come out of the south. And she’s also at the top of that league

10
There is a 5 or something part podcast about Dolly Parton, and in one part her telling the story behind the song.

It is a love song but not about being in love

10
- The podcast is titled Dolly Parton's America. I highly recommend it. The song is platonic love instead of romantic or erotic love. Dolly is truly a national treasure.
  
  3
I'm one of those ignorant people who didn't know she wrote the original. The original is great.

Some choice quotes from the wikipedia page:

Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote her signature song "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You.

When the 1974 recording of the song reached number one on the country charts, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to record the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded.[24] Parton refused.

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You don't think Dolly loved Porter?

You, sir, do not know Dolly.

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the death of the author

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