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Dolly Parton famously claimed it cost "a lot of money to look this cheap," but the woman is truly one of our classiest superstars. From her brilliant songwriting to her steadfast support of LGBT causes, Dolly is cool, funny, and wonderfully talented. Her righteous essence literally fuels a theme park. How's that for legendary?
This Saturday Dolly turns 67, and thus I'd thought we play my favorite parlor game: Choose this lady's greatest single moment! Before I pick my #1, here's a fast list of the close runners-up.
5. Steel Magnolias: Look. All I want is for Dolly to run a salon and feed Julia Roberts emergency orange juice all day.
4. "9 to 5": The clackety-clack of that typewriter and the line "Pour myself a couple of ambition" are Biblically beautiful.
3. "Here You Come Again": A heartbreaker. And if I do say so myself, Carly Smithson killed this on the seventh season of American Idol.
2. "Jolene": Oh, Dolly. Please don't slay me just because you can.
And my personal #1, sent to you from the deep catacombs of 2005 is:
1. "Travelin' Thru" from Transamerica
I didn't expect Dolly Parton to move me with a gentle-rocking soundtrack jam in 2005, but when Transamerica gifted us with her original tune "Travelin' Thru," I had to clap along and weep. This song is everything that is great about Dolly: sincerity, a genuinely uplifting sympathy, unpretentiousness, and poetic simplicty. For some reason it lost the Best Original Song Oscar to -- ugh -- "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," but I'll always cherish this tune as the moment when Dolly proved her wisdom was as cool, polished, and hummable as it's always been. And also: inspiring. This is an inspiring song, and everyone should know it.
What's your Dolly moment of choice? Put on your rhinestone bustier and argue with me!
