By Tirthankar Mitra
Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote her first song ‘Little Tiny Tussletop’, an ode to her doll with cornsilk hair. She got her first real guitar when she was eight.
She never stopped making music after that. The irrepressible country music singer, song writer and actress, whose lyrics touched the people’s imagination, is no more.
She was 80. She was known for her charisma, heartfelt lyrics and business acumen.
Parton won 11 Grammy awards including Lifetime Achievement Award. Her songs touched all corners of life, including ‘A Coat of Many Colors’, ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’.
She plumbed her childhood in ‘A Coat of Many Colors’ bringing out pride and humiliation. Quilted from rags and a source of delight and an expression of mother’s love became an object of ridicule when her classmates poked fun at her for wearing it to school.
She became one of the best-selling female artists of all times. Her records have sold over a 100 million.
Her mother had stored her first song preciously in a shoe box. She grew up in a one-room cabin, one of 12 children of a tobacco farmer.
She wrote unabashedly in simple Southern vernacular. One of her principal themes was about growing up as the daughter of an illiterate share-cropper.
Her songs on a personal note were trilled in a distinctive soprano. Her difficult childhood gave credibility to her songs.
“I ‘ve seen daddy’s hands break open and bleed / And I’ve seen him work till he was stiff as a board” she sang with wistful harmonica and acoustic guitar in the Good Old Days.
Her mother Avis Lee would sing constantly. She had a haunting voice, Parton said.
Her ability to connect with the people gave her enduring star power. Coming from a self-described “dirt poor family” Dolly Parton stood as a symbol of the working-class American.
She often put her money and fame behind causes she believed in. She had a wholesome personality.
Her towering blond hair-dos, flamboyant costumes and giddy delight in holding centre-stage endeared her to people of all backgrounds. It also helped country music to take its place of honour among international audience.
Wedded to many public causes, in response to COVID-19 pandemic, she donated $ 1 million dollar to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020. She was an early sponsor of vaccine development.
Parton conducted a literary programme for pre-school students in US, Canada, Australia, UK and Ireland. She provided high school scholarships to students in Tennessee where she was born.
A life-size statue was erected by her country. But she declined the offer of another, saying, “Given that all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time.”
Her songs brought out her spirit of not being overcome by odds. Her alternatively keening and gossamer soprano drawl made it acceptable to a wide cross-section of people.
She never lost the ability of being true to her roots. Together with this ability, combined with her drive to work hard and her non-partisanship, fuelled her popularity among the conservatives and liberals in a politically polarised America. (IPA Service)
