Dolly Parton's America: Sad Ass Songs
This RadioLab episode from the "Dolly Parton's America" series explores Dolly Parton's early songwriting, which focused on dark themes about women's suffering, and traces how her music evolved from sad ballads to empowering messages. Through interviews with Dolly, writers, and listeners like Grandma Betty from Kansas, the episode examines Dolly's role as an unexpected feminist icon who challenged conventions by embracing femininity while building business power.
Summary
The episode begins with a tribute to Dolly Parton's profound cultural impact, featuring a personal story from new RadioLab producer Jo Strogas about receiving an autographed letter from Dolly at age 12, which shaped her sense of self. Host Jad Abumrad explains how he grew up in Tennessee surrounded by Dolly's presence but didn't fully appreciate her until witnessing the 2016 stadium show in Queens, where he observed an extraordinarily diverse and harmonious audience. This observation, combined with Dolly's high global Q-score ratings, sparked the series concept.
The episode's main focus examines Dolly's early songwriting from 1967-1970, which Abumrad calls her "sad-ass songs" period. These songs dealt with dark themes: suicide, infanticide, women being committed to asylums by cheating husbands, and illegitimate pregnancies. Songs like "Daddy Come and Get Me" were based on real family experiences, including an aunt committed to an asylum. "Down From Dover" tells of a pregnant teenager whose stillborn baby dies, and she feels relieved the child won't face shame. Record labels initially refused to release these songs due to their controversial content about pregnancy and abortion, predating Roe v. Wade by five years.
Abumrad traces the historical roots of these dark narratives to Appalachian murder ballads Dolly heard as a child, including "The Knoxville Girl," which originated from a 1685 English ballad called "The Bloody Miller" documenting a real murder. Music writer Paul Slade explains how these ballads were sold at public hangings as contemporary journalism. The critical insight is that Dolly transformed these male-perspective murder narratives into songs that centered women's experiences and suffering.
The episode then documents an evolution in Dolly's songwriting tracked by author Helen Morales: from victims accepting abuse ("the only way out is to walk over me"), to women calling out male behavior ("Your attitude stinks and I hate it"), to empowering self-help songs like "Changing" where men become irrelevant and women focus on personal agency. Morales describes Dolly's music as "a toolkit for living," with songs like "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" providing comfort during personal crises.
A significant portion examines Dolly's relationship to feminism. When asked directly, Dolly rejects the label, stating "I think of myself as a woman in business. I love men." However, writer Sarah Smarsh proposes Dolly as an "OG third wave feminist" who pioneered the idea that feminism can include hyperfemininity, big hair, rhinestones, and sexuality—rejecting second-wave feminism's expectation that women downplay femininity to gain power. Dolly essentially said, "You have a problem with my breasts? Here they are. Now deal with it while I employ you."
The episode's emotional core features Grandma Betty from Kansas, born the same month as Dolly in 1945. Betty's life parallels Dolly's early sad songs: poverty, domestic violence (seven marriages, one husband shot her), and community mockery. Betty's reaction to "Coat of Many Colors"—about shame over wearing a patched coat—moved her to tears because it articulated her own experience. Significantly, Betty later burned her bras after her seventh husband died, representing authentic feminist action without claiming the label. This demonstrates that Dolly's music provided language and validation for women living feminist principles without theoretical frameworks.
The episode concludes by reframing Dolly not as a theoretical feminist but as someone who "lives it" and "works it," suggesting that Dolly's power lies in embodying feminist practice through her life choices and music rather than adopting the label itself.
About this episode
We will always love you, Dolly.
Key Insights
- Dolly's early songwriting from 1967-1970 focused on extremely dark themes including suicide, infanticide, women being institutionalized by husbands, and illegitimate pregnancies, challenging the perception of her as purely entertainment.
- Record labels refused to release several of Dolly's early songs not because people died in them, but specifically because they depicted pregnancy outside marriage, demonstrating how censorship targeted female sexuality and reproductive themes.
- The Knoxville Girl, an Appalachian murder ballad Dolly learned as a child, originated from a 1685 English ballad documenting a real murder, suggesting these songs served as contemporary journalism sold at public executions.
- Dolly transformed traditional murder ballads that were sung from the perpetrator's perspective into songs that centered on the victim's experience and suffering, giving voice to women whose stories were previously told by men.
- Helen Morales argues Dolly's songwriting shows a clear progression mirroring the evolution of women in America: from songs depicting women accepting abuse, to songs calling out male infidelity, to empowering songs where men become irrelevant.
- Dolly deliberately rejects the label 'feminist,' stating she thinks of herself as 'a woman in business' who loves men, despite embodying feminist principles through her business practices and songwriting.
- Sarah Smarsh proposes Dolly as a pioneer of third-wave feminism because she rejected second-wave expectations that women downplay femininity to gain power, instead maintaining hyperfemininity while building business dominance.
- When asked about feminism, Dolly's visceral recoil to the term suggested she absorbed cultural backlash against feminism, similar to how Sarah Smarsh felt hesitant about the term growing up in rural Kansas in the 1990s.
- Grandma Betty from Kansas, born the same month as Dolly, lived experiences that directly paralleled Dolly's sad songs—poverty, domestic violence, and community shame—and found validation hearing her own life reflected in Dolly's music.
- Grandma Betty burned her bras after her seventh husband died, representing authentic feminist action and rebellion, yet she would not claim the feminist label herself, demonstrating the gap between feminist practice and theoretical identification.
- Dolly's concerts attract extraordinarily diverse audiences—cowboys, drag performers, church ladies, lesbians, multiracial families—who coexist harmoniously, suggesting her music creates an alternate vision of America during divided political moments.
- Dolly's response when reframed as someone who 'lives' feminism rather than claims the label was affirmative ('That's me'), suggesting she recognizes her power lies in embodying feminist principles through action rather than ideological positioning.
Topics
Transcript
Clear your calendar for September 2nd and 3rd. Odoo Experience is coming to Pier 27 in San Francisco as the country's leading tech and business event. Join innovators, partners, and business leaders from across the country to share ideas, explore real business solutions, and help shape what's next in technology. Hear from thought leaders like Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, and Jacob Goldstein. Register for free at odoo.com slash odoo experience to learn more. Wait, you're listening. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. You're listening to Radiolab. Radiolab. From. W-N-Y-C. C. C. Yep. Rewind. musician, icon. We've told stories here at the show about all kinds of topics and ideas and people. And Dolly has been sort of an interesting touchpoint…
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