History YMMV / DollyParton

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] with band Nickel Creek. It earned her a Grammy and was notable on [=YouTube=] for working just as well as a folk song as it did a 90's alt-rock song. Dolly's version leans into the religious tone of the lyrics, which gives it a ChristianRock vibe; Music/CollectiveSoul has always denied the song has any specific religious connotations.

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] with band Nickel Creek. It earned her a Grammy and was notable on [=YouTube=] for working just as well as a folk song as it did a 90's alt-rock song. Dolly's version leans into the religious tone of the lyrics, which gives it a hymn-like quality that helps it seamlessly fit into the genre; Music/CollectiveSoul has always denied the song has any specific religious connotations.

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] with band Nickel Creek. It earned her a Grammy and was notable on [=YouTube=] for working just as well as a folk song as it did a 90's alt-rock song. Dolly's version leans into the religious tone of the lyrics, which is arguably why it works so well as a folk song; Music/CollectiveSoul has always denied the song has any specific religious connotations.

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] as a folk song with band Nickel Creek. It earned her a Grammy and was notable on [=YouTube=] for the song working flawlessly in both genres. Dolly's version leans into the religious tone of the lyrics, which is arguably why it works so well as a folk song; Music/CollectiveSoul has always denied the song has any specific religious connotations.

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] as a folk song with band Nickel Creek. It earned her a Grammy and was notable on YouTube for working seamlessly in both genres. Dolly's version leans into the religious tone of the lyrics, which is arguably why it works so well as a folk song; Music/CollectiveSoul has always denied the song has any specific religious connotations.

** Music/CollectiveSoul's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e-Ip9RagkU&ab_channel=DollyParton "Shine"]] as a folk song with band Nickel Creek, which earned her a Grammy.

** Music/SmokeyRobinson's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXWeuvcETk&ab_channel=DollyParton-Topic "Tracks of My Tears"]].

** Smokey Robinson's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXWeuvcETk&ab_channel=DollyParton-Topic "Tracks of My Tears"]].
** Katrina and the Wave's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euCRkvCbJDg&ab_channel=DollyParton-Topic "Walking on Sunshine"]]. Probably the least pronounced genre change, but it's definitely twangier than the original.

** A PerspectiveFlip of Fine Young Cannibal's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShm7GiN2JY&ab_channel=DollyPartonsVariety "Drives Me Crazy"]] that would not have been out-of-place in her own 80's discography.
** Smokey Robinson's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXWeuvcETk&ab_channel=DollyParton-Topic "Tracks of My Tears"]].

* InTheStyelOf: Several of her [[CoveredUp covers]] shift the genre of oldies, punk, or alternative songs to country/folk; her album ''Treasures'' was almost entirely this. Notable entries:

* MemeticBadass: Jolene has become a symbol to some as "one bad bitch" because another woman is literally begging her not to steal her man. Dolly Parton herself found this funny [[https://imgur.com/gallery/MR7RrHD on Twitter]].

* MemeticBadass: Jolene has become a symbol to some as "one bad bitch" because another woman is literally begging her not to steal her man. Dolly Parton herself found this funny [[https://imgur.com/gallery/MR7RrHD on Twitter]].

** Her most famous song, "I Will Always Love You", has the RealtiySubtext of being the song she wrote for Porter Wagoner to allow her to go solo, and being a literal promise she made to him. Wagoner would later sue her for breach of contract, and later when he was down in the dumps, she bought his entire catalogue so that he could receive the money, and when he wanted to buy it back she gave it to him for free. It could be said that by the time he died, she really kept her promise to always love him.

* HoYay: The entirety of the song "Jolene" is supposedly about a woman who doesn't want Jolene to seduce her boyfriend. But the entire song is about how pretty, beautiful and amazing Jolene is.

* [[HoYay Les Yay]]: The entirety of the song ''Jolene'' is supposedly about a woman who doesn't want Jolene to seduce her boyfriend. But the entire song is about how pretty, beautiful and amazing Jolene is.
* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: A big part of her success comes from looking people expecting her to be a DumbBlonde only to realize she's actually highly intelligent and a very talented singer and actor.

* {{Irony}}: When she signed her first national recording contract with Monument Records in 1965, Dolly was seeking a career in country music but – because of her vocal qualities – pushed as a bubblegum pop singer catering to a teen audience. Indeed, many of her early songs released nationally - "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," "Busy Signal," "Don't Drop Out" and others – indeed had a pop sound catering to teenagers. However, she was unhappy and uncomfortable as a pop singer at this point in her career; she really wanted to record country music. She finally got her wish in late 1966, several months after one of her compositions – "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" – gained strong critical acclaim as done by both her (as a solo recording) and especially by Bill Phillips (on which she provided backing vocals). Fast forward to 1973, when – now a big country star, and Porter Wagoner's right-hand performer on his TV show – she wanted to branch out to pop audiences. Porter reluctantly granted her wish (her last show with Porter aired in the spring of 1974), and after hosting her own TV series, signaled she was finally ready and comfortable as a mainstream pop singer with her landmark 1977 recording "Light Of a Clear Blue Morning." And then she blasted through with her first major pop hit, "Here You Come Again," which – in addition to a month-long run at No. 1 on the country chart – was a No. 3 pop hit, and set the stage for two No. 1 hits: "9 to 5" in 1981, and "Islands In the Stream" in 1983 (the latter a duet with Music/KennyRogers), that along with a high-profile acting career. She never went away as a country singer, but what began as a career she didn't want (someone who recorded pop music) ended up with a career she wanted in the end (someone who recorded pop music ... but was primarily a country singer at heart).

** Even though Parton released it ''three times'', many people still believe that "I Will Always Love You" is a Music/WhitneyHouston song. Among them, Dolly herself. She will happily admit if she's "lost" a song, and she says that while she might have wrote it (and had a hit with it herself,) it's now Whitney's song.

** "To Daddy," a {{Tearjerker}} song about a woman who leaves her emotionally cold and neglectful husband, was written and originally recorded by Parton in 1976. Emmylou Harris recorded her own version in 1977 – with Parton and Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals – and made it a top-5 country smash in early 1978.

** "Starting Over Again" was written by Music/DonnaSummer and her husband Bruce Sudano, about the divorce of Sudano's parents. Parton saw Summer perform it on TV, before Summer had a chance to record it, and asked permission to do the song herself in 1980. Summer still sang the song in live shows, but never recorded it, feeling she couldn't top Parton's version. Then in 1995 [[Music/RebaMcentire Reba [=McEntire=]]] did her own version that Covered Up the song from Parton for younger listeners.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: A big part of her success comes from looking people expecting her to be a DumbBlonde only to realize she's actually highly intelligent and a very talented singer and actor.
* LesYay: The entirety of the song ''Jolene'' is supposedly about a woman who doesn't want Jolene to seduce her boyfriend. But the entire song is about how pretty, beautiful and amazing Jolene is.

* {{Irony}}: When she signed her first national recording contract in 1965, Dolly was seeking a career in country music but – because of her vocal qualities – pushed as a bubblegum pop teen singer catering to a teen audience. Indeed, many of her early songs released nationally - "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," "Busy Signal," "Don't Drop Out" and others – indeed had a pop sound catering to teenagers. However, she was unhappy and uncomfortable as a pop singer at this point in her career; she really wanted to record country music. She finally got her wish in late 1966, several months after one of her compositions – "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" – gained strong critical acclaim as done by both her (as a solo recording) and especially by Bill Phillips (on which she provided backing vocals). Fast forward to 1973, when – now a big country star, and Porter Wagoner's right-hand performer on his TV show – she wanted to branch out to pop audiences. Porter reluctantly granted her wish, and after hosting her own TV series, signaled she was finally ready and comfortable as a mainstream pop singer with her landmark 1977 recording "Light Of a Clear Blue Morning." And then she blasted through with her first major pop hit, "Here You Come Again," which – in addition to a month-long run at No. 1 on the country chart – was a No. 3 pop hit, and set the stage for two No. 1 hits: "9 to 5" in 1981, and "Islands In the Stream" in 1983 (the latter a duet with Music/KennyRogers). She never went away as a country singer, but what began as a career she didn't want (someone who recorded pop music) ended up with a career she wanted in the end (someone who recorded pop music ... but was primarily a country singer at heart).

* {{Irony}}: When she signed her first national recording contract in 1965, Dolly was seeking a career in country music but – because of her vocal qualities – pushed as a bubblegum pop teen singer catering to a teen audience. Indeed, many of her early songs released nationally - "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," "Busy Signal," "Don't Drop Out" and others – indeed had a pop sound catering to teenagers. However, she was unhappy and uncomfortable as a pop singer at this point in her career; she really wanted to record country music. She finally got her wish in late 1966, several months after one of her compositions – "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" – gained strong critical acclaim as done by both her (as a solo recording) and especially by Bill Phillips (on which she provided backing vocals). Fast forward to 1973, when – now a big country star, and Porter Wagoner's right-hand performer on his TV show – she wanted to branch out to pop audiences. Porter reluctantly granted her wish, and after hosting her own TV series, signaled she was finally ready and comfortable as a mainstream pop singer with her landmark 1977 recording "Light Of a Clear Blue Morning." And then she blasted through with her first major pop hit, "Here You Come Again," which – in addition to a month-long run at No. 1 on the country chart – was a No. 3 pop hit. She never went away as a country singer, but what began as a career she didn't want (someone who recorded pop music) ended up with a career she wanted in the end (someone who recorded pop music ... but was primarily a country singer at heart).

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic / SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}: "Coat of Many Colors" from ''Music/CoatOfManyColors'' is often considered one of the most sincere, heartfelt country songs of all time. This also explains why it was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry.

* EarWorm: Countless. As a songwriter she's a master when it comes to catchy hooks.
* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: A big part of her success comes from looking people expecting her to be a DumbBlonde only to realize she's actually highly intelligent and a very talented singer and actor.