Here You Come Again By Dolly Parton

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another blog post, I know I say this all the time but I am very excited about this Original Girl: The one and only Dolly Parton! Dolly is such an amazing artist; she has been featured on Lydia’s Girls many times including: Lydia’s Girls #3, #4, and #5. You can find all the albums and the song lists on my website by going to the Albums at the right hand corner of the homepage. Dolly was born in Pittman Center, Tennessee, with twelve siblings. In one of her songs about her childhood, Dolly states that her family was very poor but that being poor didn’t keep them all from being happy. Music has always been an important part of Dolly’s life from a young age. She learned to play on a homemade guitar at the age of seven. She also did many performances at her church, local radio, and television programs. When Dolly was just thirteen she was recording music at Goldband Records in Louisiana and also appeared at the Grand Ole Opry. There she met Johnny Cash who encouraged her to continue her career in music. A day after Dolly graduated high school she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she signed with Combine Publishing. During this time Dolly was writing hits with her uncle Bill Owens. In 1965 only at the age of nineteen, Dolly signed with Monument Records and was pitched as a bubblegum pop singer. Dolly told the label she wanted to do country but she was told that her voice would not be suited for the genre. However, they finally changed their minds in 1966 once her song Put It Off Until Tomorrow, recorded by Bill Phillips, went number six on the country charts. It’s crazy to think this happened to Dolly because we all know her as a country legend. Dumb Blonde was released as Dolly’s first country single. Although Dolly wrote most of her songs, this one was written by Curly Putnam. In 1974, Dolly wanted to take her music more mainstream and began writing with a pop style to her country music. She worked to produce her album: New Harvest… First Gathering (1977) and though it did really well in the country charts, it didn’t do so well in the pop charts. So for her next album she went to Gary Klein, a very well known pop producer, and recorded her next album, Here You Come Again (1977), which was a huge hit in both country and pop charts. From 1987-2005 Dolly focused on country and bluegrass music with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. I could go on forever about Dolly’s music career, but you could also read her book: Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business (1994).

If you are not familiar with Dolly’s music I highly recommend her song: Here You Come Again. This song was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and even though it was not written by Dolly, to me the song is known because of Dolly. The song was first offered to Brenda Lee but when she turned it down, Dolly was keen to have it. Dolly begged Gary Klein to add a steel guitar to the song to make it more country, that way people couldn’t say it wasn’t country enough. There are many elements to the song that I love! For one, Dolly’s voice is angelic. Throughout the song the key changes four times: starting in Gb major for the first two verses, then A major for the first bridge, G major for the third verse, Bb major for the second bridge, and Ab major for the last verse and outro. I am usually not a big fan of key changes in songs only because I feel that they are just put in there because the songwriters ran out of ideas. But this song is different because the song was created with the key changes in mind. The instrumentation is magnificent, the keyboard goes so well with Dolly’s voice, and the steel guitar definitely adds a more country vibe to it. I think the lyrics are my favorite part for sure! The first line is such a strong start to the song: “Here you come again, just when I’d begun to get myself together. You waltz right in the door just like you’ve done before, and wrap my heart around your little finger.” I love the imagery and the choice in words, saying waltz right in the door instead of saying you walked in. Using the word waltz shows how this person is beautiful in Dolly’s eyes even if they are not good for her. Another line that I love is “Here you come again, looking better than the body has a right to, and shakin’ me up so that all I really know is here you come again, and here I go.” The line looking better than the body has a right to is genius and again, even though she knows this person is no good for her, she can’t help but fall for them.

Even if you are not a big fan of country music, I think that anyone can appreciate Dolly’s artistry. Let me know what you think of this song or if you have a favorite, post it in the comments below!