This past week, we lost Dolly Parton.
What struck me about this death and the aftermath is how Dolly was so uniquely American that we may never see the likes of her again.
To wit: President Trump ordered flags at half-staff for a week and pretty much everyone immediately complied; the LGBTQ community considers her an icon; Fox News went for (by my estimate) three straight hours of coverage of the breaking news of her death without stopping for commercial; Nashville wept; Dolly’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was subsequently covered in flowers; the phrase “universally beloved” was uttered probably a million times.
I’d be a moron if I didn’t make this an All Dolly edition of The Saturday List.
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Now, onto what Dolly-related content I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering this week, the 43rd Straight Saturday — 53rd edition overall — that we present The Saturday List.
Watching: Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square
This was Dolly’s last film. Released on Netflix in 2020, Christmas on the Square tapped into the Hallmark Christmas Movie zeitgeist, with just enough camp. And, as we channel Saturday Night Live’s Stefon, this film had everything:
Dolly as an angel (that tracks!)
Treat Williams (RIP) AND Christine Baranski
Jenifer Lewis
Choreography by Debbie Allen!
Come on, we could all use a little Christmas in August. Right?
NOTE: She won an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie for this film.
Reading: The Dolly Parton Wikipedia Entry
I mean, there’s a whole lot jam-packed into her 80 years.
Dolly was the closest thing we will have to American royalty. And just look at the photo Wikipedia used.
Listening to: “He’s Alive,” sung by Dolly Parton
It’s a Gospel song and nobody performed it like Dolly in 1989.
Rediscovering: Dolly — Her Variety Show — with Kermit the Frog
I was surprised that The Muppet Show never had Dolly as guest host.
But, Dolly had her own variety show, in 1987, and she performed with Kermit the Frog. Why not?
Finally: My Favorite Dolly Parton Song (And It Isn’t One of The Two Most-Popular Ones)
Dolly Parton gave us more than a lifetime full of music; I gotta be honest that not even “Jolene” or “I Will Always Love You” brings back the memories that this song does.
“Here You Come Again” transplants me to the 1970s. The title track off her 1977 album, it got to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — her first mainstream hit, and, other than “9 to 5,” the only Dolly song to even make the Top 10 — and of course was certified Platinum and all of those things.
It would be her 6th song to reach the top of the Country charts.
Back before MTV, when artists regularly crossed over and back, Dolly was an original who could, actually, do it all.
Thanks, Dolly. Rest easy.
I’ll see y’all next week. Be good to each other.
Dave
thanks for the memories. Will be impossible to replace her ...