“She didn’t see any ‘them’, she only saw ‘us’” ~ Ken Burns.

I have never been a big Country and Western fan.  In fact, it was not a genre I knew anything about when I was growing up.  Living in Jamaica my diet was mostly the local sound (from ska through rock steady to the everlasting and universally appealing reggae music), with a flavoring of soul and Motown.  My brother-in-law ensured that I had a basic but eclectic knowledge of rock and roll.  From my parents’ collection I heard classical music, jazz, gospel and the stirring sounds of Welsh Male Voice Choirs.  After leaving high school and relocating to the UK, my friend Janet introduced me to folk music, Irish protest songs, and, finally, John Denver and Charlie Rich.  But I don’t know that even those last two are typically Country. 

And yet many of the early reggae singers like John Holt ‘borrowed’ Country songs and covered them in a true reggae style.  Even before Toots sang his own version of ‘Country Road’, earlier singers were adopting sounds they heard on US AM radio stations that could be picked up in Jamaica; or brought home on vinyl by seasonal Farm Workers (who often famously caught the American ‘twang’ in the four to six months they labored in the fields of the Southern States). 

But I was always a little snobbish when I would speak of Country music.  A little too jiggy, too hokey, not sophisticated enough.  Perhaps too rednecky?  It wasn’t until I heard it said, possibly on a Ken Burns documentary, but don’t quote me please, that Country is the White Man’s Blues, that I started to look at it differently.  And since then, having learned of its roots in Blue Grass, music that takes traditional Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English folk songs and injects a little Appalachian mist and mystery, I realized that I may have more in common with it than I wanted to admit!

So, I humbly apologize for having, for many years, underestimated the person who has dominated cable news, social media, and all the airwaves since we suddenly learned that she had died, the inimitable Dolly Parton.  And even though everybody (including the prestigious professor of history and documenter of current affairs, Heather Cox Richardson) has recorded their own tributes to the powerhouse that was this musical icon, I feel I have to attempt in my own way to try to celebrate this impressive woman.

What has been most remarkable to me, is that, in an extremely polarized world, she was beloved by people from every walk of life, each political camp, crossing age, gender, and racial gaps.  Because she unapologetically stuck up for everyone, and in a world in which the word Christian has become associated with bigotry, cruelty and division, she reminded us in her down-home, sweet Southern twang, that only God can judge us, and that we should love each other, as Christ taught.

She took her success back to her impoverished roots and created jobs for the region through her theme park.  She created a ‘Buddy’ program which reduced high school dropout rates in her community from 35% to 6%.  She provided scholarships for employees to get a college education.  She donated money which helped fund the Covid vaccine research.  She took her share of royalty money from Whitney’s famous cover of that beautiful song and invested it in a historically Black community in Nashville.  And so much more, including her Book program for pre-school kids.

And that does not even touch on the impressive way she launched and took control of her own musical career.  That same song that Whitney made famous she refused to let Elvis cover, as she did not want to sell him publishing rights.  She wrote the song to extract herself from a musical relationship that (although it helped to establish her) was preventing her from being independent.  She wrote over 3000 songs, played multiple musical instruments, and collaborated with too many musicians to list here.  I feel as if, in the past week, despite all I have read and heard, we still have not scratched the surface of this impressive woman.

Who, in this society, turns down a prestigious Presidential Medal of Honor?  Not once, but three times!  In 2022 when she was nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she initially declined, claiming that she did not deserve to be there, that other musicians merited it over her.  After being persuaded that her musical and cultural impact qualified her, she accepted, and then went out the next year and recorded a ‘Rock’ album, I guess to justify the award to herself!

Without fanfare she stood up for the rights of all downtrodden, oppressed, discriminated against people.  Before it was ‘politically correct’ to do so, and certainly not in her White, straight, male-dominated world of Country music, she spoke out and sang for Gay rights. In the fight against HIV/AIDS she funded research, produced an award-winning documentary, and called out the stigma associated with disease.  In plain, simple language.

Much has been written about the one room shack she grew up in, having to wear her coat ‘of many colors’ made of rags, raised by an illiterate man and a musical mother.  Where many people run from their roots, feeling ashamed of the poverty, the lack of amenities and funds, she embraced hers, celebrated the richness of her home, the wealth of love and caring in that simple environment.

In a world where we are often reminded that none of us is irreplaceable, or indispensable, it feels as if there is a Dolly-shaped hole in the atmosphere. And the consistent theme throughout the stories about her, that separates her from other philanthropists, other successful businesswomen, is her genuineness (is that a word?), her authenticity, her love of people, her respect and compassion for everyone in her world and beyond.  The stories of how she treated the ‘little people’ she came in touch with, of how she responded to simple requests with grace and generosity are legion.  In the many interviews she gave you can glimpse her steel, her wit, her brilliance.  For fun, check out the video of her and Kermit singing Sly’s ‘Everyday people’.  For soul and heart, listen to her duet with Mavis Staples in ‘I wonder why’.

Ever since she died, I have been hearing a Paul Simon song in my head.  And although the lyrics don’t jive with her story, I can imagine her as the girl with ‘diamonds on the soles of her shoes’, but her diamonds were in her soul.  And, to misquote one of Mother Theresa’s lines: ‘In a world where you can be anyone, be a Dolly’.  We have had enough of hatred, division, otherization, cruelty, misogyny, racism, and corruption.  Dolly has reminded us of another way to be, and it is to be hoped that more of us will be inspired to live that legacy.

On this Friday morning, I hope you have been inspired to be more loving, kinder, more tolerant of those who may not look or think like you.  I hope you can, like me, discover music you haven’t heard before.  And I hope that, even if you don’t like pink or rhinestones or makeup (like me) you can respect and admire a woman who walked honestly and confidently through the world, being unapologetically herself. 

Have a wonderful weekend, Family!

One Love!

Namaste.