Parton began performing as a child, singing on local radio and television in East Tennessee. At age 12 she was appearing on Knoxville TV, and at 13, she was recording on a small label and appearing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. When she graduated from high school in 1964 she moved to Nashville, taking many traditional elements of folklore and popular music from East Tennessee with her.
Parton's initial success came as a songwriter, with her songs being covered by Kitty Wells, Hank Williams, Jr., Skeeter Davis, and a number of others. She signed with Monument Records in late 1965, where she was initially pitched as a bubblegum pop singer, earning only one national chart single, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," which did not crack the Billboard Top 100. Additional pop singles also failed to chart.
The label agreed to have Parton sing country music after her composition "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" as recorded by Bill Phillips (and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony) went to No. 6 on the country charts in 1966. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during this era that she recorded but didn't write), reached No. 24 country 1967, followed later the same year with "Something Fishy," which went to No. 17. The two songs anchored her first full-length album, Hello I'm Dolly, that same year.
In 1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly syndicated country music TV program hosted by Porter Wagoner, replacing Norma Jean. She also signed with RCA Records, Wagoner's label, during this period, where she would remain for the next two decades. Wagoner and Parton immediately began a hugely successful career as a vocal duet in addition to their solo work and their first single together, a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the top ten on the U.S. country charts in late 1967, and was the first of over a dozen duet singles to chart for them during the next several years.
Parton is a hugely successful songwriter, having begun by writing country songs with strong elements of folk music in them based upon her upbringing in humble mountain surroundings. Her songs "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene" have become classics in the field, as have a number of others. As a composer, she is also regarded as one of country music's most gifted storytellers, with many of her narrative songs based on persons and events from her childhood.
In 1982 Dolly Parton sang her song "I Will Always Love You", for the movie "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", starring Parton and Burt Reynolds. The song - originally composed around 1974 - made few ripples, but it wasn't until Whitney Houston re-recorded it for "The Bodyguard" a decade later, that the song made yet another international hit for Dolly Parton. She later put out her own version on the 1996 album of the same name.
In 1987, Parton left her longtime label, RCA, and signed with Columbia Records, where her recording career continued to prosper, but by the mid 1990s, Parton, along with many other performers of her generation, found that her new music was not welcome on country radio playlists. She recorded a series of critically acclaimed bluegrass albums, beginning with "The Grass is Blue" (1999) and "Little Sparrow" (2001), both of which won Grammy Awards. Her 2002 album "Halos and Horns" included a bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin classic Stairway to Heaven. In 2005, Parton released Those Were The Days, her interpretation of hits from the folk-rock era of the late 1960s through early 1970s. The CD featured such classics as John Lennon's "Imagine," Cat Stevens' "Where Do The Children Play," Tommy James' "Crimson & Clover," and the folk classic "Where Have All The Flowers Gone", as well as the title track.
In 2007, Dolly paved new musical ground by forming her own record label, Dolly Records. The label's first release - Backwoods Barbie - debuted at #2 on the Billboard country albums charts and marks Parton's first mainstream country album in 17 years. Parton is touring North America and Europe throughout 2008 in support of her latest release.
1955
Christmas Without You
Dolly Parton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
White Christmas and I'm blue
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
The fireplace keeps burning and my thoughts keep turning
The pages of memories of time spent with you
Old Christmas songs we knew and used to make love to
Make it hard to get used to
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you
Like a mystery with no clues
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
The sweetest gift I know would be if the new snow
Could fall on your footsteps on this Christmas Eve
The most joyous Christmas if luck could be with us
Would be if Saint Nicholas brought you home to me
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you I need you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you, like a mystery with no clues
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you, not something I can get used to
I just have no use
For Christmas without you
You know that I want you
You know that I need you
You know that I need you
You know that I want you
You know that I love you
I need you
I want you
Oh, yes I do!
You know that I want you
You know that I need you
You know that I need you
You know that I want you
Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’s song “Christmas Without You” is an emotional ballad that explores the feelings of missing and longing for someone during the holiday season. The lyrics suggest that Christmas feels incomplete without the presence of a loved one. The song opens with the lines “Christmas without you, white Christmas and I’m blue,” which immediately set the tone for the bittersweet sentiments of the tune.
The pre-chorus “The fireplace keeps burning and my thoughts keep turning/The pages of memories of time spent with you/Old Christmas songs we knew and used to make love to/Make it hard to get used to/Christmas without you” highlights the singer’s struggle to come to terms with being alone during the holidays. The lyrics paint a picture of someone sitting by the fireplace, reminiscing about Christmases past with their significant other. The happy memories just make them feel sadder as they come to terms with the reality of being without their loved one.
The chorus “Christmas without you/Like a mystery with no clues/Like fireworks with no fuse” further emphasizes the feeling of incompleteness. The similes of a mystery with no clues and fireworks with no fuse help to convey the sense of emptiness that comes with the absence of a loved one during the holiday season.
Overall, the lyrics of “Christmas Without You” are poignant and heartfelt. They express the universal emotions of missing someone during a time of year that is supposed to be filled with love and togetherness.
Line by Line Meaning
Christmas without you
Reflecting on the sadness and emptiness of the holiday season without the presence of a loved one.
White Christmas and I'm blue
The traditional imagery of a winter wonderland contrasts sharply with the singer's melancholic and lonely emotions.
Like fireworks with no fuse
The big, bold, and vibrant nature of fireworks is rendered impotent without the necessary spark to ignite them – paralleling the figurative lack of “spark” and enthusiasm that comes with the absence of a partner during Christmas.
The fireplace keeps burning and my thoughts keep turning
While physically warm, mentally the artist is still plagued by the lack of a loved one's company, as flickering thoughts of memory and longing persist.
The pages of memories of time spent with you
The holiday season serves to open up the mental scrapbook of one's shared memories with their loved one.
Old Christmas songs we knew and used to make love to
Familiar and nostalgic Christmas music can serve to stir up memories of past intimate moments and shared romantic occasions.
Make it hard to get used to
The singers cannot grow accustomed to the bleak and lonely feeling that increasingly pervades their thoughts with each passing holiday season.
Like a mystery with no clues
The elusive and inexplicable feeling that accompanies the absence of a partner during Christmas feels as enigmatic as an unsolved mystery.
The sweetest gift I know would be if the new snow
The hope and wish for their partner to return burdens the artist as they yearn for a miraculous reunion and an end to their solitude.
Could fall on your footsteps on this Christmas Eve
The unique snowfall feels significant as it is hoped that it might fulfill the artist's desire to see their beloved once again and bridge the distance between them.
The most joyous Christmas if luck could be with us
The arrival of the singer's partner would signal the ultimate and most joyous holiday occasion for the two of them.
Would be if Saint Nicholas brought you home to me
The hope of a miraculous intervention from St. Nicholas echoes the artist's wish for a miraculous reunion that only Christmas magic can bring about.
Not something I can get used to
The painful emptiness of not having a partner during Christmas continually resurfaces each year and cannot be easily overcome by becoming accustomed to it.
I just have no use
The absence of their partner makes the holiday season feel useless and unworthy of being celebrated.
You know that I want you
The repeated phrases reveal the singer's desperate and sincere desire for their partner's return.
You know that I need you
The artist's love and longing for the return of their partner are driven by a deep sense of emotional dependence.
You know that I love you
The overall message of the song emphasizes that the strength of one's love is directly proportional to the pain of separation and the longing for reunion.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: STEVE GOLDSTEIN, DOLLY PARTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
franc
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
The fireplace keeps burning and my thoughts keep turning
The pages of memories of time spent with you
Old Christmas songs we knew and used to make love to
Make it hard to get used to
Christmas without you
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you
Like a mystery with no clues
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
The sweetest gift I know would be if the new snow
Could fall on your footsteps on this Christmas Eve
The most joyous Christmas if luck could be with us
Would be if Saint Nicholas brought you home to me
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you I need you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you, like a mystery with no clues
Like fireworks with no fuse
Christmas without you
Christmas without you
White Christmas and I'm blue
I love you I miss you
So sad but so true
Christmas without you, I just can't get used to
I just have no use
For Christmas without you
You know that I want you
You know that I need you
You know that I need you
You know that I want you
You know that I love you
I need you
I want you
Oh, yes I do!
You know that I want you
You know that I need you
You know that I need you
You know that I want you
whomeplay
Mama's Heart of Gold!
We were raised in the Smoky Mountains and we were like a carton of eggs there were twelve of us kids!
We were numbered in the have nots and didn't know it, but we were rich because we had each other!
Daddy would hand milk the cows before the sun was up and do it all again before it went down!
We had no electric lights, but Mama would read the Good Book to us by candle light, because Daddy couldn't read!
Mama was like Jesus, not that she could walk on water or calm the sea, but that she loved all the little children, you see!
Daddy never cried, but one day Daddy was crying, I asked what's wrong, he said Mama went to live with Jesus!
You see she didn't have a lot of things, but Mama left what she had, a heart of gold for each of us to share!
So think about Mama's heart of gold, and share it wherever you go! In Memory of Dolly Parton Mama!!
Kulsum Aziz
Still my very favorite Xmas song. It always, brings tears to my eyes. Remembering all the family I lost thru the years
Guitarman3200
One of the best Christmas albums ever recorded !!! This album was released in 1984...the year after I graduated. My Mom played it every Christmas and so have I every Christmas since. My daughter grew up listening to it and now our granddaughter will too. Thank you Kenny & Dolly for all the magical Christmas memories !
Dino
Kenny Rogers and dolly parton are the world's most extraordinary duet singers. I have always loved both of them!!! I never tire of listening to them. God bless them both!!!
Mervin Govender
What an awesome song, by 1 of the greatest duets of all time.
David Sloan
Never heard this song before but what I'm hearing right now is good.
Victoria Lowe
Love this song!
Lucifurr123
This just hits different now...:( RIP
Amit Sirjusingh
I feel you pal
Cheryl Andrews
Is a beautiful song; and Dolly and Kenny sang well!
marvincaldwel111
Hello Cheryl how are you doing today?they've got an amazing tune together...sweet melody and good storyline