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
Most Of All Why
Dolly Parton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That glowed has now gone out of our eyes
And the good life we had for some reason went bad
And the love that once lived here has died
How did we get here, where did it start
When did we walk out of each other's hearts
Where did we lose it, how did love die
When, where, and how, but most of all why
Most of all, why did we let love die
Like the withering leaves in the fall
And why did we wait 'til it was to late
To realize how much we lost
How did we get here, where did it start
When did we walk out of each other's hearts
Where did we lose it, how did love die
When, where, and how, but most of all why
When, where, and how, but most of all why
The song "Most of All Why" by Dolly Parton revolves around the theme of a once loving relationship which has now soured and become devoid of all passion and feeling. The opening lines suggest that while the couple were once inseparable, the love that they shared has now vanished without a trace. The lyrics go on to question how they got to this point, and when exactly their relationship started to fall apart. Parton laments that the beautiful life they once shared has gone bad, and the love that once lived here has died.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "most of all why" over and over again, emphasizing that the main question on the singer's mind is why their love died. She wonders why they let their love wither away like the leaves in the fall, and why they waited until it was too late to save it. The verses once again ask how they got to this point and where exactly they lost the love they shared, but the focus remains on the overarching question of why they lost it in the first place.
Line by Line Meaning
We once were so close now the love light
We used to be deeply in love, but now that passion has faded away.
That glowed has now gone out of our eyes
The spark of love that was once noticeable in our eyes no longer exists.
And the good life we had for some reason went bad
We had a happy life, but something caused it to turn sour.
And the love that once lived here has died
Our love is now dead and gone, with no hope of reviving it.
How did we get here, where did it start
We're not sure how we ended up in this place of lost love and brokenness, where did the problems begin?
When did we walk out of each other's hearts
We became distant and stopped caring for each other, but we don't know when that happened.
Where did we lose it, how did love die
We're not sure where or how our love was lost, but it's definitely gone now.
When, where, and how, but most of all why
We have so many questions about how our love died, but above all else, we want to know why it happened.
Most of all, why did we let love die
Out of all the questions we have, the biggest one is why we allowed our love to die.
Like the withering leaves in the fall
Our love faded away like leaves falling off trees in autumn.
And why did we wait 'til it was to late
We didn't realize how far we had drifted apart until it was too late to save our relationship.
To realize how much we lost
Only after our love was gone did we fully comprehend how much we had lost.
Contributed by Mackenzie O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Joseph Aidan
How wonderfully would I be able to describe how much I love this song. I think I should just continue playing it.
Huntinbear
She is amazing!!! She sure can sing what my heart is feeling.
Huntinbear
One of my favorite songs from Dolly, so beautifully written.
Wilhelmina Dzifa
oh this song always makes me cry. Dolly you really know how to reach peoples heart. thanks so much.
michael salvano-summers
this album needs to be released on cd
Somebody
This woman is an angel sent on earth by God
dollyaddict
Beautiful heartfelt song
iamjumbo
thank you. i'd never heard dolly do this one, and can't find holly dunn. this is great dolly, as always
Gabriel Moraitakis
Another Dolly,s true life song, which reminds me of my thoughts when i divorced with my first wife, back in 1987...
iamjumbo
thank you so much. i truly appreciate it. i lost the cassette when we moved back here, and i've never been able to find just the song