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
The Beautiful Lie
Dolly Parton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My heart takes wings to the sky
The bluebird greyside fly
To my place in your eyes
Cause after all, I did all I could
And you did your best, just the same
Nobody won, we both lost, no one's to blame
But I'll fly away to you, if only pretending
The beautiful lie, the beautiful lie
Everytime the bluebird sings
My heart takes wings to the sky
The bluebird greyside fly
To my place in your eyes
Cause after all, I did all I could
And you did your best, just the same
Nobody won, we both lost, no one's to blame
But I'll find my way to you, if I'm only pretending
And we'll be like bluebirds, live the beautiful lie
We'll be like bluebirds, live the beautiful lie
In Dolly Parton's song "The Beautiful Lie," the lyrics convey the tale of a failed relationship where both parties did their best but lost. The bluebird serves as a metaphor that represents the hope and the feeling of flying high that the singer feels when thinking about the relationship. Every time the bluebird sings, the singer's heart takes wings to fly to the sky and to find a place back in the eyes of her lover. The bluebird is also a symbol of hopefulness since, in most cultures, it is considered a symbol of love and happiness.
Although she knows deep down that they both lost and that there is no one to blame, the singer still wants to hold onto the hope that they will reconcile someday. So, she is willing to pretend that everything is fine and fly back to her love. The lyrics of the song emphasize that even though it is a "beautiful lie," the feeling of hope and the possibility of reunion are enough to continue living this lie. In summary, the song is about the power of hope and the pain of letting go of love despite knowing the hard truth.
Line by Line Meaning
Everytime the bluebird sings
Whenever there's a glimmer of hope or optimism in my life
My heart takes wings to the sky
I feel a sudden surge of happiness and excitement in my chest
The bluebird greyside fly
A symbol of my hopes, dreams, and aspirations
To my place in your eyes
To the moment when we were together and everything seemed perfect
Cause after all, I did all I could
I tried my best to make things work between us
And you did your best, just the same
You did everything you could to love me and make me happy
Nobody won, we both lost, no one's to blame
Our relationship was never meant to be, it didn't work out for either of us, and there's no one to blame
But I'll fly away to you, if only pretending
I'll come to you in my dreams and imagination, even if it's not real
We'll be like bluebird do, the beautiful lie
We'll keep pretending that our love never died and we're still flying with bluebirds in a beautiful lie
The beautiful lie, the beautiful lie
Our love story will remain a beautiful lie, a figment of our imagination
But I'll find my way to you, If I'm only pretending
Even if it's just a fantasy, I'll always be with you in my heart and mind
And we'll be like bluebirds, live the beautiful lie
Together, we'll keep living the beautiful lie, pretending that our love will never die
We'll be like bluebirds, live the beautiful lie
We'll keep pretending that our love never died and we're still flying with bluebirds in a beautiful lie
Contributed by Anna Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Joshua Bacon
May YHWH bless you Dolly cheer up
Billy Earheart
Written by Amazing Rhythm Aces drummer Butch McDade