Unlikely Angel

Book cover of Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton

Book description

Dolly Parton's success as a performer and pop culture phenomenon has overshadowed her achievements as a songwriter. But she sees herself as a songwriter first, and with good reason. Parton's compositions like "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become American standards with an impact far beyond country music.…

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Topics

Country music

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Biographies

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Why read it?

1 author picked Unlikely Angel as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tracey Laird

Author

Musicologist Lydia Hamessley delved into Dolly’s songwriting corpus over the course of a decade, analyzing her tremendous output of songs, according to different categories.

“Coat of Many Colors,” for example, is the most beloved from among Dolly’s autobiographical songs. Lydia breaks down the harmony, and relationships between melody and lyrics to explain why the song works so well.

Songs about women’s lives, in another section, includes deeply affecting vignettes like “Down from Dover,” about a pregnant young woman’s despair after being abandoned by her lover and rejected by family.

Lydia’s book systematically unpacks the musical heart of Dolly’s creative genius,…

From Tracey's list on people who want a Dolly Parton deeper dive.