As I am sure you know, Dolly Parton passed away yesterday at the age of 80. She has been one of my favorite entertainers for decades. And while it is hard to tell with public figures, she always came across to me as a truly good person, something very rare, especially in the public sphere as so many of those folks seem to be driven by neurotic needs.
Here she is singing what I – and many others – consider the best Rock ‘N’ Roll song of all time. According to Parade Magazine Dolly Parton’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Cover Was Really a Love Letter to Husband Carl Dean as it was his favorite song.
I am betting, though, that Robert Plant never envisioned the song arranged with a banjo and steel guitar.
Enjoy.
A few years ago I posted a video by a collaboration of Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstadt and EmmyLou Harris (does it get any better than that?) that resulted in two albums, Trio and Trio II. They are covering the Neil Young song, After the Goldrush. It is truly haunting. If you would like to listen to that here is a link to my article: After The Goldrush Live – Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt Actually the video I now have is not not from their live performance as that was taken down for copyright infringement with Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants.
Just one more Dolly Parton song. Years ago after a bad breakup I made a mix CD that I am still listening to after decades. One of the songs on that CD was
Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You Of course, this was a mega hit for Whitney Houston as well as Dolly. Dolly also talks briefly about the history of this particular song.
She will be missed.
I have listened to Stairway to Heaven countless times, and I have always interpreted the song as a woman trying to buy her way into heaven. Thinking about that I decided to look up the lyrics. A deeper dive into the lyrics also describes a saner, more naturalistic approach to the woman’s goal… which she is probably not going to take. I suppose at an even deeper level it can be considered a Christian song as the main point of Christianity is that you cannot achieve heaven by good works or money although I have no idea of Robert Plant’s religious beliefs.
Here is a link to the lyrics: Lyrics to Stairway to Heaven