Dolly Parton's America: Sad Ass Songs

**SPEAKER_1** (0:09)
You're listening to Radiolab from W.

**Soren Wheeler** (0:21)
Hey, this is Radiolab. I'm Soren Wheeler. We here at the show, like so many other people out there, are thinking about Dolly Parton right now, taking this moment to look back at an incredible songwriter, musician, icon. We've told stories here at the show about all kinds of topics and ideas and people, and Dolly has been an interesting touch point for us in a lot of ways. Back in 2008, in the pop music episode, we talked about the global impact of her music. We featured a song that she wrote for our sister show, More Perfect, about the 19th Amendment. As many of you know, our founder and original host, Jad Abumrad produced a whole nine-part series about her, her life, her music, and about her uniquely expansive appeal to people of all walks of life around the world. One of the amazing things about Dolly Parton is how she was able to connect with so many millions of people in such an intimate and meaningful way. I think we're all seeing that this week as stories come out about her, and we reflect on her life. As someone who's worked on those stories, it's impossible not to be knocked on your ass by what she has done. The example that she set as a person standing in the same world that we're all standing in and speaking out about it with the poetic clarity and honesty and resilience and dance and smile.
As you might have guessed, I wanted to play you one of the episodes from the first one, in fact. But before I get to that, I want to share one small, but maybe a very telling example of the way Dolly has impacted this show and the people who work here. Because we very recently hired a new producer on staff, Joe Strogas, and she told me a little story about Dolly that I want to share with you here.
How old are you in this picture?

**Joe Strogas** (2:09)
I was 12, and I still have my braces.

**Soren Wheeler** (2:12)
You've got a little shock of green hair.

**Joe Strogas** (2:14)
Yeah, which I dyed with Kool-Aid. That's a great thing.

**Soren Wheeler** (2:18)
Given the story, you were in a band at 12?

**Joe Strogas** (2:21)
No, no, no. My voice teacher had a band, and I recorded some songs with them, one of the songs being a cover of Jolene.
We had this recording, which my mom didn't even tell me, but she must have found Dolly's foundation or team online, where you can just send fan mail. And she mailed them or emailed them a link to my cover, and must have said something like, my 12 year old daughter is such a big fan of you, here's her cover of Jolene. Didn't-

**Soren Wheeler** (2:55)
So your mom sends off a link?

**Joe Strogas** (2:57)
Sends it behind my back, and then we get this huge piece of mail a few months later in one of those big orange envelopes, open it up, and there's this autographed photo of Dolly Parton. She's wearing this awesome green outfit. Her boobs look amazing. I don't think I can say that on here.
And like, it's so funny to receive that as a 12 year old too, because I'm like in this pure awkward phase, and she looks like an icon and a diva.

**Soren Wheeler** (3:32)
She is an icon and a diva. It's like hearing, it's like getting a letter from a god, or goddess.

**Joe Strogas** (3:37)
And that's honestly what it felt like. And so then I read the letter and let me.

**Soren Wheeler** (3:42)
So you get a picture, a signed picture and a letter.

**Joe Strogas** (3:45)
And a letter. I get a letter from her.

**Soren Wheeler** (3:48)
Can you read, can you read me the letter?

**Joe Strogas** (3:50)
Okay, so in her letter, October 13th, 2014, she says, dear Canon, that was my stage name at the time.
Dear Canon, thanks for sending me your version of Jolene. You are awfully young to be singing a song like that, but your rendition is beautiful and original. From the information, it sounds as if you also have a great soft heart.
I wish you the very best. Keep chasing those dreams. One day, our paths will cross. Love, and then she signs it, Dolly. Yeah, yeah.

**Soren Wheeler** (4:24)
That's so amazing.

**Joe Strogas** (4:26)
Oh my God, I love it. It was so special to me. It was so beyond special.

**Soren Wheeler** (4:32)
And I just think, I mean, I don't know what you were like as a 12-year-old, but there's just got to be something about that little, that the way your sense of self is in flux at that age, and that it can go so many different directions, and that it's so sensitive to the world around it and to what other people have to say and what other people might think or how other people see you, or especially to put yourself on stage and use your voice to do something in the world, and then just sit back and wait to see how people react, and to get that feels like, the weight of it feels honestly sort of hard to, I mean, yeah, it just feels like it could set you on a completely different emotional, spiritual, cognitive trajectory as a teenager than if you hadn't gotten it.