I was having a rough day Tuesday, running around South Philly on and off for hours to deal with a pet health crisis. I was also deeply saddened by Dolly Parton’s death at 80. But also so grateful to the country music legend, as I heard her music pouring out of houses and cars. The beauty and grace of her immense catalog lifted my spirits. I think she would have liked to know that. 

I’m not surprised at the outpouring of grief, even though she was getting old and has struggled with health problems for a while. As I remarked to my partner, it feels like Dolly was the last good person, someone built from kindness and integrity in a way that feels almost impossible. 

But while she wrote a lot of sad songs, I will remember the joy most of all. RIP to the greatest.

A lot is being said about how Dolly somehow avoided being politicized while being progressive in her values. She was accepting of LGBTQ people, financed research into vaccines, started a major literacy program, and invested in the Black community of Nashville. But I would say she also conveyed those values through her music.

Dolly did the “I’m not a feminist, but” tapdance, but no one believed her, and for good reason. It wasn’t just “9 to 5” either. Her whole catalog is rife with songs where she pushes back — sometimes with humor, sometimes with pathos — against the sexist constraints on women. She loved to write songs giving voice and humanity to women who are often demonized or marginalized, especially in more conservative communities. 

“Jolene” is a feminist classic, because it’s a twist on the tradition of “screw the other woman” songs in country. Both the narrator and the other woman are portrayed humanely, not as cats fighting over a man. The desperation of the song is fueled by the listener’s understanding that an abandoned woman in a patriarchal system may not just be heartbroken, but destitute. Tradwives, take note.  

Lots of her songs protest how women are judged too harshly, often for stuff people don’t care about in men: “Just Because I’m a Woman.” “Shattered Image.” “The Bargain Store.”  She wrote a classic lamenting the sufferings of a teen girl pregnant and abandoned in “Down from Dover.” I’m a fan of “Dumb Blonde,” a classic “throw out the whole man” song that also mocks men who underestimate women.  

There’s a million more to flag. Share your favorites in the comments! 

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There’s been a lot of discourse lately about how Democrats could do more to speak to the working class. It’s a little overwrought — often, Democrats are saying the right things, but can’t be heard through the din of right-wing propaganda — but there is some truth to the disconnect, visible in the way even working-class people of color are leaning a bit more Republican. 

I think Dolly Parton’s legacy has a lot to teach in this regard. She was progressive in her values, but the way she communicated them resonated with working-class people. And not just because it always came with good tunes, though that didn’t hurt. 

I think what gets lost in a lot of the talk about “kitchen table issues” is that people always want more than money, as important as that is. Dolly spoke to people’s need for dignity. One reason working-class people can be bamboozled by false claims about “welfare queens” is that there’s real pride and value in the idea of working hard and earning what you have.

Readers will note that a lot of Dolly’s good works were investments in people’s ability to earn an honest living: literacy programs and real estate ventures. Dollywood isn’t just fun, it’s also an economic engine for the area. Even a song like “9 to 5” addresses the frustrations of not being respected at your job, beyond being underpaid or overworked. As Jason Kyle Howard wrote at Salon, Dolly’s love of Appalachia “came with an implicit challenge: You can do better.” 

Programs like universal health care are good and necessary, but Democrats would do well to also focus more on jobs, working conditions and unions. “Teach a man to fish” is pretty good politics, but also feels more sustainable. But above all, recognize that people don’t just want more dollars in their pockets. They want to feel good about how they got there. You value them for who they are now, but also and more important, for who they could be. 

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