DOLLY PARTON: Queen of the Backwoods

What about the song “Shineola?”

When I wrote that song, 10 or 12 years ago, I thought it was a hit song. I’ve always heard the expression, “You don’t know shit from Shineola.” That turned into, “You don’t know love from Shineola.” You couldn’t use the word “Shineola” in a more serious way, so I was trying to think of a more fun, lighthearted way-it’s about some arrogant guy who thinks he hung the moon.

Have you ever thought about making a record similar to Porter’s Wagonmaster or Charlie Louvin’s last record, using an outside producer to update your sound?

I might…in 25 years.  I get hit up a lot. Rick Rubin has asked me to do a record with him, and Jack White-is that his name? -who did Loretta Lynn [Van Lear Rose].  Different people want to work with me on that. But to me, I feel like I’m an active singer and songwriter.  I feel like I’m very progressive in the way I think…

And now, with 9 to 5, you’ve written for Broadway.

9 to 5 will come out on Broadway in spring 2009. And the show…it’s all new songs, except I’ve rewritten “9 to 5” in its entirety. And I’ve written different choruses, different verses and different variations on the song. Then there are all these original pieces of music that are very commercial. I arranged a lot of the music for the musical here in Nashville, and they used a lot of my ideas. That was really my big test as a songwriter.

It sounds as though you’re at a good place in your career.

I am, but I’m not ready to sell out. That’s like giving myself away to someone else, and I still want to be myself. I still pride myself on being a serious songwriter, a serious singer and a serious producer.

How would you like to be remembered?

I want to be remembered for songs like “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene” and “Coat of Many Colors.” I’m still livin’, so I just want to be thought of as an active person who loved to write, sing and perform. But the songwriting was really what I loved the most.