First and foremost, a very happy birthday to the inimitable Dolly Parton.
The county queen is 77 years young today, and in true Dolly fashion, she’s opting to give rather than receive on this very special day.
Which means, she’s giving a gift to all of us, releasing a brand new song called “Don’t Make Me Come Down There.”
She says the idea came to her in a dream, as she envisioned God watching everyone here on planet earth, disappointed at how we all treat each other on a daily basis:
“I just felt that this song was very blessed, and so I thought, well I’m just gonna put something gout special on my birthday.
And hope it might draw a little bit of attention for us shaping ourselves up a little but in the coming new year.”
In a video on Instagram, she shared a little more insight into how it came to be:
“Well, today is my birthday… and these are my birthday flowers. Somebody said, what are you gonna get on your birthday? I said ‘I’m not gonna get, I’m gonna give.’ I’ve got a song that I’m dropping today on my birthday.
It’s a song that kinda came to me in a dream, and I felt like it was worth putting out there, something special. Well, it’s special to me. I had a dream about God standing down on a mountain, looking down at us, saying ‘Don’t make me have to come down there.’
And then it woke me up, I got up, I started writing this song. And over a period of weeks and months, I finished it as things would come to me. And I just felt like I should drop it on my birthday. So I hope you enjoy it.”
It’s definitely a departure from what I expect we’ll hear on her forthcoming rock album, Rock Star, but a good reminder nonetheless for all of us going into this new year to try and treat everyone with basic love and respect:
“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me! Today, I decided I’m not gonna get, I’m gonna give. My new song, ‘Don’t Make Me Have to Come Down There’ is out now.”
A queen move (and message) if I may say so myself…
In all seriousness, who do I have to talk to to make this a national holiday?
Mrs. Parton has certainly come a very long way from the one-room cabin she was raised in, nestled deep in the hills and hollers of east Tennessee, and she continues to leave an indelible mark on the world with every passing year.
She’s become an incredible business woman, philanthropist, and obviously very accomplished singer and musician, just to name a few things quickly, and I just can’t help but think what a better place the world would be if we were all just a little more like Dolly…
What a legacy to leave behind one day, and honestly, it often feels like she’s still just getting started.
Make sure you check out the new tune here:
“Don’t Make Me Come Down There”