Dolly Parton Wrote a Shocking Number of Songs on Her Most Prolific Day of Writing Ever

Over the years, Dolly Parton has placed much emphasis on how much she likes writing songs. While she loves to sing, she believes her true talent lies in her abilities as a songwriter. Parton writes every day and is able to finish more than one hit in a single writing session. She recalled that on her most prolific writing day ever, she ended up with over a dozen recordable songs.

Dolly Parton wrote a staggering number of songs in 1 day

Parton has said that she sets aside time to write every day, no matter where she is. It’s a normal, unshakeable part of her routine.

“Writing’s just as natural to me as getting up and cooking breakfast,” she told The New York Times. “I ain’t never far away from a pencil and paper or a tape recorder. I write every day, even when I’m on a plane, in the tub, or on the bus. It burns in me. Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts.”

A member of Parton’s band estimated that she writes up to 20 songs a day. When asked about it, Parton seemed offended that anyone would doubt that.

“Yes, I have!” she told writer Alanna Nash in the book Dolly. “I tell you, a lot of people don’t believe that. They think it’s a lie, even people who write.”

According to Parton, she ended up recording the majority of these songs. She said the songs “Take Me Back” and “You Are” came out of this rush of writing.

“Out of those twenty songs I wrote, fifteen of ’em have been recorded. Because when I get on a real wild streak, look out!” she said. “Now it depends on the nature of the song. Up-tempo is easier for me to write, with simple words. But anyway, twenty is the most I’ve ever written in a setting.”

Dolly Parton is in a state of deep focus when she writes songs

The people who have watched Parton write say she throws herself wholly into the creative process. She’s hardly aware of anything but putting lyrics to the page.

“I mean, she’ll sit down with the guitar and the licks just come and the words fly right out of her mouth. I’m not kiddin’ you,” a member of her band said. “She just sits down and writes them. There’s no tellin’ how many she’ll write once she starts — ten or twenty, maybe. And when she gets in that writing mood, forget about talkin’ to her, because she’s mesmerized. You ask her a question and she don’t know what you’re sayin’, she’s so into her writing.”

Her designer, Lucy Adams, agreed. 

“I have been to Dolly’s house when she was writing and I don’t think she would really know I was there,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind it because I knew what it was. When she’s writing, she’s living what she does. If she writes a happy song, she’s happy. If she writes a sad song, that’s the sad part of her.”

She once wrote 2 hits in the same writing session

While Parton once wrote 20 songs in a day, a different writing session may beat this achievement. In 1972, Parton sat down and wrote two of her biggest hits on the same day.

“In 1972, I wrote [‘I Will Always Love You’],” she said on The Bobby Bones Show. “At the same time, I wrote ‘Jolene.’ That was a good writing day.”