{"id":9661,"date":"2025-10-20T17:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/9661\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T17:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:46:12","slug":"the-smoky-mountains-inspired-song-dolly-parton-wrote-while-riding-a-limo-around-new-york-city-on-her-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/9661\/","title":{"rendered":"The Smoky Mountains-Inspired Song Dolly Parton Wrote While Riding a Limo Around New York City on Her Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 19, 2007, while heading toward rehearsals for the Broadway musical adaptation of 9 to 5, based on her 1980 comedy hit, Dolly Parton<\/a> found herself riding around New York City in a limousine, taking in the sites on her birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the big city lights and all of the big music and it was my birthday and I usually try to write something on my birthday every year and so I was just riding in a limousine and I was looking out at the skyline, and I was thinking \u2018Lord, here I am in New York City!\u2019 all the way from the Smoky Mountains,\u201d Parton told<\/a> American Songwriter in 2014. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was just singing in the back of the car while we were getting to the place,\u201d she added, \u201cand I started singing \u2018Oh, I know I am only dreaming,\u2019 just to take myself back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, Parton thought it unusual to write such a \u201cmountainish\u201d song while she was in New York City, but it kept developing and finished up once she arrived at her destination. \u201cI was writing it on the back of my script because I didn\u2019t have paper, my \u20189 to 5\u2019 script. \u2026 So I went in and this woman said \u2018Do you need anything?\u2019 and I said \u2018No I\u2019m writing a song I need to get somewhere\u2019 and she said \u2018Do you need a piano?\u2019 and I said \u2018No, you don\u2019t have a dulcimer do you?\u2019 And, so I just put it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Videos by American Songwriter<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/img.particlenews.com\/image.php?url=3qiRaq_15pHa0tF00\"NEW YORK CITY, NY \u2013 APRIL 30: Dolly Parton attends 9 to 5 Broadway Opening Arrivals at Marriott Marquis Theater on April 30, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by JACKIE SNOW\/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)\u2018Backwoods Barbie\u2019 and \u201cOnly Dreamin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Parton was recording her 42nd album, Backwoods Barbie, and brought her new ballad \u201cOnly Dreamin\u2019\u201d to co-producer Kent Wells once she returned from New York. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Kent, I wrote a song that I really think is good, but I didn\u2019t put it down with any music, so I\u2019m just going to sing it a cappella,\u2019\u201d said Parton. \u201cSo I was down in the studio and I just started singing the song and I sang the whole song a cappella and Kent said, \u2018God, I love that.\u2019 And so he just started putting instruments on it, and so we didn\u2019t record it like a record; he just started adding what he felt was that old-timey sound, and so he tuned his guitar down into that old mountain sound. Then we started adding stuff to it, and it was all based on my original emotion singing it a cappella.\u201d<\/p>\n

The longing lyrics tell of a lost love that will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Oh, I know, I\u2019m only dreaming<\/p>\n

\u2018Cause I\u2019ll awake and you\u2019ll be gone<\/p>\n

And my tears will still be streaming<\/p>\n

As my broken heart beats on<\/p>\n

Yes, I know I\u2019m only dreaming<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll just keep dreaming on<\/p>\n

I will dream about the pleasures<\/p>\n

That we shared in days gone by<\/p>\n

And I\u2019ll remember and I\u2019ll treasure<\/p>\n

Every kiss and your kind eyes<\/p>\n

And I will dream that you still hold me<\/p>\n

In your arms as you did then<\/p>\n

And I recall each thing you told me<\/p>\n

Hear your voice as I did then<\/p>\n

Yes, I know I\u2019m only dreaming<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll dream, and I will too<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly Dreamin\u2019\u201d was never released as a single but Backwoods Barbie was a nother success for Parton, reaching No. 2 on the Country chart and peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I am just a Backwoods Barbie\u2014too much makeup, too much hair,\u201d joked Parton<\/a> of the album title and the success of Greta Gerwig\u2019s Barbie film in 2023. \u201cI was really happy when the \u2018Barbie\u2019 movie did so good. I\u2019ve always loved pink and the Barbie Doll, and that was a great little movie. So yeah, I\u2019m still the Backwoods Barbie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo: John Seakwood\/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On January 19, 2007, while heading toward rehearsals for the Broadway musical adaptation of 9 to 5, based…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8082,4022,267,9,11,10,49,51,50,4021,8081],"class_list":{"0":"post-9661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-american-songwriter","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-new-york-state","15":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-state-news","17":"tag-newsbreak","18":"tag-the-smoky-mountains-inspired-song-dolly-parton-wrote-while-riding-a-limo-around-new-york-city-on-her-birthday"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}