Join Dave Gershman, Eric Greene, and Sarah Wassell as they explore and discuss great music across decades and genres, bringing their varied musical perspectives to every conversation.
Dolly Parton: "Traveling Man"
There isn’t much I can say about Dolly Parton in the wake of her passing two days ago that you likely haven’t already heard many times from people in every walk of life. As a singer and songwriter, she was supremely talented, writing or cowriting literally hundreds of songs on the dozens of albums she recorded, more often than not outshining the contributions of the other songwriters she may have recorded on those same records. Hand her a guitar, and even with her lengthy nails, she’d pick out one of the prettiest melodies you might hope to hear and then accompanying it with equally gorgeous vocals. I particularly enjoy her more rootsy acoustic songs, where her vocal talents could truly shine. I mean sure, I like “9 to 5” as much as the next person, and it certainly was a great song for showcasing her effervescent personality, but I like to hear her vocals less hidden by slick production.
Not only was she by all reports as warm, big-hearted, and generous a person as the evidence of our own eyes and ears would attest to from a multitude of interviews, TV, and movies, but she was also extremely funny and quick-witted. Not just good-humored but also a great sense of humor. She demonstrated that in her song lyrics as well, sometimes in places where you’d least expect it. One of those little knowing winks was on her 1971 album, <Coat of Many Colors>, mere moments after the heart-warming and heart-wrenching autobiographical story of the title track (yep, you got it: “Coat of Many Colors”), in which she related the beautiful love and support her mother demonstrated in raising Dolly and trying to dispel any sense of shame in growing up poor—poor in money but rich in love.
Well, if we were to extend that depiction of her mother into the next song, “Traveling Man,” as well, we’d be in for a good laugh. Dolly herself turns a bit mischievous, sneaking around with a traveling salesman against her mom’s wishes and planning to run off with him. But lo and behold, by song’s end, Dolly’s once-loving mom has run off herself with that no-good, two-timing bum. And Dolly winks at us about as broadly as a person can within the confines of an album track as she calls after her mother and bemoans her fate. She practically begs us to imagine this as the very same mother who made her that coat. In honor of Dolly, that’s the mama I’m going to picture.
Your light is already sorely missed, Dolly.
Original post date: August 27, 2026