Hamilton College

Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton. University of Illinois Press, 2020.

Country music star Dolly Parton primarily considers herself a serious songwriter: she has written over 3,000 songs, and over 450 have been recorded. This book focuses on Dolly’s music rather than her image and examines her songwriting with an emphasis on its connection to her Appalachian Mountain heritage.

Written for a general audience, Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton explores how Dolly's songs convey their messages through musical means and foregrounds the nuances of Dolly’s musical practice: her vocabulary of melody, harmony, and form. Hamessley examines the songs by topic rather than chronologically: Appalachian traits in Dolly’s music, love songs, songs about women, songs of tragedy, and uplifting, inspirational songs.

While not a biography, the analyses take into consideration Dolly’s reminiscences about her childhood and her beliefs: her experiences of poverty, her Pentecostal upbringing, and her thoughts about women’s lives and relationships. Hamessley explores cultural tropes and traditions Dolly draws on in her songs: fairy tales, mountain music, parlor ballads, ghost stories, hymns, Celtic music. Storytelling is a hallmark of Dolly’s songs. This book seeks to discover what stories Dolly has been most interested in telling in her music. The book’s accessible style and broad scope demonstrates Dolly’s identity as a gifted, sensitive songwriter. Read an excerpt about “Coat of Many Colors” here.

In 2022, Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton received a Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award in pop music for titles published in 2020.

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“I’m so excited about the book Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton spotlighting Dolly's unmatched gift as a songwriter. Always honoring and forgiving, Dolly shines only the best light on circumstances that would've taken the rest of us out. She's the hero who continues to encourage those who wanted change or wished to go back, bringing to life a part of the country and an existence most of us didn't know or understand, all while making hard living seem like heaven on earth. Her magical combination of heart and genius is a most awe inspiring thing to witness, having a beauty and delivery like no other. Dolly's tales of family, faith, and romance have created an American treasure who has continued to enrapture the world for decades. What a gift for us to see life through hers.” --Alison Krauss

“Lydia Hamessley invites us on a deep dive into the world of Dolly Parton as songwriter. The book weaves together insightful analyses of the musical forms, cultural roots, and meanings found in Parton’s vast catalog, with Parton’s own accounts of her music. Hamessley unveils these songs as the heart and substance of Parton’s contributions to popular culture, and will inspire every reader to take yet another listen.” --Jocelyn R. Neal, author of Country Music: A Cultural and Stylistic History