Highlights

• Dolly Parton wishes her controversial songs, like "The Bargain Store," were more appreciated despite being misunderstood.
• Controversial songs like "Down From Dover," describing an unwed mother, were seen as too edgy and underappreciated.
• Parton's decision to leave The Porter Wagoner Show led to a successful career diversification and massive hit songs.

If Dolly Parton has proven anything throughout her lengthy career, it's that she cannot be contained. While Parton is best known for her impact in the music industry, her acting, charity work, theme park, and upcoming cookbook are demonstrative of the flexibility in her career. The diversification has also resulted in an almost unbelievable net worth. More importantly, it's built her a mega-fanbase that spans across all walks of life.

One of the many other reasons why so many adore Dolly Parton is the fact that she's so transparent. This includes her thoughts about her plastic surgeries and how she's addressed the most controversial songs in her discography. During an interview with Vulture, Parton went over the most popular and influential songs in her career. But she also mentioned those that stirred up trouble. So much so that they remain underappreciated to this day. In this article, we will delve into what Parton believes are her most underappreciated songs and why they were deemed scandalous. Following that, we will reveal the album that changed Parton's life and simultaneously caused some to say it was her biggest mistake...

Dolly Parton Wished These Controversial Songs Were More Famous

During Dolly Parton's 2023 interview with Vulture, the country music icon revealed which of her songs she wished were more popular. As it turns out, each of them was deemed too 'controversial' when they were released. Among them is her single, "The Bargain Store" which was banned by numerous radio stations. According to Whiskey Riff, many conservative country stations believed that Parton was referencing prostitution. But in her interview with Vulture, Parton cleared things up:

"There was a song I wrote years ago called 'The Bargain Store,' and nobody played it on the radio because they were acting like I was implying something else."

"The Bargain Store" was written and released by Dolly Parton in January 1975. It was the single for the album of the same name. While it ended up being the fifth number one on the country chart for Parton as a solo artist, it was also greatly underappreciated and highly controversial in certain circles.

In her interview with Vulture, Parton addressed the supposedly "controversial" lyrics:

"My life is likened to a bargain store: 'I may have just what you’re looking for / If you don’t mind the fact that all the merchandise is used / But with a little mending, it could be as good as new … The bargain store is open, come inside.' I’m saying come inside my heart. I’m talking about a broken heart and how we can put the pieces back together if we’re willing to try. I thought that was one of my most clever songs, and it’s still one of my favorites. But at that time, they were saying it was vulgar and I was saying something else. 'The bargain store, open, come inside'. You get it."

On top of "The Bargain Store", Dolly Parton also mentioned "Down From Dover" as an underappreciated song. While it has a stronger fanbase than "The Bargain Store", it still doesn't rank among her most popular songs.

Like "The Bargain Store", "Down From Dover" was also seen as controversial as it depicted an unwed mother.

"I wrote that back during a time when people didn’t talk about unwed mothers — much less a child dying and all that. She kept waiting for him to come down from Dover when he said he would. He left her there pregnant. They wouldn’t play that on the radio. And now you can just get pregnant on TV. I felt those songs were strong when I wrote them and I thought both times, 'Oh, man, this could be a big hit'. A lot of people will relate to this and it’s a great story. It would make a great movie. I have a lot of songs that have been just shady enough."

The last song Dolly Parton mentioned as underappreciated was "Evening Shade". The song was part of her 1969 album "My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy" and also had an edge like "Down From Dover". This time, the song was about abused orphans who decide to burn down the orphanage they grew up in.

"'Evening Shade' was about an orphanage where the children had been mistreated. The name of the old orphanage was Evening Shade, because it was positioned in the back of the shade of these trees. So the kids decide to undermine the old matron and they burn the place down. She burns down with it. It’s just so well rhymed and all. They wouldn’t play that one on the radio either. They thought it was going to incite violence or something. I don’t write songs thinking like that. I come up with all of these stories. They make good movies in my mind when I write. They paint pictures."

Dolly Parton Leaving The Porter Wagoner Show Caused Controversy

While Dolly Parton was writing and releasing music in her youth, she didn't find much success in the mainstream country music scene until 1967, when she joined Porter Wagoner's organization. Because of the moderate success she found, Wagoner offered her a spot on his syndicated TV show, The Porter Wagoner Show.

Most of her musical collaborations with Wagoner and his group were duets. But her biggest hit, "Jolene" was released during this time. But by the end of things, Parton wanted to prove her worth on her own and decided to leave the show. This resulted in a massive lawsuit with Wagoner and did damage to their relationship. According to Billboard, it also caused many to believe Parton was dooming her country music career.

"When I left The Porter Wagoner Show, everybody was saying that I was making a big mistake. And then, in a few months, I had done 'New Harvest … First Gathering'. But I knew I needed bigger things. I needed to go big or stay home. So I started looking for management. That’s when I got the song “Here You Come Again” presented to me.."

During her interview with Vulture in 2023, Parton stated that the single "Here You Come Again", which she didn't write, really reinvigorated her and earned her a "crossover record" in the pop genre.

"It was also my first million-selling record."

There's no doubt that leaving The Porter Wagoner Show was the right move for Parotn, who soon branched out and diversified her music career.