AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Dean, died this week. This morning, she released a new song, which, like some of her biggest hits, was inspired by him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU HADN'T BEEN THERE")
DOLLY PARTON: (Singing) Without your trust, love and belief...
CHANG: "If You Hadn't Been There" is Parton's ode to Dean and their six decades of marriage, as NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Dolly Parton moved to Nashville when she was 18 years old. Her first day there, she went to the Wishe Washe Laundrymat.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
PARTON: I had brought some dingy, dirty little clothes from home, and so I was just down there doing my laundry and walking around on the sidewalk.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's Parton, speaking to NPR in 2014.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
PARTON: Carl Dean came riding by, and he pulled over and said something to me, and I said something to him, and 50 years later, we're still talking.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dean and Parton were together for 60 years. Dean owned an asphalt business in Nashville, and he was known for staying out of the spotlight - so much so that there was a rumor that Parton made him up. But he was real, and he inspired this massive hit from 1973.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOLENE")
PARTON: (Singing) Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene...
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In 2008, Parton told NPR that the song was about a bank teller who paid Dean a little too much attention.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
PARTON: She got this terrible crush on my husband. And he just loved going to the bank 'cause she paid him so much attention. It was kind of like a running joke between us, when I was saying, hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money. So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOLENE")
PARTON: (Singing) Jolene, I'm begging of you, please, don't take my man.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Parton told the press that Dean was not the biggest fan of country music. He was more of a hard rock guy, but he stood by the side of one of country's most enduring voices until his death on Monday. Parton wrote this song in his memory.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU HADN'T BEEN THERE")
PARTON: (Singing) If you hadn't been there, well, who would I be?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Parton released "If You Hadn't Been There" at midnight. On her Instagram, she wrote, quote, "he will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU HADN'T BEEN THERE")
PARTON: (Singing) ...Have cradled me. You held me close, and I believe...
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR 瓜神app.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU HADN'T BEEN THERE")
PARTON: (Singing) I wouldn't be here.. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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