Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton - Research Paper Example

“Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton The world has experienced great musicians who sing different genres of music with informative lessons in them and this is one of the perfect contributions of this American female Artist called Dolly Parton. One of her greatest single release that sent chilling message across the world during her active music life time is her song titled “Coat of many colors”. This song had a double cutting edge on the social fabric of the society and in the life of Dolly Parton (Cardwell, 9). It is important to undertake a critical review of the life history of this great female artist in US and the world at large and the relationship with this song. Music has an unaesthetic effect in the life of many people due to its reflective memory captivation and psychological adjustments in the mind of an individual. In analyzing this song and Dolly Parton who composed it, it is imperative that people relate their personal life experiences with the message being conveyed for learning purposes besides social entertainment (Leppert and Susan, 4). The background of Dolly Parton significantly contributed to the composition of this song. It is common to realize that the past of this singer as expressed in the song is similar to any other cases of people in any normal society. It is simply a rhythmic presentation of the ideas which reflects the real life situations of people in the socio-economically diverse society. About Dolly parton This great female global musician of her time was born Dolly Rebecca Parton in 1946 in United States of America. Her great performance skills and outstanding songs composition ability can be traced from her childhood career as a performer. It is important to underline that Dolly parton came from a very humble background with evidently several social factors for basic livelihood missing. They were literally a poor family and grew with her siblings in an economically unfavorable environment with poor clothing as her song “Cloth of many colors” can attest. During her childhood years, she went to school in tattered clothes that could only be likened to rags from the multicolored fabric composed of enjoined old pieces of cloths by the mother. As she presents in her song, Parton’s future was shaped significantly through her experiences from childhood (Randall, et al, 262). Parton began to release moderately successful singles from the year 1959 to the middle of 1960s which was propelled by her outstanding soprano voice. It is important to note that Parton exploited her voice to give music the taste it has with captivating blend of tonal variations and smooth recitation. Her global prominence came into play from 1967 from her Porter Wagoner’s weekly television featuring performances. This was marked by their joint release of a song “The Last Thing on My Mind" which hit the top ten charts of the country singles. By the time they called off the partnership, she had already created her own vocal brand and was set to join mainstream county music most of which were successful. This musician is credited with a number of joint releases with top county musicians like Kenny Rodgers and her many other songs remain new every time they are played as if they were released yesterday. The quality of her music is attributed to composure and self-discipline which is manifested in most of her songs. From her humble background, she is one among the few musicians who decide to give back to the society through charitable works alongside music. Due to her musical exploits she has managed to divert part of her fortunes to promote childhood literacy through her Dollywood project. She is also known to have acted in some movies like Steel Magnolias, Romeo & Juliet, and Straight Talk among others. She boasts of an estimated millions of sales of most of her albums. Most of her songs cut across gender issues, love and social life which fit any age group with deep seated words of wisdom. Parton holds the mantle of selling the highest number of songs raking millions of dollars by the standard of her time. About the song “Coat of many colors” This remains one of the greatest songs of Dolly parton in her musical lifetime. It is important to note that Parton made global headlines in 1971 with this great single hit of coat of many colors. This song emerged effectively to be her signature song, majorly because of her autobiographical tune about her childhood life. This song has diverse themes but not specific in terms of the presentation. This song talks about the coat that was made for her by the mother during her school days. In the song she explains that her mother took old pieces of cloths with varied colors and sewed them together to make the multicolored coat (Tichi, 98). In her recitation of this lyric she explores the abject poverty in which she lived with her family. But, it is interesting to note that in that state of poverty she was simply happy out of naivety that she had a coat. The fellow classmates used to laugh about her but she overlooked that from the perception she had in respect of the mother’s composure when sewing together the various parts. In this song parton explains that the spirit of doing something and the level of contentment significantly affects the outcome. It is important to note the love with which the mother sewed together the various old cloths to make a complete coat which in the sight of a normal person showed poverty. The irony behind this composition is that she was very happy and felt complete and satisfied in this sketchy attire among classmates who thought otherwise. Each moment one listens to this song it sounds real and sends emotional effects in the mind concerning the background of the music icon of her time. Parton’s ability to join top class musicians also shows her hybrid interpersonal skills and musical acumen which explains her long standing record in the global artists chart (Miller, 70). The structure of this lyric employed a number of musical tools which make it to effective pass the message. It is dotted with rhyme and rhythm in its rendition and it is planned in a sequential manner. The flow of information and chronological order of events of her life in respect of the coat of many colors brings out some sense of originality. Going through the song is easy as it uses simply language that even a small child can read and understand. This is an important concept in this song that made it easier to be comprehensible even to the non-English speaking audience around the word. The thrilling transition from one line to another makes it easy to connect ideas expressed in this song. This song serves as a memoir of her poor past and an encouraging piece to many people of similar experience. It is important to note that most of the great musicians share some common characteristics in their personal attributes and quality of their songs. Various genres address different socio-economic and political issues. Music is a form of creative art that has qualities that are almost similar to literature and it is the most effective way of expressing ideas that touches on life of people in the society (Leppert and Susan, 4). Dolly Parton’s creativity and vocal talent as explored in this famous album of coat of many colors will live to be her greatest legacy in the world. Work cited Cardwell, Nancy. The Words and Music of Dolly Parton: Getting to Know Country's "iron Butterfly". Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011. Print. Leppert, Richard D, and Susan McClary. Music and Society: The Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print. Miller, Stephen. Smart Blonde: Dolly Parton. London: Omnibus, 2008. Print. Randall, Alice, Carter Little, and Courtney Little. My Country Roots: The Ultimate Mp3 Guide to America's Original Outsider Music. Nashville, Tenn: Naked Ink, 2006. Print. Tichi, Cecelia. Reading Country Music: Steel Guitars, Opry Stars, and Honky-Tonk Bars. Durham u.a: Duke Univ. Press, 1998. Print. Read More