In a lengthy chat with Vulture, Dolly Parton got asked if there's any songs from her lengthy career she that wishes had gotten a stronger reception. She named three that were avoided by country radio because of their lyrical content.
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The first was her most infamous banned song, 1975's "The Bargain Store." Such lyrics as "The bargain store is open, come inside/ You can easily afford the price/ Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise/ And I can guarantee you'll be completely satisfied" were considered lewd at the time.
"I'm saying come inside my heart," Parton said. "I'm talking about a broken heart and how we can put all the pieces back together if we're willing to try. I thought that was one of the most clever songs, and it's still one of my favorites. But at that time, they were saying that it was vulgar and I was saying something else. The bargain store, open, come inside. You get it."
An earlier single, 1970's "Down From Dover" also stirred up controversy.
"I wrote that during a time when people didn't talk about unwed mothers— much less a child dying and all that," she said. "She kept waiting for him to come down from Dover when he said he would. He left her there pregnant. They wound't play that on radio. And now you can just get pregnant on TV."
A third pick, 1969's "Evening Shade" tells a dark tale about abused orphans.
"The name of the old orphanage was Evening Shade, because it was positioned in the back of the shade of these trees," Parton shared. "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 would play that on radio either. They thought it was going to incite violence or something."
In each case, Parton wasn't trying to stir the pot. She simply wanted to write realistic stories.
"They make up good movies in my mind when I write," she added. "They paint pictures."
