Dolly Working 9 To 5

[Zoraida]

Onethought that I constantly had in the back of my mind while growing up was to graduate high school, go to a good college, graduate from that college, and then get a J-O-B. Period. There was no more sentence after that period, and therefore no idea about what happens after that or what that is like. What happens once you get that job? What is it even like working 9-5 every day (well, 8:30-5:30 in my case)? Is it just like an extension of what school is like?

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"9 to 5" is a song written and recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton for the 1980 comedy film of the same name. In addition to appearing on the film's soundtrack, the song was the centerpiece and opening track of Parton's album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, released in late 1980.

Released as a single in November 1980, the song garnered Parton an Academy Award nomination and four Grammy Award nominations, winning her the awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. For a time, it became something of an anthem for office workers in the US, and in 2004, it ranked at number 78 on the American Film Institute's '100 Years, 100 Songs'.

The song was written for the comedy film 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Parton in her film debut; both the song and the film owe their titles to 9to5, an organization founded in 1973 to bring about fair pay and equal treatment for women in the workplace.[1]

The song is also featured in a musical theater adaptation of the film, featuring a book by the film's original writer, Patricia Resnick, and 20 additional songs written by Dolly Parton. The musical began showing previews in Los Angeles on September 9, 2008, and played on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre from April until September 2009 before touring. In 2012, a UK theatre tour of 9 to 5 began.

A few months before Parton's song and the film, Scottish singer Sheena Easton released a single called "9 to 5" in the UK. When Easton's song was released in the U.S. the following year it was renamed "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion. Easton's single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart three months after Parton's song left that spot. Despite similar titles, the two songs differ in lyrical themes. While Parton's song is about a working woman, Easton's song is about a woman waiting at home for her lover to return from work.

"9 to 5" reached number one on the Billboard Country chart in January 1981.[3] In February 1981, it went to number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. It became Parton's first and only solo number one entry on the former, as Parton would later team up with Kenny Rogers on their number one duet "Islands in the Stream".[4] The song was certified gold on February 19, 1981, indicating shipment of 1,000,000 physical copies. It was certified platinum on September 25, 2017.[5] The song has accrued 500,000 digital downloads as of February 2019[update] in the United States after it was made available for download in the 21st century.[6]

Despite peaking at number 47 on the UK Singles Chart in 1981, it has sold 303,511 digital copies in the UK as of July 2014[update].[7] As of 2017[update], it is Parton's most downloaded track in the UK, totaling 340,800 downloads, while it has also been streamed 8.46 million times.[8] It remains popular on radio and in nightclubs throughout the UK and was spliced between "Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child and "Eple" by Ryksopp for the Soulwax album As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2.

This song is one of the few Billboard chart songs to feature the clacking of a typewriter. Parton has stated in numerous interviews that when she wrote the song, she devised the clacking typewriter rhythm by running her acrylic fingernails back and forth against one another.[9]

With "9 to 5", Parton became only the second woman to top both the U.S. country singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100 with the same single; the first was 1968's "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeannie C. Riley, which Parton had coincidentally covered in her 1969 album, In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad).

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren frequently used the song at campaign appearances during her 2020 presidential campaign, with it often playing when she took the stage.[12][13][14][15] Reacting to the song's use, Parton's manager Danny Nozell said, "We did not approve the request, and we do not approve requests like this of (a) political nature."[16] The song was sung from the public gallery of the New Zealand Parliament by supporters of Green Party MP Jan Logie at the conclusion of her veladictory address, and is thus recorded in Hansard.[17]

The song appeared in the opening scenes of the films The Love Guru (performed by Mike Myers on the sitar as his character Guru Pitka) and Deadpool 2 (with Deadpool himself using it in a sequence where he kills a series of people in his mercenary job, even starting the music by declaring "hit it, Dolly" immediately before).

"9 to 5" was also interpolated into the 2024 song "Powerful Women" by Pitbull, which features Parton herself re-recording the song's chorus alongside adding new lines. Pitbull later declared on X that it was "an honor to be collaborating with one of music's most powerful women".[19]

Despite never working a 9 To 5 job in her entire life, Dolly Parton understood the plight of working women and channeled that despair, hope and frustration into an anthem that still resonates today, long after the film of the same name has faded in the cultural consciousness. Her previous album, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly had been entirely written by others, so it was ironic (although not a surprise to anyone who understands her songwriting talent) that she would find the crossover hit she was looking for in her own pen after all.

The song itself is build on a brilliant melody and a rhythm she tapped out with her fake nails, which still sounds as timeless as ever. Just like Jolene this song does not age. As long as there are days in the week people will need this song, dance to this song and understand every damn word.

The rest of 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs is loosely themed around the idea of work and jobs, with some folk and country covers chosen to fit in with the title track, although some may still find the production overtly pop and polished at times. The album also has four songs written by Dolly, a welcome return for her songwriting after the variable quality of the writers she had been working with.

While some of the production of this album sounds dated and of its era, the title track transcends time and genre. The rest of the album fails to match the star quality of that song, but overall it is a welcome return to her roots and the themes that made her.

Dolly Parton, now a country music icon, was born the fourth of 12 children in Locust Ridge, a holler in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. She left home the day after she graduated high school, taking a bus to Nashville to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Her career later took her to Hollywood and around the world, but she has always cared deeply about her home.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the structural gaps between classes, genders, and races in the United States and around the world. Racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected, as have poor people and people living in rural areas.

Watch the complete session from the third day of the Rural Assembly Everywhere virtual festival, to hear Sarah Smarsh and Benya Kraus discuss Dolly Parton, homecoming, working-class feminism, rural women, and much more.

Dolly Parton:

Well, first of all, I love the music. I was born to be a singer and a songwriter, it was a song that brought me out of the smokey mountains to Nashville. It was a song that has taken me everywhere I want to go. And out of that song, so many wonderful things have branched out for me. Even if I had never made it in the business, I would have continued to do my music cause I can't help that. That's just inside me. Even if I'd have done nothing more than be a waitress, I'd have been saving them tips to go down and do a demo and try to get my songs still recorded and make an album. But like I said, I'd sell it out of the back of my car and all us artists have done that at one time or another, but I would continue to do it. Thank the Lord I'm not having to do exactly that these days, but that's how much I love the business and how much I love the singing and the songwriting.

Adam Grant:

We will have no spoilers today, but I would love to hear about the creative process and how the experience of telling a story with Patterson was similar to and different from working on a song.

Dolly Parton:

Yes, it did. And vice versa, he would send stuff to me. And I would get a great idea for a song about something that he had sent and then I would send him the lyrics and he'd incorporate a lot of my lyrics into the characters in certain situations that would inspire him to come up with other ideas.

So it was really amazing how it all out even better than we thought.We'd never discussed me doing an album, but all of a sudden it seemed to be my, my best way to contribute to the book.

Adam Grant:

I thought so too. And I'm so glad you mentioned 9 to 5 because as an organizational psychologist, I study work for a living. And so that song could be the theme song of my life. And I'd love to hear a little bit about how has your view of work changed since you first wrote 9 to 5 and what is pouring yourself a cup of ambition like today?

Dolly Parton:

Well, that's a good question. I've got so many irons in the fire sometimes I'm burning my own butt, I have to get up earlier. I have to work longer and I have to have a bigger cup of ambition in the morning to get it all done but somebody like me, I always wanted to be a star and I wanted my dreams to come true, and they did, and there's always a dream within a dream within a dream. Cause as I often say, as a joke, but it's the truth that I've dreamed myself into a corner, meaning my dreams have come true so I have to keep them alive. Everything kind of springs off, it's like a tree with deep roots and many branches and many leaves. You get a chance to do something else because you build a brand and all that. Every day, something new comes up and I can't deny it, and I have to get in there and be with it, I can't just leave it as long as I'm living. I can't leave that in the hands of other people. I have to be on top of all of it to make sure that it's being done right. The way that I want it done.

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