Dolly Parton is sharing the stories behind some of the songs on her new album, “A Holly Dolly Christmas.”
She starts with “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas,” her duet with jazz and soul singer Michael Buble.
Parton Dishes on Songwriting Process
“People will find this surprising; they might not even like it. It might not be as sexy, but it’s the truth,” Parton began. “I wrote this while I was cuddling up and cozying down with one of my little nieces and nephews, just thinking about mothers and their babies.”
Parton crafted the beginnings of the song with mothers cuddling babies in mind. But after she started writing the song, Parton said, she realized she needed to make it more romantic. So she added more to it.
“And I cuddled up with Michael Buble on this one!” she concluded. “And he did a great job on it. So, it made it sexy. I can only fantasize, cuddlin’ up and cozying down with him.”
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Parton’s Chart-Topping Songs
The album came out on Friday, Oct. 2. It instantly shot to the top of the Top Country Albums and Top Holiday Albums charts, Billboard reports. It also ranked No. 16 on the Billboard 200 list.
Parton apparently writes songs constantly.
“On my tour bus, on an airplane, in the bathtub or just about anywhere, the writing comes all the time,” Parton said, according to Parade. “I always try to be open to it and to be ready. I stay close to my guitar or a tape recorder so that I can remember a melody if it comes to me.”
Sometimes she even writes multiple songs per day, she said: “It’s possible that ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ were written on the same day. When we were going through all my old tapes, we found that they were on the same cassette tape, back-to-back.”
