Dolly Parton's greatest songs, and the stories behind them

Dolly Parton was more than a musician, actor, author, philanthropist, or theme-park entrepreneur. Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, occupied a space in our global cultural imagination — a figure of American mythology, someone best described as larger-than-life and then a little bit more. But from the very beginning, at the heart of everything she accomplished, she was a songwriter. Selecting 11 songs across her many decades of recorded music is a fool’s errand, but there are some classics that stand above others. Here are a few across her discography — from country songs that challenge traditional gender dynamics to the greatest ballad ever committed to record. Listen to all of the tracks on our Spotify playlist. 1968: “Just Because I’m a Woman” Parton was long celebrated for the feminis