• Dolly Parton wrote the iconic song “I Will Always Love You” (which was later made popular again by Whitney Houston) in 1974.
• Although the lyrics sound like they’re about the end of a romantic relationship, they’re actually about the end of a professional one.
• Dolly wrote the song when she decided to leave Porter Wagoner’s show.

Of all the legendary songs Dolly Parton has written in her illustrious career, “I Will Always Love You” remains one of the most iconic. Dolly’s version hit No. 1 on the charts twice in her career (when she first released the song in 1974, and again when she re-recorded it for her 1982 movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). And of course, the ballad became popular all over again when Whitney Houston recorded a version for the movie The Bodyguard in 1992.

Perhaps the reason that “I Will Always Love You” has struck a chord with so many listeners through the years is that it has such strikingly simple, yet heartbreaking, lyrics. It’s the straightforward passion behind the words that make the song so timeless:

And yet, Dolly did not write the song about a romantic breakup — it was written about a professional one.

In 1973, Dolly had hit a roadblock in her relationship with Porter Wagoner, her mentor and on-screen duet partner. She had agreed to star on his TV program, The Porter Wagoner Show, for five years and had done so with great success — but she was ready to go out on her own and make her own career. Unfortunately, Porter wasn’t ready to see her go, and they were butting heads over the decision.

“There was a lot of grief and heartache there, and he just wasn’t listening to my reasoning for my going,” Dolly told CMT back in 2011. “I thought, ‘Well, why don’t you do what you do best? Why don’t you just write this song?’… so I went home and out of a very emotional place in me at that time, I wrote the song, ‘I Will Always Love You.'”

The next day, armed with her new song, Dolly walked back into the office and asked Porter if he could hear her out for minute. She sang “I Will Always Love You” to him — and Porter was overcome with emotion.

“He started crying,” Dolly told the Tennessean in 2015. “When I finished, he said, ‘Well, hell! If you feel that strong about it, just go on — providing I get to produce that record because that’s the best song you ever wrote.'”

From there, the rest was history: Dolly eventually left the show, and Porter produced her next record, Jolene, with “I Will Always Love You” on the track list. The song became the multiple-time No. 1 hit we know it as today, and Dolly and Porter even went on to perform it together at a special Grand Ole Opry show. She also reportedly sang it to Porter one final time, on the day that he died in 2007.

In the end, Dolly says “I Will Always Love You” represents her desire to make it clear to Porter how much she cared about and appreciated him, even though it was time for her to leave the show.

“It’s saying, ‘Just because I’m going don’t mean I won’t love you,” she told CMT. “I appreciate you and I hope you do great and I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I’m out of here.'”

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Top 7 lyrics to i will always love you by dolly parton Synthesized by BSS news