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You Can't Say That
Dolly Parton’s No. 1 hit “9 to 5” was the biggest song of her long career, but nevertheless, its origins were humble. As Parton has recounted on many occasions, she wrote the song on set during the filming of the comedy movie of the same name, in which the country icon starred alongside her friends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. While many people outside of the movie industry imagine being on a film set is incredibly glamorous, for actors the reality means a lot of hanging around between takes while the crew sets up the next shot or other actors perform their scenes. Parton claims that she had taken a role in “9 to 5” on the proviso that she would have the opportunity to write the theme song, and as such she decided to make the most of her time on set.
The songwriter is known for her distinctive look, part of which involves wearing long acrylic fingernails. She has previously discussed how the nails pose a challenge to her guitar playing, but it turns out that they were also proven to be an aid when it came to composing her most famous song. Between takes, Parton claims that she slowly built the song in her breaks by using her acrylic nails as percussion by running the nails of either hand against each other to make a sound like a washboard.
