The world lost an angel when Dolly Parton was called back to heaven this past summer, and I’m not sure we’ve been able to recover just yet, or if we ever will. I don’t know if there is such a thing as recovery when someone so good is taken after giving us so much. It gives new meanings and readings to some of her staple songs, such as this one about the unrequited love felt by someone left behind. It’s a kinder and more contemplative take than this relationship ending song, positing questions and melancholic rumination rather than explanations and recriminations.
When you love somebody
With all your heart and soul
And you want to keep them with you
But you know they want to go
What do you do? What do you say?
When you know they want to leave
As bad as you want them to stay
And there’s nothing quite as sad as a one-sided love
When one doesn’t care at all and the other cares too much
It’s a sad situation, I must say
When someone wants to leave
As bad as you want them to stay
This song could have formed the soundtrack to my early 20’s, when one one-sided love affair followed another, and my romantic modus operandi was hellbent delusional destruction. File it under ‘Fun, from the Past’. That Dolly wrote about such a predicament a full year before I was even born is testament to her wisdom and enduring talent.
You know how much I love you
But I know you don’t love me
And I know it’s just a matter of time before you leave
But I, do I stand aside and just let you walk away?
But I know you want to leave
As bad as I want you to stay
As far as Dolly’s leaving us goes, there are no words of comfort or songs of solace that can put much of a dent in our collective heartbreak, but her voice remains, more divine and heavenly than ever. If she is not here directly working for all of her admirable causes, her spirit certainly continues that work, and her legacy will stand forever after. The same can be said for how much we miss you, and that emptiness won’t ever be filled.
And there’s nothing quite as sad as a one-sided love
When one doesn’t love at all and the other loves too much
It’s a sad situation I must say
When someone wants to leave as bad as you want them to stay
Oh, it’s a sad situation I must say
When someone wants to leave as bad as you want them to stay
