Yahoo Sports Dolly Parton Releases Catchy New Song Inspired by a 'Dream About God' to Celebrate Her 77th Birthday
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton is celebrating her birthday this year with a special surprise for fans!
The country legend, who turned 77 on Thursday, announced the release of her new single "Don't Make Me Have to Come Down There" just in time for the big celebration. After singing happy birthday to herself in an Instagram clip, Parton explained why she held the song for her latest trip around the sun.
"Somebody said, 'What are you gonna get on your birthday?' I said, 'I'm not gonna get, I'm gonna give.' I've got a song that I'm dropping today on my birthday," she told fans. "It's a song that came to me in a dream and I felt like it was worth putting out there. Something special — well, it's special to me."
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Parton then explained the origins of her dream that led to the track's creation. "I had a dream about God standing on a mountain, looking down on us, saying 'Don't make me have to come down there,'" she said.
"And then it woke me up. I got up, I started writing this song over a period of weeks, months. I finished it as things would come to me, and I just felt like I should drop it on my birthday. So, I hope you enjoy it."
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The song features a catchy acoustic guitar riff and opens with Parton explaining her dream in detail. "Don't make me have to come down there," she sings from the perspective of God. "My children you had best beware / If you don't pay attention consequences will be dire / Don't make me have to come down there."
The song — which features a cover art of the sun illuminating over a black and white skyline — marks Parton's first single since the release of "Bets On Us" with Cheat Codes earlier in the month, as well as her first solo track since her 2022 rendition of "Silent Night." Parton last released a non-holiday project with Run, Rose, Run, a companion album to the novel of the same name, which she co-authored with James Patterson last year.
The musician already has big plans for her next LP, too. On a Tuesday episode of The View, the country icon further elaborated on her next project (which will be a rock album), featuring names such as Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Pink, Steve Perry, Steven Tyler and Brandi Carlile.
"If I'm going to be in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, I better do something to earn it," Parton said. "So I'm doing a rock 'n' roll album and I'm having a lot of the rock stars that I met that night be on the album with me."
Kevin Winter/Getty Dolly Parton at the 57th Academy Of Country Music Awards
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Parton previously told PEOPLE about her push to create a rock album in November — which will not only be for herself, but for her husband of 56 years, Carl Thomas Dean, a lifelong rock fan. She was inducted into the 2022 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame back in November.
"I'm doing the rock 'n' roll album because of him," she said. "I had often thought about doing a rock 'n' roll album for him with his favorite songs. And so when this all came about, I decided that I am gonna go ahead and do it. … It was just the perfect storm. OK, it's time."
