Verse-Chorus-Verse

A column dedicated to great songs, old and new.

July 12, 2005

"Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" - Dolly Parton

Written by Dolly Parton
From Greatest Hits, RCA Records, 1982
This version originally from Heartbreak Express, RCA Records, 1982

For some reason, people often think I'm joking when I name Dolly Parton as a songwriting influence. I believe this partly has to do with the fact that a lot of folks are only familiar with Dolly's entertainer persona. I don't think this is an accident; Ms. Parton has done a very effective job of distracting us with her over-the-top image, while leaving her real gifts to be discovered by those who look a little deeper.

For anyone still under the impression that Dolly Parton is simply a vocalist and early 80s movie star with a closet full of wigs, let's be clear: Dolly is one of the great songwriters of all time. The stylistic breadth and wide reach of her work isn't matched by many. I mean, how many country songwriters can claim they've worked with club DJ/producer Junior Vasquez, or have had songs covered by both Norah Jones and Me'Shell Ndegeocello?

"Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" is classic Dolly. She's written all kinds of "pining", songs but this one probably tops the list. Dig:

"And when I think of you, and the love we once knew,
How I wish we could go back in time.
Do you ever think back to old memories like that...
Or do I ever cross your mind?"

Dolly is an economical writer, both musically and lyrically. She doesn't unleash a barrage of words and chord changes to get a point across. This version of "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" floats easily on an upbeat, country-funk groove, which lightly conceals the sadness of the lyric (Joan Osborne's great version on the recent Dolly Parton tribute record, Just Because I'm a Woman, foregoes the upbeat veneer altogether). Like Dolly's entertainer persona, the depth at the core of the experience has to be sought out, but it is there if you care to look: just above that groove, the lyric masterfully captures the eternal nostalgia of the heartbroken. Dig, again:

"Do you ever wake up lonely in the middle of the night
because you miss me?
Do you, darling?
And do your memories ever take you back into another place And time?
Oh, and do you ever miss the feelings and the love we shared When you were with me?
Do you, darling?
I just wonder... do I cross your mind?"

Like a lot of Dolly's best love-lost pieces, "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" has a kind of patinized desperation hovering over the song. The expressed notions (and her delivery) may be sweet, and even decidedly feminine, but the narrator here may also possibly be on her way to "Every Breath You Take"-type stalkerville. Dolly has always been an expert at exploring the sad and the dark ("To Daddy", "Jolene", "Dagger Through the Heart", "Little Sparrow", among others) while simultaneously maintaining her good-time-girl image.

That's really what makes Dolly so special. While Dolly the Performer distracts us with the hair, the smile, and her other attractive physical assets, Dolly the Artist quietly writes songs of enormous depth and power. She's got it all covered, and she knows it. Thousands of songwriters and entertainers know it, too, which is why so many of us admire her.

If you ever see me on stage with a blonde wig and falsies, please let me know that Dolly's influence has gotten the best of me.

pcm

Purchase:
Just Because I'm a Woman
at Amazon.com
at Tower Records

Purchase:
Greatest Hits
at Amazon.com
at Tower Records