songs

Dolly Parton was the last star in music everyone in America could agree on. Her brilliant career as a carefully-sculpted backwoods icon (one with unmatched insight into the human heart) told the nation stories it craved to hear about itself — songs about resilience and dignity under poverty and labor, how to hold conflicting feelings of devotion and loss. None of the canon of extras — the charmingly ramshackle Dollywood theme park, the purehearted children’s literacy initiatives, the rhinestone cowgirl aesthetics — would be possible without one of the most emotionally attuned, beautifully performed and broadly reaching catalogs in American music.

She is one of the finest singer-songwriters this country ever produced, and it’s inconceivable to sum up her catalog in just an LP’s worth of tunes. But Parton — the songwriter, the vocalist, the instrumentalist, the collaborator — only ever wanted to invite a listener in, wherever they arrive from. Here are 10 songs to start with.

Coat of Many Colors (1971)

The foundational text of Parton’s career, this 1971 single lovingly details her mother’s make-do resilience, stitching a fall coat from scraps of cloth in the spirit of a beloved Bible story. Its storytelling economy is just as crafty, finding splendor with humble tools, and distills Parton’s whole persona into one perfect song.

Touch Your Woman (1972)

You could spend tens of thousands on couple’s therapy and never get as good advice as “We can’t always both be right, we sometimes disagree / But you’ve got the right to speak your mind and it’s the same with me / When the anger’s at an end, and you want inside my arms again / All you have to do to make it right is just / Touch your woman.”

Jolene (1974)

Try to forget how ubiquitous this song is in pop culture, even though it’s been covered by Beyoncé (who laced her own domestic strife into a version), the White Stripes and Parton’s goddaughter Miley Cyrus. Listen to how eerie the thing actually is, how the harmonies capture the desperation, panic and preemptive grief of losing a love to someone whose appeal is undeniable. Nothing that haunted can ever be overplayed.

I Will Always Love You (1974)

Any songwriter should be so lucky — to have one of your hallmark tunes be lovingly swept out from under you and become one of the definitive ballads of pop music. Whitney Houston’s powerhouse version stands alone, but Dolly’s quieter, mournful ode to her collaboration with Porter Wagoner is the artful, formative sketch to a colossal mural.

The Bargain Store (1975)

Taking the themes of “Coat” in intimate new directions, there’s a pained, darker tang to lines like “Take these old, used memories from the past / And these broken dreams and plans that didn’t last / I’ll trade them for a future, I can’t use them anymore.” A perfect distillation of Parton’s themes and craftsmanship, where melancholy and resilience fight it out in the empty spaces.

Two Doors Down (1977)

One of Parton’s first forays into purer pop, this single has the stomp and shuffle of funk and could easily be retrofitted into disco DJ sets. Soul horns and synths liven the production up, but it all underlines how far her writing and vocal performances could travel through genres.

9 to 5 (1980)

The song that made Parton a true pop crossover, a movie star with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and an Oscar nominee. But don’t let the relatable career-girl pluck of the movie dilute the fact that this song is pissed off about capitalism, even as its hooks make the grind of working life more bearable.

Old Flames (Can’t Hold A Candle To You) (1980)

Dolly chose her covers carefully, but even she couldn’t have known how full-circle this would come around. A take on songwriter Pebe Sebert’s ballad that went to No. 1 on the country charts in 1980, Sebert’s daughter Kesha would eventually return the favor with a version decades later, two women who turned an act playing ditzy into resonant, affecting music.

To Know Him Is To Love Him (1987)

Parton’s pen and persona had no equals, but she was an enthusiastic collaborator as well, from her early partnership with Porter Wagoner up to her 2023 hard rock LP. She was at her best with the women of Trio, a supergroup with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, and this regal single of nascent, unrequited commitment is as lovely as they come.

Smoky Mountain Memories (Live – 1994)

Parton was a virtuoso at staying, if not apolitical, at least a neutral zone of relatability for conservatives and leftists alike, each of whom had ways to read their lives into her storytelling. A song like “Smoky Mountain Memories,” a gut-wrenching live rework of an earlier song, lent dignity to her family’s toil and loneliness, while raging against the circumstances that created it — “It takes all I’ve got to give what life demands / Oh, you go insane if you give into it.”

WHEN Brandon Flowers was a kid, his dad tried to teach him how to fight.

The lad had been picked on at school, so his father Terry talked him through what to do if it happened again.

Decades later, a memory of that time helped inspire the title of Flowers’ third solo album, Thrasher.

The Killers’ frontman still remembers sitting beside his father Terry in his old 1946 Chevy truck. “I was in fifth grade, so only 11 years old,” he recalls.

“My dad grew up fighting and I still remember him trying to explain to me how to fight.

“You can explain to me all day, but I’m not a fighter.

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“He’d say, ‘You don’t just swing. You think about when you’re going to throw your punch and you have to block yourself’.

“When I’m on stage, I find myself doing it so much. You have this crazy relationship, boys and their dads. I’m still trying to show him that I can do it.”

Flowers is all smiles when we meet at his central London record label. He’s just back from a week in Scotland with his family and feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Thrasher arrives 11 years after his last solo album, The Desired Effect. It is inspired by country and western, the music his dad listened to when Flowers was growing up.

“Much has been said about how my love of music came from my brother [Shane].

“Yeah, it did, but at the same time, I was hearing country music from my dad. His favourites were the heavy hitters — Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard — along with some of those who were not as famous. There’s a guy named John Conlee who he listened to, who I really love.

“As a teenager, I felt I had to choose — the kid who listens to New Order doesn’t also listen to Waylon Jennings.

“As I get older, I just seem to gravitate back to my father’s music.”

Flowers says he has become closer to his father, and increasingly like him, as he has grown older — and admits he is still trying to prove himself to his dad.

He says: “I’m trying to show my dad that I can do what he does. He’s a good man. He’s doing pretty good.

“He had open heart surgery at 81, which is a difficult thing. He’s five months past it now and is pretty good.”

Ideas for Thrasher began shortly after Flowers finished The Killers’ last record — 2021’s Pressure Machine.

He says: “I really enjoyed making this. It was a very important record to me. I didn’t want to leave it alone, so I just continued. It was such a revelation.

“I had all these memories, all these characters and sadness — all of this stuff that I could now find a place for and turn them into something.

“These songs don’t feel like Killers songs — they’re quite personal, so it felt natural that it should be a solo record. It’s been nearly ten years since the last one — I can’t believe it.”

Thrasher is a beautifully observed, emotionally affecting record.

The first single Plans “picks up where Pressure Machine left off”, says Flowers.

“It does a good job of representing the record. There’s some strong emotional material on this album.”

One of the most moving songs on Thrasher is One Of Us, a tribute to his sister’s late husband.

Flowers, the youngest in his family, jokes that he was always told he was “a surprise” — until he was eight, when a friend’s dad bluntly informed him he was “a mistake”.

“I have a sister who is 17 years older than me so her husband was around since I was a little boy.

“He was my brother, so when he passed, it was just heartbreaking and completely unexpected. He was just out of heart surgery. You just want to pay tribute to them and my sister loves it.”

The warm, wistful Paradise finds Flowers imagining the life he might have led, had music not taken him away from home.

“I always thought I would be a valet parker. That was my goal,” he says with a chuckle.

“And if music didn’t work out, it was my Plan B.

“I would be really happy to support my family and be a valet. That’s what my cousins and uncles have done — bellman and valet.

“I have a cousin, Bobby, who has spent his whole adult life as a valet parker, and he was sending me some texts one day complaining about work.

“I was sitting at the piano and just jumped on it, and used it as a launching pad for a song about an ageing valet parker.

“It’s basically him, and it’s where I would be right now if I didn’t have this incredible thing happen to me.

“I have this empathy for him and I’m exploring what could have been and what might have been. There’s sadness in it, but there are also winks and nods.

“That’s the thing I love about country music — how those can coexist.”

Thrasher was recorded quickly in Nashville with seasoned session musicians, including legendary harmonica player Charlie McCoy, whose credits include Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton.

Flowers says: “He played on all those Bob Dylan records and on Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman and Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer. He played with Leonard Cohen and had great stories about them all. He’s the mascot of Nashville and so incredible.”

Flowers says that the song Red Ground came especially quickly.

“I was trying for a Lee Hazlewood vibe and that song fell into our laps. These guys do this every day for hours. They make decisions that would break a band.”

Thrasher also finds Flowers making peace with his own past.

Although Las Vegas has always been central to The Killers’ identity, he admits he once felt conflicted about his Utah upbringing.

Now he says: “It did feel like I was keeping Utah a secret because I am happy to wave the flag for Las Vegas, but had a bit of a conflict about Utah.

“Now, there’s nothing wrong with embracing both.

“I look back with more tenderness now, and I’m so grateful for my upbringing there.

“I really lived in a golden time where you’re just free. It was before phones and technology and was idyllic — like something out of Stand By Me.”

Having interviewed Flowers many times over the past 20 years, one of the biggest changes is how much more comfortable he now seems revealing parts of himself he once kept guarded, particularly his Mormon faith.

He says: “I was so shy back then. I’m still shy, but I was also unsure about interviews and you don’t know what you’re supposed to reveal.

“It’s so not rock ’n’ roll to talk about Jesus in a positive light. It’s very common in sports but I think people are less open in music.

“There is this authenticity turmoil, where you feel like we’ve always glorified hedonism and debauchery in rock ’n’ roll — and even beyond rock ’n’ roll.

“In every kind of art form, those seem to be the people that we really revere because they are outliers. But I’ve realised it doesn’t make me any less creative because I have faith. I’m just never going to be Sid Vicious.”

Flowers, 45, says coming to terms with his different identities, and simply being himself, has become easier as he’s got older.

“I’m more forgiving of my younger self, but I’m still hard on my current self,” he says.

“We all have that inner voice and it can be the worst critic.

“It’s not been easy, but I now realise I can be that guy on stage, and also a family man,” he explains. “But I was so conflicted for a while.

“Half of you feels like an imposter, and then the other half is trying to show why you belong — it messes with your mind. I was lucky to find something that I was passionate about.

“That’s what I encourage my boys to find.”

Flowers’ sons Ammon, 19, Gunnar, 17, and Henry, 15, have all grown up with their dad on stage — but they are not impressed by his status.

Flowers says: “Ammon loves fitness and being outside — he is just about to go to college in Philadelphia which he’s half excited and half scared about. My wife is sad about him leaving home.

“Then Gunnar loves horror and 90s rock and a lot of grunge, too.

“Henry is a football fanatic so when The Killers performed at the Champions League Final in Budapest, he got to meet David Beckham and was in heaven.

“Mick Jagger was there as well but it was all about Beckham, who signed a football card for him. He’s also a full-blown Oasis fan, so I need to take him to see them when they play again next year.”

Flowers remains hopeful about the future, even though he admits he is deeply troubled by Donald Trump’s America and the actions of ICE.

“This administration is scary,” says Flowers.

“It feels so un-American, and it goes against all of our values and the things that are beautiful about our country.

“You do feel a little bit hopeless and helpless.” But he still believes change can come through younger generations and the ballot box.

“We have to remember to use our voices and to fight back at the polls when the time comes.”

He adds: “Nobody from the other side is rising up at the moment. Somebody needs to rise up. Get the hell up.”

Never one to stand still for long, Flowers has always had an impressive work ethic.

Another solo album is already in the pipeline, with a new Killers record also expected in 2027.

Until then, he is excited about his solo tour, which begins next week and arrives in the UK in October, including a night at the Royal Albert Hall.

He’s already debuted songs from Thrasher at July’s Newport Folk Festival — the famous Rhode Island event where Bob Dylan went electric in 1965.

“I’ve got a band together. This tour is going to be a different experience than you are accustomed to,” he says.

“I’m going to tell more stories and take advantage of these smaller rooms — the Albert Hall is the biggest room I’m playing.

“I want to explain the story behind the songs, which you can’t do in a stadium — so I thought this would be the time to give it a shot.

“I worry people will get sick of Mr. Brightside so I feel lucky that I have different outlets for my music.”

Brandon Flowers

Thrasher

★★★★☆

AFTER years of “neglecting” Europe and the UK, Aussie duo Empire Of The Sun return for three sold-out nights at London’s Alexandra Palace next week, proof they are making up for lost time. 

“The Empire surges on,” says singer Luke Steele in a quiet moment away from the tour.  

“Empire still feels as intense as ever. It’s like being in a vortex. It’s like Lord Of The Rings when they put the ring on, or when you’re surfing and you’re caught in the wave. Being on this tour is always like that.  

“We’ve changed a few things and added a few new songs, and suddenly it changes the ripples of everything else.” 

Nearly 20 years after track Walking On A Dream first introduced Empire Of The Sun’s fantastical universe, Steele and non-touring band member Nick Littlemore are bigger than ever. 

“It’s incredible because these are our biggest shows and it’s the biggest following we’ve had,” says Steele proudly on a video call. 

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“It’s exploded in a completely different way, to a whole new generation who are my son and my daughter’s age.  

“My daughter Sunny is about to turn 18 and Walking On A Dream came out the week she was born. Nearly 20 years later, it has hit that next generation and it is so reinvigorating. I’m running into kids who are 15 asking, ‘Who’s this new band?’.  

“A lot of people have been asking about the band’s outfits — they’re fascinated by the fashion. 

“But for so many people, they just hear the songs on the radio or at a party and don’t even know what the band looks like. They’re just captivated by the melodies.” 

Steele is in Budapest to perform, and he has just got back from a scooter ride around the city’s sights on a rare day off. 

The pair have survived near burnout and band tensions, but Steele says the music always pulled him back and now he feels the healthiest and sharpest he has ever been. 

“We always had great shows in the UK, but it felt like we’d lost a bit of steam by not touring there frequently. Then the pandemic was tough — five years not being able to tour and stuff — so maybe now we’re making up for lost time.” 

Last summer’s sold-out Labyrinth On The Thames show at Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College was Empire Of The Sun’s first London performance in more than six years. 

“That was special. It was amazing,” Steele says. “So it’s great we are coming back to the UK — to London and also Cardiff and Halifax — which I am told is right at the top of the UK but not as far as Scotland.” His music is better than his geography. 

Empire’s return has meant more than just filling venues. It is about the band’s influence on the fans, who have found their own lives reflected in the songs. 

“The music is so important. It’s important for us, for our sanity, but it’s amazing what the records have been doing to people,” he says. “I feel a bit more like a conduit now. I’ve been handed these keys, and it’s like, what are you going to do with them? What doors are going to open?” 

“I have to harness that power of influence in a clever, natural way. 

“Coming back with the new show and writing new records post-pandemic, it feels like the songs need to have new revelations and new messages in this crazy world.” 

Steele reckons part of the success of Empire Of The Sun’s performances has been down to his live band, which includes former Gomez guitarist Ian Ball and drummer Olly Peacock.  

“They are the greatest players — really seasoned musicians, which is incredible to have,” says Steele. “People with experience are worth everything in touring. Ian is my right-hand man. The one and only.  

“You rehearse for three months, then you get up in front of 80,000 people and suddenly my in-ear pack goes down, or the pedalboard dies. Ian is so calm. He just mooches over, cool as a cucumber, sorts it out and comes back before I’ve even noticed.”  

Steele says having a great team behind him means he can execute the ideas he has been inspired by. 

“There are quite a few songs from Ask That God in the set.  

“We always play the hits, like We Are The People and Alive, because that’s important for people’s memory, and then there are a couple of throwbacks from the earlier records. 

“It’s about trying to fit it all in without it becoming an exhausting meal for people.  

“The first show probably had too many songs — like eating that last chicken wing at the Chinese buffet, where you walk out thinking you’ve had too much. It’s a fine line. 

“I don’t like those shows where bands play for three-and-a-half hours. I want to see a concert, get blown away, and go and put my pyjamas on. You don’t want to lose people.” 

Almost two years into the Ask That God tour, Steele is still pushing the show forward. 

He says: “It’s so exciting and exhilarating, and then there are the fans who mean so much. 

“It always sounds so cliched to me, to talk about ‘the fans’ but as I’ve got older and seen their dedication they become like your friends. It’s more than someone buying an album. The music seeps into their lives. 

“The other day I met this girl who showed me a video of her three-year-old kid dancing to one of our songs. It’s amazing to be so far away from home and see how much the music touches people.  

“We played Poland recently and this girl had spent months making these elaborate Salvador Dali and Escher-style collage illustrations for each song. She printed them all in a book and had written a personal note at the end. 

“People really go on the journey with us, so I’m pretty thankful.” 

Being away for long periods from his own family in Australia is what hits Steele the hardest. 

“I’m not really going home until Christmas. We go from here to the American tour and it just keeps going, but they’re all coming out to the UK shows. 

“I find it hard. I go through different stages of exhaustion and depression, excitement and exhilaration. It’s like a wave.  

“I feel quite fragile because I’m so emotional. Being on the road is a real vortex. And when you get home it’s not easy — this pipe burst in the front bathroom of my new house I bought in Perth, and 700,000 litres of water flooded the whole house.  

“When I came back from tour in January from Miami, it was just like a swimming pool, so everything’s been gutted now. It’s just all concrete, so we’re in a rental for a while — we’re pretty much homeless now.” 

After living in the US then New Zealand, Steele moved back to Perth to be closer to his family. 

Steele, who was living in America during Donald Trump’s first presidency, says the country’s extremes fed into his songwriting. 

“I had to go because I was writing so many aggressive songs. Now I’m back where I grew up and it’s been awesome,” he says.  

“I haven’t lived there for 20 years, so it’s a perfect amount of time to get over the regret, you know? 

“And it’s been good to be the hometown hero.  

“Walking On A Dream became the soundtrack for Tourism Western Australia’s global campaign and it is even named after that song.  

“There’s also a music room at my school named after the family. It feels kind of cool to be given the keys to the city, where it all started.” 

Steele lost his dad, blues musician Rick Steele, last year and he recently paid tribute to him with a night of blues. 

“It was the one-year memorial and it was awesome to come back together, remember him and play the blues. The blues club he belonged to is stronger than ever, which is great. 

“I didn’t want him to pass away and then the club to fall over. His legacy moves on, and we’re about to do a grant the Steele family has started — the Rick Steele Music Grant. 

“We’ve also got a plaque on a park bench just down the road from his house, where he lived his whole life. He used to go there most mornings, get a coffee and sit on that bench. I think he’d think that was pretty cool. He’s got his own bench there.” 

For Steele, that sense of legacy, home and survival has fed back into the music. 

“It’s a good spot to be, because I feel the sharpest I’ve ever been and the healthiest. I got rid of all of that garbage, all the drugs and alcohol, years ago.  

“It was music that helped me to heal by writing every song and playing, recording and mixing it myself.  

“Music is still such a powerful phenomenon and medium. It’s a healer. It brings renewal, hope and vision.  

“Music was always the vessel, even after I said the band was done and went off to write a solo record.” 

That sense of purpose also seems to have softened the creative tension between Steele and Littlemore.  

They have not always seen eye to eye, but time, distance and their separate lives have made the partnership easier to understand. It’s like a marriage that works because both know when to step away. 

“I think Nick and I have been good at that,” he says.  

“We probably spend more time apart than together and, when we come together, it’s quite focused on the job at hand.” 

After side projects — Littlemore is the frontman of electronic trio PNAU — and an eight-year gap between third album, Two Vines, and the release of 2024’s Ask That God, time apart now seems to be part of how Empire Of The Sun have survived.

Steele says: “When we came back, it was like, OK, we’re older now — what are we actually talking about? What’s the real meaning? So we’re trying to bring more of that into the show and the theatrics.  

“But I think now we can sit back and soak in the fruits of our labour a bit.  

“For a while, you’re just trying to hold on to it, because you spend your whole life trying to get to a point where people are actually listening. 

“Now we have people’s attention, we have to treat that with respect and not take it for granted. 

“I haven’t spoken to Nick for a while, but we’ll probably start talking more now we are about 45 songs into the new record and trying to finish a huge batch of songs. It’s definitely going to be a little bit more edgy.  

“We’ve been working with different producers and in Hawaii, LA and Sweden. Each territory brings different colours.  

“Working with these different people, from different places gives you beautiful ingredients.” 

But before new music arrives, there is the small matter of shows in Halifax, Cardiff and three sold-out nights at Alexandra Palace. 

It is surely a pinnacle moment, which Empire Of The Sun have been building towards for nearly 20 years. 

“We’re going all out on that,” he insists.  

“They’re going to be massive shows.”