Dolly Parton Releases New Video for Together You and I.
Dolly Parton has debuted the video for the single “Together You and I” which is featured on her recently released album, A better Day.
Parton has acknowledged that her new album is definitely different than her earlier work channeling a more modern vibe. The video for “Together You and I” also reflects this sentiment. The theme of this song and the imagery reflected in the video is definitely not the full on country fans are used, but it is a hybrid between country music and something else. It is almost a throwback to the hippie era of peace, love and happiness from the 60’s. The video features individuals clasping hands in a chain that begins in Nashville and continues all throughout the world from Washington D.C. to India. The individuals range from sick people to healthy people, from black to white, from young to old. The message is clear: together and with love anything is possible.
Let me say, I really do like this song, and I am a huge Dolly Parton fan. However, there is something going on in country music right now that is different. Dolly is not the first country artist of late to present a song with such a message. Ronnie Dunn‘s “Bleed Red” has a similar globally minded, we-are-all-the-same theme. Newcomer Jennette McCurdy‘s “Generation Love” also encourages a positive world view focused on the power of love. These are good songs with admirable messages, but something about them does not sit right.
The messages in these songs and their videos are recycling an older way of thinking from a time in American history where there was a wave of hope for change. Dolly and Ronnie lived during the 60’s, and it makes sense that they would revisit these themes. It seems though, the release of these songs are ill-timed. They simply do not take into account the past forty to fifty years of American history and all that encompasses. Country music is all about the hard times, getting the job done, dealing with life as it hits you. While Dolly’s (and Ronnie’s and Jennette’s) song is hopeful and lovely, I am not sure it is necessarily relateable for country fans.
Yet, I might just be approaching Dolly’s new single and video from a too cynical angle. What do you think?
You can check out the video here.
