Dolly Parton - “Shinola”
Songwriter: Dolly Parton
Songwriters, take note: building your hook around a pop culture reference that’s sixty years old does not a good single make.
It’s obvious from the single releases from Backwoods Barbie that Dolly Parton wants to get back on radio but that she’s not willing to make many compromises. Witness the wailing steel guitar part on this song: Dolly’s session players obviously haven’t taken Dan Huff’s Hit Singles 101, and Dolly should be applauded for dancing with the sound that brought her, even if it closes what little window of opportunity she has at radio.
So it’s bizarre that Dolly chooses to compromise by releasing a novelty song, and even more bizarre that she releases a novelty song that doesn’t know what decade it is. Building a single around a cultural reference isn’t a good idea for an artist like Parton anyway, who at this stage in her career should be focused on making an evergreen, legacy record. The one reason for releasing a novelty song like this is to score a quick radio hit, and building that song around an antiquated aphorism destroys that possibility. Of course, such criticism is perhaps merely academic in a radio environment where “Coat of Many Colors” probably couldn’t crack the Top 40.
I like this song, and it would’ve made a fun radio release when Dolly hit in 1966. But it just doesn’t work in 2008, and so I can’t endorse the single. Why?
Because here’s the problem, Dolly: country radio listeners don’t know shit from Shinola.
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Listen: Dolly Parton - “Shinola”
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28 Comments
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July 24, 2008 at 7:30 am Permalink
Haha, good job ending with the original reference.
I didn’t particularly care for this song when listening to the album, but on it’s own, it’s more digestible and I love the attitude, although the song is still a little weak. I’d like to see “Made of Stone” or “I Will Forever Hate Roses” be released, and even “Backwoods Barbie” would make a decent release.
July 24, 2008 at 9:30 am Permalink
I haven’t heard this song, but I know for a fact that one thing you said is true: I have no idea what , or who, this Shinola is.
July 24, 2008 at 9:34 am Permalink
As George Carlin once said, “I always wondered how the Shinola people felt about that.”
Shinola was a brand of shoe polish (now sadly no longer available).
July 24, 2008 at 9:37 am Permalink
I do really like this song, though.
July 24, 2008 at 9:38 am Permalink
I havent heard the song except for listening to it here this morning. When it started I thought “hey, this is cute, I like it.” By the time it ended though, I was tired of it. And I like Dolly.
July 24, 2008 at 9:38 am Permalink
I found some cool vintage ads for Shinloa on the Wikipedia page.
July 24, 2008 at 9:48 am Permalink
I do think the song is a hoot. Given that the saying in question has been absorbed into the general lexicon to such an extent that people don’t know what “Shinola” is anymore, doesn’t that cancel out the datedness?
July 24, 2008 at 11:03 am Permalink
I don’t think that “he doesn’t know shit from Shinola” is still part of the vernacular. At least it isn’t in any place that I’ve ever lived. I don’t think that the average Taylor Swift/Rascal Flatts fan will understand this song.
July 24, 2008 at 11:18 am Permalink
Maybe, but it’s still part of the “Vern-acular.” KnowwhatImean?
July 24, 2008 at 11:21 am Permalink
Hey, maybe young people could embrace it, because it could be a way of swearing without exactly swearing! Maybe Dolly’ll bring it back.:) Okay…probably not.
I liked the song, but I have to agree with you, really. Funny review.
July 24, 2008 at 11:22 am Permalink
Matt was just trying to be earnest, dammit.
July 24, 2008 at 6:40 pm Permalink
I didn’t mean to kill the discussion, I was attempting to continue the line of Chris’ joke. I guess my joke was either too obscure or too dumb :(
July 24, 2008 at 7:59 pm Permalink
Yes…sadly, I agree… Same thing in “Better Get To Livin” where she says she couldn’t believe the “yarn” that her girlfriend was weavin’. She dates herself with these references and if her true goal is to get back on radio (which I would LOVE) she should give in just a bit
July 25, 2008 at 3:31 am Permalink
while sharing your view on this song,in the context of an album named “backwoods barbie” these, somewhat out of date sounding songs make perfect sense. of course, today’s country radio and a young audience will hardly be impressed - so what. i enjoy her doing her “own thing”, even at the cost of a slightly mixed result.
July 25, 2008 at 5:58 am Permalink
I got it Brady, take it from a guy that regularly kills discussion on threads with bad jokes, that wasnt bad at all, perhaps if you had capitalized “Earnest”, people wouldve gotten it;-)
July 25, 2008 at 7:04 am Permalink
Oh, I just assumed the yarn weavin’ thing was a southern saying, since I had heard it before, not a generational saying. Then again, I suppose I’ve never heard anyone my age use that line.
July 25, 2008 at 9:33 am Permalink
“Shinola” is my least favorite song on the “Backwoods Barbie” CD. Overall, the album is a decent one — good but not as good as Dolly’s acoutstic albums for Sugar Hill. I really admire her tenacity, but I think she’d be better off if she stopped trying so hard to get back on the radio, and just concentrated on making more of those “evergreen records” that she’s been putting out in recent years. The cold hard truth is that Today’s Country radio is not going to play any Dolly Parton record under any circumstances, unless she’s providing a guest vocal, a la “When I Get Where I’m Going.” Dolly is too good for “Today’s Country” and doesn’t need radio airplay to sell her CDs.
July 25, 2008 at 9:38 am Permalink
The other thing to remember is that radio plays the artists who get videos played and that means young and cute. Its a sad fact that we need to really face in our society, but a 60 year old with a really good facelift doesn’t look 25, she (or he) just looks like a 60 year old with a really good facelift.
July 25, 2008 at 9:50 am Permalink
We should all learn the importance of being Ernest.
July 25, 2008 at 9:50 am Permalink
Actually, Dolly’s last video “Jesus And Gravity” got quite a bit of airplay at CMT and GAC but still got nowhere with radio.
July 25, 2008 at 2:32 pm Permalink
I thought “Jesus and Gravity” was a little hammy, but Jesus and Ruger, they’re straight shooters. There are a few killer songs on Backwoods Barbie, though.
July 25, 2008 at 2:58 pm Permalink
“Better Get To Livin” was played fairly regularly on GAC, I believe. She was even their artist of the month. I agree, though, that someone her age will have a really difficult time up against today’s artists.
July 25, 2008 at 3:50 pm Permalink
Leann, not only does she have her age working against her, she does not have a major label promoting her singles at radio. Dolly’s got a lot more clout and money than most independent artists, but it’s still got to be an uphill battle for her to compete with the major labels for a spot on radio playlists.
July 28, 2008 at 3:38 pm Permalink
Gonna agree on this review … There just weren’t many radio-ready songs on this release, so if Dolly’s goal was to get back on the radio, she missed it.
July 28, 2008 at 3:44 pm Permalink
And I disagree on the age issue. I’ve heard that for years now from the veterans who just can’t compete anymore. Kenny Rogers himself once said “Those who can compete, will. And those who can’t, bitch about it.” Rogers was 61 when he had his last #1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart with ‘Buy Me A Rose’.
We also have artists like George Strait (56) who consistently tops the charts. Reba (53) just had a song go to #2 this year followed by another top 20. Brooks & Dunn (both over 50) have a song in the top 5 this week. Alan Jackson, who will turn 50 in October, had last week’s number-one song (his second from his latest album). So I refuse to buy into the belly-aching of the elder statesmen who just won’t change with the times … Sorry guys, I’ll still listen to your old records though.
July 29, 2008 at 11:43 am Permalink
J.R., it’s beyond dispute that country radio playlists are heavily skewed toward young artists. Kenny Rogers did hit #1 when he was 61 — and it was a huge deal because he became the oldest person in country music history to have a #1 hit.
You’ve named a few exceptions to the rule — Strait, Jackson, and Brooks & Dunn — all of whom could pass for being under 50. Reba is the only woman in that age range to still get airplay, and her chart success is fading rapidly. Some of the best music of Dolly Parton’s career came after she was past age 50. She’s won critical acclaim and several Grammies during that time period. She and other veteran artists, particularly women, have a very valid complaint indeed, that their work is being ignored by the ageist Today’s Country radio.
August 1, 2008 at 2:03 pm Permalink
I think what I said came out the wrong way. In no way am I defending the current format of country radio. I refuse to even listen to it. But don’t you think that since there are so many exceptions to the rule that the ‘rule’ is no longer applicable? I mean, sure, an artist might just have to compromise a little of their self-indulgent ‘this is the music I want to make and to hell with radio programmers’ attitude if they realistically seek airplay.
In every generation, what is traditional changes. In every generation, there is always a young crop of crooners waiting in the wings to replace those in the spotlight right now. So I just think that if the veterans really courted radio and recorded radio-friendly tunes - schlock that they may be - a radio hit is certainly possible for artists over 50 - and even over 60.
My main point was while Dolly has repeatedly said how much she wants another radio hit, she has gone in the wrong direction to get it, and she’s certainly not the only one of her contemporaries to do so.
August 1, 2008 at 11:33 pm Permalink
But don’t you think that ageism is more of a problem for female artists than for males? Even in TV and movies. Probably because female listeners and viewers aren’t as close-minded or shallow as males. We’ll listen to and look at older men and still find them attractive whereas men think that a woman over 40 isn’t worth their time. I don’t listen to too much contemporary country but on what I have heard lately, the older men seem to be singing about their family, how their kids have grown up, etc. The women are still singing about the men. Which is kind of odd since in reality, it’s the men who are still chasing the women at 70 years old and the women who’re not thinking about the men much anymore but instead are thinking about the family and the kids!
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