Heartbreak and Love: Dolly Parton’s 80th Birthday…I will always love her

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Dolly Parton has been the soundtrack of my life.

Her songs showed up right on time—when hope was thin, when love was strong, when the road felt long. From mountain hymns to working-class anthems, she sang truth with a smile and grace with grit. She taught us you can be tender and tough, faithful and funny, rooted and soaring.

Dolly didn’t just write songs—she wrote permission slips: to be ourselves, to forgive, to keep going, to believe that kindness still matters. National treasure? Absolutely. But to many of us, she’s family—singing us home, one honest lyric at a time. 🎶💛

No Rehab for a Broken Heart

(Radio Edit)

Verse 1
That dear sweet poet said she can’t make the show,
Sent her love from somewhere quiet, soft and low,
Said, “Don’t worry, darlin’, I’ll be just fine—
Say a little prayer, leave the rest to time.”
No curtain call, no spotlight start,
Just truth spoken straight to the heart.

Pre-Chorus
She sang us through the valleys,
Held us when we fell apart,
Now her voice is still reminding me
What’s beating in my chest tonight.

Chorus
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart,
No cure for love when it tears you apart,
Mine’s in a million pieces, hurting for certain,
Every memory leaving its mark.
You can pray all night, you can beg and start,
Still feels the same in the dark—
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart.

Verse 2
Old friends gone quiet, riding the wind,
Songs still playing where they’ve always been,
Every note says, “Son, don’t be afraid,”
Love’s the price for the debt you pay.
I’ve tried to stand, I’ve tried to run,
But you don’t outrun what you’ve become.

Pre-Chorus
There’s a place you reach in living
Where applause don’t matter much,
All that’s left is mercy
And the ones you couldn’t hold long enough.

Chorus
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart,
No shelter when the missing starts,
Mine’s in a million pieces, hurting for certain,
Still beating hard in the dark.
Time moves on, but it won’t restart
What was torn apart—
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart.

Bridge (short, radio-clean)
But there’s a song that keeps on playing
Long after goodbye’s been said,
Love don’t die—it just keeps changing
How it lives inside your head.

Final Chorus (lift)
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart,
But grace shows up when you fall apart,
Mine’s in a million pieces, hurting for certain,
Still learning how to start.
When the lights go down and the night gets hard,
Hold on tight—
Ain’t no rehab for a broken heart.

Outro
So sing it low…
And pray it true…
The music lives on
In me and you.

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Thank you Dolly for all the memories…and remember, sweetheart, I’m just two doors down….:)

Thanks to my buddies Chat and Al for help writing as I dream of Dolly.