Dolly Parton - Coat of many colors
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Coat of Many Colors - Dolly Parton
Themes: poverty, Joseph’s coat, rags to riches, successful women
Keyboard rhythm: country or bluegrass
Intro C F C G
CBack through the years I go wondering once again
Back to the seasons of my Fyouth
I reCcall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags Fto use
There were Crags of many colors Every piece was small
And I didn’t have a coat And it was Gway down in the fall
Momma Csewed the rags together Sewing Fevery piece with love
She made my Ccoat of many colors That GI was so proud Cof
As she sewed, she told a story From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors Joseph |Gwore and then she said
Perhaps this |Ccoat will bring you Good |Fluck and happiness
And I just |Ccouldn’t wait to wear it And momma |Gblessed it with a Ckiss
My Fcoat of many colors That my Cmomma made for me
Made Fonly from rags But I Cwore it so Gproudly
AlCthough we had no money I was Frich as I could be
C G C - D (key up)
In my coat of many colors My momma made for me
Coat of Many Colors - Dolly Parton page 1/2 in C
So with Dpatches on my britches Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors I Ahurried off to school
Just to fDind the others laughing And Gmaking fun of me
In my Dcoat of many colors My Amomma made for Dme
And oh I Dcouldn’t understand it For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love My momma sAewed in every stitch
And I Dtold em all the story Momma Gtold me while she sewed
And how my Dcoat of many colors Was worth Amore than all their Dclothes
[store bought]
But they Gdidn’t understand it And I Dtried to make them see
That Gone is only poor Only Dif they choose to Abe
Now I Dknow we had no money But I was Grich as I could be
In my Dcoat of many colors My Amomma made for Gme
Made just for Dme
This “rags to riches” story is the signature song by country star Dolly Parton about her
“dirt poor” family of 12 children raised in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. Her
half-Cherokee mother played guitar and her grandfather was a Christian preacher,
fiddler and songwriter. She was given her own guitar at 7 was on TV and radio by 10
, and sought her fortunes in Nashville by 18. Her mother wished that a coat sewn from
rags would bring her “luck and happiness”, but little Dolly would become the most honored
female country performer of all time. She blazed the trail for women artists like Taylor
Swift who also got her start playing guitar and writing songs in Nashville.