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Dolly Parton could charm just about anyone. Country singer Merle Haggard was no different. The pair got to know each other while touring in the early days of her career. Before long, he was writing love songs about her and confessing his deep feelings. Parton did not feel the same way, though. Looking back on it, Haggard said he found the whole thing embarrassing.
Merle Haggard fell in love with Dolly Parton while touring with her
Parton and Haggard toured together several times, and he fell deeply in love with her.
“I didn’t just fall in love with the image of Dolly Parton,” he wrote in the book Sing Me Back Home: My Story. “Hell, I fell in love with that exceptional human being who lives underneath all that bunch of fluffy hair, fluttery eyelashes, and super boobs. I was like a schoolboy. I would have carved ‘Merle loves Dolly’ on every damn tree in the country if she’d asked me to.”
He told her that he loved her, but she was married. After hearing his profession, she pulled away from him.
“I’d tell her I loved her, but it never seemed to give her any comfort,” he wrote. “Instead, it seemed to disturb her more and more until she began to move away from me. The more she retreated, the more I advanced until I was doing crazy, stupid things.”
Merle Haggard said his unrequited feelings became a source of embarrassment
Haggard wrote the song “Always Wanting You” about Parton. When he finished, he decided she needed to hear it right away, even though it was the middle of the night and she was sleeping next to her husband. He said he could hardly think about anything else but her. Upon reflection, Haggard said he found the whole thing deeply embarrassing.
“I don’t know how long I stayed crazy for Dolly, but it was quite a while,” he wrote. “It’s damned embarrassing to talk about it, but if I leave it out I’ll be accused of coverin’ up, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be accused of coverin’ up Dolly Parton.”
Eventually, though, the feelings waned, and he was able to move on.
“Little by little, I faced the fact that Dolly really meant it when she said there was no future for us,” he wrote. “But hell, what did I care, I still had my music and one of the best danged songs I’d ever written.”
Dolly later said she didn’t know Haggard’s feelings were as serious as they were
As Haggard noted, Parton never felt the same way about him. Later in life, she claimed not to have been aware of the depth of his feelings for her.
“We just had a really good time,” she wrote in her book Dolly Parton, Songteller. “But I honestly never thought about him romantically.”
His wife, Bonnie, once told Parton that Haggard was in love with her. She regretted causing her any pain.
“I’m honored and flattered that he had a crush,” she wrote. “But I’m sorry if it caused any problem.”
Parton also said she liked the song “Always Wanting You,” even though Haggard didn’t think it did much to impress her.
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