Why I cried in a Panera listening to Dolly Parton's "Wrecking Ball"
By Lia Klug
Let me paint you a picture: I’m sitting in Panera in late October, and there’s a mother next to me trying to wrestle her child into her coat. People shuffle in and out, looking for seating in the dinner rush. I’m working on a paper for class. The air outside is cold, and my charged lemonade is trying its absolute best to keep me awake. My Spotify playlist for studying ends, and I suddenly hear Dolly Parton’s voice singing a familiar tune. I had seen that Parton released a new cover of Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” when I opened the app, but I hadn’t thought much of it. And, before I know it, I’m not doing work anymore. I stare into the distance with tears rolling down my cheeks.
Parton and Cyrus have such beautiful vocal chemistry, and I’ve always thought this since their 2017 duet on “Rainbow Land.” Parton choosing to include another collaboration with Cyrus on her upcoming Rockstar album was a perfect addition, but the impressive vocals alone featured in the “Wrecking Ball” (2023) duet are not why I’m crying. To understand why I will need to provide a short Miley/Dolly history lesson.
On Oct. 20 “Wrecking Ball” (2023) by Parton and Cyrus was released. The single is a cover of Cyrus's single “Wrecking Ball” (2013) which came out a decade ago. Parton’s new rendition with Cyrus comes to us as the first single off of Parton’s new rock album, a first for the country star.
Parton was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, an honor that she tried to decline. “I don’t feel that I have earned that right. I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out,” Parton said in a published statement to X. She later reversed her decision and was ultimately inducted. In response to this honor, perhaps aiming to earn her flowers in her mind as a through and through rock & roll performer, Parton released her first rock album fittingly titled “Rockstar” on Nov. 17.
“Wrecking Ball” (2013) originally came out during a period when Cyrus was vehemently denouncing her previous, sanitized Disney persona. Just like its namesake, the song wrecked Cyrus’ previous public image and helped her break free from her Disney personality prison. Hannah Montana no more, the music video infamously (or famously depending on who you ask) stars Cyrus naked, swinging on a wrecking ball. The video cements its place in the Bangerz era, Cyrus’s first original body of work, as an apocalyptic moment for strict parents everywhere. It was during this time that Cyrus made her notorious performance at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) where she twerked on national television with a foam finger while being dressed in a latex, skin color bikini. It was a performance that shocked the world and changed the public’s perception of Cyrus forever.
Now, 10 years later to the day on Aug. 25, Cyrus released a new single entitled “Used To Be Young” (2023) which looks to her past with joy and pain—a reflective piece on her career up until this point. In addition to being the tenth anniversary of her VMA performance, it was also the tenth anniversary of the “Wrecking Ball” music video release which the music video for “Used To Be Young” pays homage to with visual parallels. Sporting a t-shirt plastered with the face of Mickey Mouse, Cyrus makes it clear through her music video that “Used To Be Young” looks to reflect on the many layers of her career. Overall, the new song demonstrates that Cyrus has come to terms with accepting her past, embracing the Hannah Montana within herself.
Now, with all of this in mind, we can fully take in the larger beauty and reflection present within this cover of “Wrecking Ball” by Parton and Cyrus. The two have always been extremely close. Parton is a longtime friend of Cyrus’s father Billy Ray and her godmother. Cyrus even refers to the country legend as “Aunt Dolly” and Parton played a character with the same name on Cyrus’s Disney television show Hannah Montana.
“I thought, well, I have to do ‘Wrecking Ball,’ because I love Miley and I love the song,” Parton told Billboard on Oct. 20.
This single is a beautiful and lovingly crafted ode to the original anthem, as well as a definitive moment that brings a new era for Parton— a wonderful turnaround on the song’s original purpose for Cyrus. The sentiment of the lyric from Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You” (1974) being added as an homage to Parton’s song is so sweet as you really get a sense they are singing to each other. They will always love each other, no matter public perception or where their career takes them; they will always love each other. In a post to her Instagram, Parton compares her reaction to hearing “Wrecking Ball” (2023) for the first time to hearing Whitney Houston’s recording of “I Will Always Love You” (1992). Fittingly the new track fades into a mashup of the two songs towards the end.
This song has always been an emotional one for Cyrus and she has broken down while performing it many times. Even during rehearsals for this rendition, when they first performed it together last early last year, Cyrus broke down.
"The fact that we were singing so well together stirred up our emotions very much," Parton told Business Insider, "then we went into 'I Will Always Love You' and she would just have these tears coming down and it was so emotional."
There is just so much history between these two. Cyrus has been through so much in recent years with her often being mistreated by the media and those around her. While, on the other hand, Parton has been such a consistent, positive force in her life. Maybe it’s because I miss my own mom by being away for school and experiencing the world for the first time without her, but the feeling of Parton’s motherly, understanding vibe, accompanying the confessional emotion behind Cyrus’s voice is what makes me so emotional. Cyrus seems to be thriving now and accepting and embracing her past, as can seen in “Used to be Young” (2023). She can now hold hands with a maternal figure in her life who has been right there with her, and no doubt an inspiration, singing “I will always love you.” Combining both of their musical endeavors is a testament to the many seasons we all inevitably move through in life, and it’s so full circle that the song which originally meant so much to Cyrus’s reputation is now a signifier that Parton is using to prove herself as a rockstar.
I am once again crying in a Panera while finishing this article, thinking about the significance and love in this collaboration. Dolly Parton’s album Rockstar is now available to stream on all listening platforms.