Little Sparrow

Birds show up in many songs as symbols of fragile creatures that yearn to be free. Parton uses the sparrow in this song to relate to a woman who has been wronged by her lover.

This is one of Parton's lesser-known songs, but that didn't stop David Cook from performing it on Dolly Parton night during the 2008 season of American Idol. Simon Cowell questioned why he sang a song about a sparrow, but said: "If you can make a song about sparrows sound good, which you did, then congratulations."

Parton adapted the Appalachian folk tune "Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies" in this track, and recalled first hearing the ballad in her childhood. She noted in her 2020 book, Songteller: "Mama used to sing a song I think is called 'Fair and Tender Maidens.' I used that whole idea and that whole old-timey sound and feeling for 'Little Sparrow.'" Elements of the traditional song were first collected in Scotland and published in 1727, and American versions were collected by folklorists in the early 1900s. Several other artists, including Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Carter Family, and the trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, have also recorded it under various titles.