Dolly Parton initially wrote this to be the theme song for the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias, which she starred in alongside Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Shirley MacLaine. "That's why I used the lines 'Gentle as the sweet magnolia, strong as steel, her faith and pride,'" she explained in her 2020 book, Songteller. Ultimately the filmmakers decided against using a theme song, and she used it as the title track to her 31st solo album.
The actresses all got along during the filming of the movie and Dolly was struck by how they each seemed to be secure in themselves and their roles. She played Truvy Jones, the owner of the beauty salon where all the women gathered to gossip and share their problems. The idea that they were gentle yet strong - like steel magnolias - conjured a different image for Dolly, who compares them to delicate sparrows when they're broken but majestic eagles when they fly. "I relate to eagles, somehow," Dolly wrote in Songteller. "Eagles are the strong ones, flying the hardest, the fastest, the highest. I didn't realize how much I write about eagles until somebody brought it to my attention. I must just relate to the idea of soaring. I like things with wings. If I ain't writing about angels, I'm writing about eagles or butterflies. I just love things that can move and get on out of here."
Dolly has such a soft spot for eagles that Dollywood features an eagle sanctuary where they take in injured birds, nurse them back to health, and sent them back into the wild.
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