We Used To

Dolly Parton is no stranger to heartache ballads like "We Used To," a wistful recollection of romantic times spent with an ex-lover. Because she's so adept at expressing the pain of a broken romance, many of her fans assume the long-married singer must have had a string of affairs. Dolly responded in her 2020 book, Songteller: "I say, 'Well, I don't admit or deny anything.' I have been everywhere, and I have felt everything. I'm a very passionate person, and I feel everything to the nth degree. But the truth is that I can draw from other people's sorrows, as well as my own. It's easy for me to write about heartaches. Hurt is hurt, whoever you are. Hell, I had boyfriends from the time I was three years old. I have always loved boys. I've had my sweethearts. I'm like Will Rogers, 'I've never met a man I didn't like.'" Although Dolly likes to joke about her penchant for flirting with men, she insists she only has eyes for her husband, Carl Dean, whom she married in 1966. Besides, Carl landed himself in hot water with Dolly when he got flirtatious with a redheaded bank teller named "Jolene."

This was the second single from Dolly's 16th solo album, following "The Seeker." It peaked at #9 on the Country chart.

Dolly announced her split from her longtime duet partner Porter Wagoner in 1974, famously writing the platonic love song "I Will Always Love You" as a testament to their friendship. But Wagoner was still in Dolly's professional orbit for a couple more years; she continued to appear on his TV program, and he produced and arranged her Dolly album. Her subsequent release, All I Can Do marked the end of Wagoner's involvement with Dolly's solo material.