Dolly Parton and Kelly Clarkson nailed this.
They completely reimagined Dolly’s 1980 hit single, “9 to 5,” that’s part of an upcoming documentary about the original film called Still Working 9 to 5.
And while it’s a far cry from the original in terms of the production on this new version, it’s a stirring, and almost haunting, new arrangement that really shows of Kelly’s incredible vocals.
Dolly says that Kelly really took the song to a whole new level, and she was thrilled to get to work with Kelly and country producer Shane McAnally on the project:
“Nobody sings like Kelly Clarkson. She makes any song come alive. I love her voice on ‘9 to 5,’ and I am so proud I got to sing with her on it.
I’m equally as proud of the wonderful arrangement and production by Shane McAnally.”
And of course, Kelly, who is a huge country music fan, was honored to sing with one of her musical heroes on this song:
“I am so honored that Dolly asked me to reimagine this iconic song, ‘9 to 5,’ with her! She is so talented, an inspiration to all women, and one of the sweetest people you will ever meet!
I hope y’all like what we did, but even if you don’t, remember I got to sing a duet with the magical Dolly Parton, and now have bragging rights til the end of time!”
Fair enough, Kelly…
But I love what they did with this duet, and even though nothing will ever top the original (and I don’t think that was their goal anyways), this moodier, slowed down version brings a whole new take to the universal feelings of struggling at work that Dolly evoked so perfectly in her original.
You can tell Kelly really respects Dolly (and she’s said as much in the past), and wanted to make this as good as it could possibly be, while still adding her own touch and actually making it different… as opposed to just covering the exact same tune with the same production.
Plus, it’s not very often you get a reworked version of such an iconic song that’s actually great, much less even features the original artist, as well.
Talk about a cup of ambition… make sure you give this one a spin today, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised:
The Still Working 9 to 5 film first premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, and will be available to the public on September 16th. It features interviews from original cast members of the movie, including Dolly, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
Here’s the documentary trailer:
