Wildflowers

1987

Program Note

Arranged by Kate Outterbridge.

“Wildflowers” is a song written by Dolly Parton, which was included on the Grammy-winning, multi-Platinum 1987 album Trio and recorded by Parton with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. The original recording featured an autoharp, acoustic guitar (played by Harris) and fiddle, and was arranged to sound like an old fashioned Appalachian folk song. It was the fourth single released from the Trio album, and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 1988.[1]

In 2008, the recording was played at a reception by the Texas State Democratic Party, honoring former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Johnson’s love of wild flowers was well known, and she had long championed the planting of them along the U.S. highways.

Lyrics
The hills were alive with wildflowers and I
Was as wild, even wilder than they
For at least I could run
They just died in the sun
And I refused to just wither in place
Just a wild mountain rose
Needing freedom to grow
So I ran fearing not where I’d go
When a flower grows wild
It can always survive
Wildflowers don’t care where they grow
And the flowers I knew
In the fields where I grew
Were content to be lost in the crowd
They were common and close
I had no room for growth
And I wanted so much to branch out
So I uprooted myself from my home ground and left
Took my dreams and I took to the road
When a flower grows wild
It can always survive
Wildflowers don’t care where they grow
I grew up fast and wild
And I never felt right
In a garden so different from me
I just never belonged
I just longed to be gone
So the garden one day set me free
I hitched a ride with the wind
And since he was my friend
I just let him decide where we’d go
When a flower grows wild
It can always survive
Wildflowers don’t care where they grow
Just a wild rambling rose seeking mysteries untold
No regret for the path that I chose
When a flower grows wild
It can always survive
Wildflowers don’t care where they grow
Wildflowers don’t care where they grow

About Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter…

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