I Will Always Love Ukulele Chords – Dolly Parton. This song uses the chords: Abadd9, Db, Eb, Amin, Ab/Eb. You can change the key for free, as needed.
I Will Always Love Ukulele Chords – Dolly Parton
INTRO:
Abadd9 Db/Ab x2
“I Will Always Love You” History:
This is one of those songs where the story behind the song is almost as powerful as the song itself—and Dolly’s original is quite different emotionally from the way most people know it through Whitney Houston.
🎵 “I Will Always Love You” — Dolly Parton
I Will Always Love You was written by Dolly Parton in 1973 and released as a single on March 11, 1974, from her album Jolene. Dolly wrote it herself and recorded it at RCA Studio B in Nashville.
But here’s the really interesting part:
It wasn’t originally a romantic love song.
Dolly wrote it as a farewell to Porter Wagoner, the country singer and television personality who had been her mentor and professional partner.
The story behind it
Dolly had joined The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967 and became an important part of Wagoner’s musical operation. Eventually, though, she wanted to leave the show and establish herself as a solo artist.
The relationship had become complicated. There was affection and enormous professional respect, but Dolly needed to go her own way.
And instead of writing an angry “I’m leaving you” song, she wrote:
I’m leaving—and I still love you.
That’s the extraordinary emotional idea at the center of the song.
It’s not:
I don’t love you anymore.
It’s essentially:
“I love you enough to let you go—and I love you enough to leave.”
That distinction is what makes the song so powerful.
Whitney Houston’s official site describes the song specifically as a farewell to Wagoner when Parton decided to pursue her solo career.
Dolly’s original is very different from Whitney’s.
Dolly’s 1974 recording is only about 2:53 long. It’s intimate, restrained, and very country.
There’s no attempt to overpower you vocally.
Dolly basically stands there and tells you the truth.
And that’s important because the melody itself doesn’t require vocal gymnastics. The emotional weight comes from the phrasing.
That connects directly with something you’ve said to me before about music:
“If you cannot phrase, you can’t play.”
Dolly is a phrasing monster on this recording.
She doesn’t need to scream the song.
She knows exactly where to put the emotional weight on a word, where to back away, and where to let the silence do some of the work.
And then there’s the incredible coincidence
The song became Dolly’s third No. 1 country single when the 1974 recording reached the top of the Billboard country chart.
Then Dolly recorded it again in 1982 for the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
That version also went to No. 1 on the country chart.
So Dolly became the first artist to take the same song to No. 1 twice with two different recordings.
That’s pretty remarkable.
And the 1982 recording is interesting because Dolly’s voice had changed. It’s more polished and more pop-oriented than the 1974 performance.
And then Whitney Houston enters the story
This is where the song became something completely different.
Whitney Houston recorded it for the 1992 movie The Bodyguard.
The song had originally been Dolly’s farewell to Porter Wagoner, but Whitney’s performance transformed it into something that millions of people heard as an enormous romantic love song.
And there’s a fascinating piece of history here:
Kevin Costner was instrumental in getting the song considered for the movie.
He loved the song and believed it belonged in the film. Dolly subsequently sent the song to the production, and David Foster created the new arrangement for Whitney.
Whitney’s recording then spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
And suddenly Dolly’s quiet country goodbye had become one of the biggest pop recordings in history.
But here’s the thing I really love about Dolly’s song
The title sounds like it’s saying:
“I will always love you.”
But the deeper message is almost:
“Love doesn’t necessarily mean staying.”
That’s a much more mature idea.
Sometimes loving somebody means recognizing that the relationship, the job, the partnership, or the particular chapter of your life has reached its end.
And there’s no hatred in it.
No revenge.
No you did this to me.
Just:
I have to go.
I love you.
And I will always love you.
That’s a hell of a thing for a young songwriter to understand.
And Dolly understood it.
One more little Dolly detail: she recorded the song in 1973, and it became part of the extraordinary transition from Dolly the member of Porter Wagoner’s musical world to Dolly Parton the completely independent artist. In that sense, the song isn’t merely about saying goodbye to a person—it became part of the soundtrack to Dolly becoming Dolly.
Dolly’s 1974 recording is the one to really listen to closely. Don’t listen to it as a “big ballad.” Listen to the little things she does with her voice.
That’s where the magic is.
