Dolly Parton Loves Eugene
And she might have written Oregon's newly-adopted victory song.
As I walked out of the Idaho game a few weeks ago, I heard a song that was familiar to me, but unfamiliar to Autzen Stadium.
“Eugene, Oregon, I'll remember you for the rest of my life
I won't forget how good you were to me
No and I won't be forgettin' all the kindness that you show
To a homesick country girl a long, long way from Tennessee.”
Now, I love Eugene, but it isn’t exactly a town that gets a ton of songs written about it—and definitely not by the biggest recording artists of all time.
But Dolly Parton’s love for the Eug dates back to a 1972 Valentine’s Day concert at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
Dolly was touring with Porter Wagoner at the time, and she was feeling physically and emotionally sick from the her long time on the road.
She felt so awful that she had even skipped a few shows along the way, but once they arrived in Eugene, the future Queen of Country decided to get back out there.
As she puts it, she stepped out on stage and addressed the crowd honestly: “I informed the audience that I was sick and asked them to please forgive my weakness.”
“They totally supported me,” raved Dolly. “They loved me and gave me my first standing ovation—actually two.” The encouragement she got from those Eugene locals overwhelmed her. “I cried like a baby. I almost couldn’t go back into the next song I was so touched by it.”
Dolly was so floored by the outpouring of support that she sat down that night and wrote the song, “Eugene Oregon.”
If you asked me to rank Dolly’s top two Best Songwriting Days of All Time, I would probably go with that day as my number one, followed very closely by the day that she wrote both “Jolene,” and, “I Will Always Love You,” in a single sitting.
What can I say? I’m a homer through-and-through.
Now, “Eugene Oregon,” was written in 1972, but nobody would blame you if you’ve never heard it before—it remained unreleased until 2009 when she sold a deluxe box set titled Dolly.
I accidentally found this song a few a years ago (yes, I often spend my time searching “Eugene, Oregon” on Spotify), and it had become a frequent fun fact of mine to my Duck friends: “Did you know Dolly Parton wrote a song about Eugene?”
But I had never found anyone else in my life that knew anything about it.
Until a few Saturdays ago when, “Eugene Oregon,” played loud and proud over the Autzen sound system, ringing in the first victory of the year.
Was this the start of a new tradition?
The Red Sox play “Dirty Water” by The Standells after every Fenway win.
The Dodgers have Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”
And now Autzen just might have their own classic victory song.
Obviously we’re keeping our fourth quarter “Shout!” and our “Joker and the Thief” kickoffs—and we’re always going to play the fight song after we score, even if Shadeur Sanders transfers here next year—but why not add a great song, with a great story, written by one of the greatest human beings of all time?
Enjoy the bye week & Go Ducks.
I was going through some old articles about one of my best friends who passed last year, Ron Norwood. He was the KORE FM promoter who set up Dolly’s concert in Eugene, Feb 1972. I personally happened to be at that concert and was the first time I heard her sing. And yes, she did write the Eugene, Eugene song after the show.
Love it, just added to my Ducks playlist. Maybe when we lose at home we play "Eugene" by Sufjan Stevens and sob as we take the long slow walk back across the river.