Dolly Parton started songwriting at the age of four.
Dolly Parton
The '9 To 5' hitmaker loved to make up songs when she was a child and admits her mother was "fascinated" by it.
She said: "I started making up songs when I was four or five. The first one I can remember was about a little corncob doll that my mother made for me and which I named Tiny Tasseltop.
"Mamma was fascinated by how I used to rhyme words, so she used to write them down and tell them to people. She kept shoeboxes full of songs that I wrote when I was little."
And the 70-year-old singer also revealed she has a lot of her own songs locked up the vault, which she plans to "go back and rework".
She added: "I've probably written 5,000 songs in my career. I've had hundreds and hundreds copyrighted and recorded, but there are so many more - boxes and trunks full of them - that I'll go back and rework. I'll think: that was a great title, or a great melody, but the song is not quite there yet."
Dolly likes to plan ahead when she writes music and will usually "fast for a couple of days" before she does to get into a "clean, spiritual frame of mind".
She told The Guardian newspaper: "Before sitting down to write, I often fast for a couple of days. This gets me into a clean, spiritual frame of mind and opens me up to inspiration.
"I bring along a whole suitcase of titles and half-written songs, and I take all my different instruments. If I'm writing mountain songs I like to play mountain instruments, whether it's the dulcimer, the autoharp or the banjo, but mainly I write with the guitar."
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