Dolly Parton Looks Back on ‘Love Is Like a Butterfly’ and the Meaning Behind One of Her Most Personal Songs
© Getty Images“Love is like a butterfly, you know, as soft and gentle as a sigh, especially when you’re newly in love.”
Dolly Parton is revisiting a song that has remained closely connected to her own story of love, memories and even one of the symbols most associated with her.
At 80, the country music icon is continuing to look back on her life through the songs she wrote, drawing on interviews and stories connected to her 2020 book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. In her latest reflection, Parton revisited her 1974 hit “Love Is Like a Butterfly” and explained why the delicate image at its center has always resonated with her.
A song inspired by the feeling of new love
© Getty ImagesThe song was a number one country hit in the United States and was briefly considered her signature
Parton described “Love Is Like a Butterfly” as a particularly poetic and innocent song, comparing love to the softness and delicacy of a butterfly.
“I love the song ‘Love Is Like a Butterfly’,” she recalled. “I wrote that one, and it’s very poetic. It’s very descriptive and very innocent and very flowery.”
She connected the song especially with the feeling of being newly in love.
When she wrote it, Parton had already been with Carl Dean for a decade and had been married to him for eight years. The couple would ultimately remain married for nearly 60 years, until Dean died in 2025.
For Parton, however, the butterfly imagery was about more than romance.
Butterflies had been part of Parton’s life since childhood
Parton revealed that her fascination with butterflies began when she was young.
“I’ve loved butterflies from the time I was little,” she recalled, explaining that she would wander through the woods following them because she wasn’t afraid of them.
She remembered being drawn to their bright colors and gentle nature, particularly because she knew they could not bite or sting her. Growing up, she encountered many different varieties and would follow one for as long as she could.
That childhood fascination eventually became something much more significant in her career.
“Over time, the butterfly became my symbol,” Parton explained.
The connection became especially visible when Dollywood was created, with the “W” in the name of the theme park incorporating a butterfly. Parton said the image naturally became something people associated with her and has remained her symbol ever since.
‘Love Is Like a Butterfly’ became a major country hit
© Getty ImagesDolly released her hit “Love is Like a Butterfly” in 1974, tied to the album of the same name
Released in 1974, “Love Is Like a Butterfly” served as the title track of Parton’s 14th studio album.
The album reached the top 10 on the country albums chart, while the song itself became a major success. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, marking Parton’s fourth No. 1 at the time, and also reached the top five of the Bubbling Under chart.
The song found an audience outside the United States as well. Parton recalled that it became a particularly big hit in France, where a famous singer later recorded a French version titled “Le Papillon.”
Parton remembered being especially fond of that interpretation, describing the singer’s version as sweet.
A defining moment in Parton’s career
The singer was married to her husband Carl Dean for nearly 60 years
By 1974, Parton was already firmly established as one of country music’s biggest stars, with songs including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You” among her best-known work.
“Love Is Like a Butterfly” was briefly regarded as her signature song during that period.
Her success continued to build over the following three years before she made an even bigger breakthrough into mainstream music with Here You Come Again in 1977. The album became her first to achieve Platinum certification in the United States and reached the top 20 of the Billboard 200.
© Getty ImagesDolly Parton is looking back on her life in song through “Songteller”
Looking back now, “Love Is Like a Butterfly” represents more than another hit from the early years of Parton’s career. Its central image connects a childhood fascination with the feeling of love and, eventually, with a symbol that became inseparable from Dolly Parton herself.
