Released in the fall of 1971, this song hit number 4 on the country charts and served as the title tune of a Top 10 hit country LP the following year. Shania Twain & Alison Krauss later sang it, as did Emily Lou Harris, the Oak Ridge Boys, and others. It inspired a highly rated NBC TV movie in 2015.
COAT OF MANY COLORS - 1971
Back through the years I go wanderin' once again,
Back to the seasons of my youth,
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us,
And how my mama put the rags to use.
They were rags of many colors, but every piece was small,
And I didn't have a coat, and it way down in the fall.
Mama sewed the rags together, sewin' every piece with love,
She made my coat of many colors that I was so proud of.
As she sewed, she told a story from the Bible she had read,
About a coat of many colors Joseph wore, and then she said,
"Perhaps this coat will bring you good luck & happiness."
And I couldn't wait to wear it, and mama blessed it with a kiss.
My coat of many colors that my mama made for me,
Made only from rags, but I wore it so proudly.
Although we had no money, I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my mama made for me.
So with patches on my britches and holes in both my shoes,
In my coat of many colors, I hurried off to school,
Just to find the others laughing and making fun of me
In my coat of many colors my mama made for me,
And, oh, I couldn't understand it, for I felt I was rich.
And I told them of the love my mama sewed in every stitch.
And I told them all the story mama told me while she sewed,
And how my coat of many colors was worth more than all their clothes.
But they didn't understand it, and I tried to make them see
That one is only poor, only if they choose to be.
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my mama made for me
My coat of many colors that my mama made for me,
Made only from rags, but I wore it so proudly.
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my mama made for me.
....Made just for me.
By:
Dolly Parton
1971
"Dolly Parton Songteller" My life in lyrics.
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