Lyrics to
Washday Blues

This version of Washday Blues was released by Dolly Parton in 1972.

Our Decade Lyrics Dolly Parton profile has all of the Washday Blues lyrics from 1972 and many more songs from the Dolly Parton discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Dolly Parton or about the 1970s in general.

Last Saturday night I looked like a princess dressed in calico
Now blue Monday washday I look like a lady hobo
Just rubbin’ and a scrubbin’ and a raisin’ ’em out
I gotta hang ’em out early I hope the sun comes out
(Wash ’em out ring ’em out hang ’em on the line
Get a little tired just think about the good times) washday blues

Now I ain’t never been very lucky I ain’t never won a prize
But I’d like to get a job on TV for some of that soap they advertise
Rubbin’ and scrubbin…

Well that good lookin’ good lovin’ no good man of mine
Could buy me a washin’ machine
But he spends all his money on payday to make me look like a queen
Now rubbin’ and scrubbin’…

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Dolly Parton has released many songs over the years besides Washday Blues. Dolly Parton released songs from 1967 to 2005 spanning across albums like Hello, I'm Dolly, Just Because I'm A Woman, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, In The Good Old Days, As Long As I Love, The Fairest Of Them All, A Real Live Dolly, Coat Of Many Colors, The Golden Streets Of Glory, Joshua, Touch Your Woman, My Favorite Songwriter: Porter Wagoner, Bubbling Over, My Tennessee Mountain Home, Love Is Like A Butterfly, Jolene, Dolly: The Seeker / We Used To, The Bargain Store, All I Can Do, New Harvest... First Gathering, Here You Come Again, Heartbreaker, Great Balls Of Fire, 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, Heartbreak Express, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Burlap & Satin, Rhinestone, The Great Pretender, Real Love, Rainbow, White Limozeen, Home For Christmas, Eagle When She Flies, Straight Talk, Slow Dancing With The Moon, Heartsongs: Live From Home, Something Special, Treasures, Hungry Again, The Grass Is Blue, Precious Memories, Little Sparrow, Halos & Horns, For God And Country, and Those Were The Days. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Dolly Parton.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1972 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Washday Blues by Dolly Parton

The lyrics to Washday Blues are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Dolly Parton used when the song was created in 1972. The lyrics to Washday Blues have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Dolly Parton and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Washday Blues by Dolly Parton. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Washday Blues" means the words set to the music of Washday Blues, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Dolly Parton. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Washday Blues and the lyrics to Washday Blues are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Dolly Parton who came here looking just for the lyrics to Washday Blues, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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