“I Really Don’t Care” — Dolly Parton Has The Perfect Response To Teenager Who Tells Her He Doesn’t Like Country Music

Classic Dolly. She might be one of, if not the, funniest music stars alive, and Mrs. Dolly Parton is always ready to give a great response in interviews or anytime she's interacting with fans. And I came across an all-time great one that happened on her Dolly Parton Meets the Kids TV special that came out in 1983, where she answered questions from five teenagers from Los Angeles about her life, music, childhood in the Smoky Mountains and so much more. One kid in particular, a 15-year old (so we'll cut him some slack) named Paul straight up told her he didn't like country music, and wanted her to know that in an effort to be "honest and open." He asked it in a very polite way, and I really don't think he meant anything by it in terms of being offensive: "To be honest and open with you, I don't' really like country music." But Dolly being Dolly, she was locked and loaded with a great response, and smiled as she told Paul: "Well, to be honest and open with you, I really don't care." I think she was partially joking, but Paul continued with his question, saying he wanted to try and understand it because clearly there's something to it since so many people love it: "I was just curious what people who really like it see in it... I think, maybe the reason I don't like it is maybe I don't understand it." Dolly gave a well-thought out response, saying that she understands why someone his age wouldn't necessarily love the sad stories and deeper nature of country music, and that she isn't a fan of a lot of the "corny" stuff herself (even though she's admittedly recorded some of those songs too): "Well I can understand why you don't like it, I don't like a lot of it myself and I grew up in country music. But I think country music is a music that you have to listen to, and most kids your age don't have the time to really listen to just the sad story. You'd rather listen to something you like that you can boogie to at the same time. So there's nothing wrong with not liking country music, I love it... I don't like the corn pone country music. Although I've done a lot of it myself. Well, the really corny, the twang twang twang, and I can appreciate the fact that you don't like a lot of it. But there is a lot about it that you would appreciate if you really go into it. It's the kind of thing you kind of have to get into." And who knows if Paul ever became a country music fan, but at the very least, I have to imagine he became a Dolly Parton fan and that's good enough for me: Here's a little more from the special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U45-fMjo34