"It gave them somewhere to go, that they didn't have to hang on to me so much. Almost like a mama. I can't entertain 'em all the time. I can send 'em to the playground, though, with fun people that I trust. You know: `Go. Go, go, go play. Go swing. Go get on the seesaw.' 'Cause they feel like it's all me. It's under that Dolly umbrella. And I feel good that I've been able to give them something. An extension of myself, so to speak." Dolly Parton sweetly explaining the significance of her theme park, Dollywood. [NYT]

She goes on to be surprisingly candid: ""I've often wondered if it's healthy for some of these people to depend on me that much, to where people live through you and don't live their own lives. It's like when people say, `I'm in love,' when they're really in lust. They call so many things love. I spend a lot of time thinking about stuff like that in the wee hours. But I think it's healthier for those people to have something to look forward to than to not. If they've got a show to look forward to or a record to look forward to, it might keep them from doing something bad to themselves or to somebody else. Or give 'em something more to do than just dwelling on themselves so much. I don't know. I just know I love the fans. I appreciate 'em. I love what I do. So I guess we'll all be at it for a long time to come."

Honestly, I find Dolly to be annoying as hell. But those words seem pretty honest. Maybe some of the candy-coated craziness in America does have some goodness waiting beneath the surface.