Dolly Parton Opens Up About Real-Life Inspiration for ‘9 to 5’ Line

Country music icon Dolly Parton revealed the origin of her now-famous line from 9 to 5 about shooting off a certain appendage of her boss’s. In addition to Parton, the film starred Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. It revolved around three women getting revenge on their misogynistic boss. While 9 to 5 is a classic, Parton’s theme song of the same name is often more remembered.

One memorable scene features Parton’s character, Doralee, confronting the boss after he sexually harassed her. Threatening him, she says: “Look, I got a gun right there in my purse, and up to now, I’ve been forgiving and forgetting because of the way I was brought up, but I’ll tell you one thing: if you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, I’m gonna get that gun of mine, and I’m gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot.”

According to Parton, the idea behind this line came from a real-life incident she had with a man who was also being too forward.

“My friend Judy and I’d never been to New York,” she explained. “We went down, walking down the street and we were looking around at all this stuff. This guy came up and he started trying to put the make on me and saying all this stuff. And I was saying, ‘No, now, get away! We’re not interested. We’re just out walking.’ And he kept trying.”

Parton continued: “At that time my daddy had given me a gun when I left home, and he said, ‘You use it if you have to — but only if you have to. But it’ll help you. If somebody knows you got a gun, they’re gonna leave you alone.’ So anyway, this guy would not stop. … I said, ‘If you touch me’ — and I was really angry and scared — I said, ‘If you touch me one more time, I’m gonna shoot your, you know, crotch off!’ That’s kind of where that the [9 to 5] movie [line] came from, that “I’m gonna change it from a rooster to a hen,” that thing. Well, that actually happened me. And I said, ‘I’m gonna shoot it off!’”

Sometimes, the best lines come from actual experiences. No doubt the harassment was scary for Parton, but if anyone can turn that bad experience around and entertain others, it’s her.

Dolly Parton Recalls Inspiration for 9 to 5

As for how that night unfolded, Parton explained that her first trip to New York wasn’t the best experience. After the encounter with that man, she and her friend then got lost alone in the city.

“A guy came up to me and he knew who I was,” the singer said. “He said, ‘Are you girls lost?’ I said, ‘Yes, we are.’ We didn’t know how to get back to our hotel. We wound up… is it 52nd Street? Or one of those where the whores run in pairs. We didn’t know that. And we did look the part, ‘cause we both were, you know, country and tacky.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the night for Parton and Judy. Even though she ran into a good samaritan, Parton’s troubles also followed her to the hotel.

“Sure enough, they had locked us out of our room,” said Parton. “They thought we were trash, and because we had one room, they thought we were turning tricks in our room! They had put all of our stuff out in the hall and had locked the door. So, we had to go to the airport, get a cab and go to the airport, and wait for hours till we could get back home. And I thought, “I’m never going back to New York again!” But anyway, you have your stories, you live your life. And then you have memories and they make fun stories.”