Whoa!
Well thank you so much and hello UT.
And I want to say congratulations to every single one of you that graduated today.
I was listening to your names.
I've been back there waiting for you to finish so I could start up.
Anyway, I know this is a big, big day for you.
And I never dreamed -- ever, ever, ever dreamed -- that I would be a commencement speaker.
Now singing, yes I can do that.
No problem.
But making speeches, I'm a little nervous.
Seriously nervous, because I know that I am supposed to say something meaningful to you.
Maybe some good advice for you to always remember.
Now I usually try not to give advice, information yes, advice no.
Because what has worked for me may not work for you.
Well take for instance what has worked for me?
Wigs, tight clothes, push-up bras, high-heeled shoes, five-inch high-heeled shoes.
All I gotta say take my advice.
Some of you boys out there may find yourself on a little different career path then you
might have planned.
And you girls better be careful too.
Seriously, I wanted to tell you that the way I look actually is a country girl's idea of
glamour.
It came from a very serious place.
There was a what they call the town trollop in our town up in Sevierville.
Well I thought she was the prettiest thing I've ever seen when I was a little girl.
And every chance I had to go to town, I'd see her and I would just say "oh, she's so
pretty."
And they'd say "oh, she's just trash."
And I thought that's what I'm gonna be when I grow up.
And I know sometimes I look like it, but hopefully I'm a little more than that.
I'd like to believe that there is a brain beneath all his hair and heart beneath these....
But seriously, this entire moment reminds me of the first time that I ever got up to
sing on stage.
Now I was just a kid and I was nervous then too.
And I wasn't quite sure that I was going to be able to deliver what the audience wanted
from me.
But I did sing and they did applaud and they did want more.
Only trouble was they wanted an encore and I had only one song.
So, I just started up singing the same song again.
Don't you worry though because I'm not going to repeat this speech.
I don't care how much you like it.
But seriously, I remember, you know, all of that and it was a start for me and of course
today is a special day.
Remember your parents today because at this moment, as you well know, they are as proud
of you as they will probably ever be and they love you as much as they probably ever will.
They're all emotional.
Look at them all teary-eyed.
Seems to me like a good time for you to ask them for a loan.
We got the Smart Bank up here.
I'm sure they can help you out with that.
You know several years ago, I created the Dollywood foundation.
Now I know we wanted to do things to inspire kids.
But like all good organizations, we needed the right mission to guide us.
And in the end, what we came up with was a pretty simple and straightforward wish for
all kids.
We wanted them to dream more, learn more, care more, and be more.
Now when I was thinking about what I should say to you today, well those four simple things
just kept coming back to me.
So I thought that I would use this as my way to share my thoughts with you.
Now governor Bredesen said a whole bunch of things I was going to say.
But I didn't know what he was going to say, so I'm going say what I have to say because
he was right on the money with a whole lot of things that he said about me.
I'm very grateful for my life, but if I had but one wish for you, it would be for you
to dream more.
Now when I was a kid, I used to put a tin can on a broom handle.
I used to stick it down in the crack out on the porch of our old cabin.
And of course, in my mind's eye, I was standing on stage with my guitar singing my heart out
in this microphone.
And those were not chickens out there in the yard, it was my audience.
And that was no ragged dress that I was wearing, it was a dress glittering with rhinestones
and it was made of the finest silk -- in my mind.
So, you have to stay true to your heart and to your dreams.
Now the night I graduated from Sevier County High School back in 1964, we were all asked
to stand up and talk about what we were going to do with the rest of our lives.
And everybody had a different story.
And when it came my time, I stood right up there and said "I'm going to Nashville and
I'm going to be a star."
Well the whole place laughed out loud and I was so embarrassed because I thought well
how odd, why is everybody laughing because that's what I'm going to do.
But as bad as I felt at that moment and as embarrassed as I was, it did not shake me
from my dreams.
So, I guess I showed them, huh?
And you can do the same!
Of course, but you have to be careful.
Do not confuse dreams with wishes, there is a difference.
Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish.
Now dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they
come true.
Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you, but there's no fire in your gut that
causes you to put everything forth, you know, to overcome all the obstacles.
So, you have to dream more and never, ever, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn't
happen.
That is in your department.
Now even -- yeah, it's true -- you'll see more what I mean as you get out there in the
big world, because I still have dreams of what I want to do next.
And of course, I hope that I will never retire.
I will never go to seed and as they say, I would certainly rather wear out then to rust
out.
And I just hope that I drop dead right on stage one of these days, doing exactly what
I want to do.
And I want people to just walk all around me and say "oh look at her, she's smiling,
she looks so happy."
But, I hope it don't happen today.
That would not be good on your big day.
But if it happens, just know I went ahead because this is what I do love to do.
And if I had but one request of you, I ask that you learn more.
Now when I was in school, I only made average grades.
Maybe it was because I dreamed too much about music and becoming a star.
Or maybe I was paying too much attention to the boys.
Or maybe I was just your typical dumb a....
And I know there's a lot of us out there, but either way it took me a while to realize
that the more you learn about everything the easier it is to do it.
So, I thank God that when I was a kid my mother used to read the Bible to me.
And I learned to love reading when I was just a tiny little thing.
I read everything I can get my hands on, because it is my belief that if you can read, even
if you don't get a chance to get an education, you can learn about everything.
And, of course, that was one of the reasons I wanted to work with the Imagination Library.
So, if you learn to read you can learn almost anything.
I also believe that learn more means to keep working at making your dreams come true.
I know that I have truly been blessed, but I can tell you -- as the governor did -- that
I have worked my country butt off to see those dreams come true.
Nobody ever makes it without hard work.
Now working hard is not just effort, it's learning, it's trying new things, and it's
about taking chances.
I got my first big start in Nashville working for a man named Porter Wagoner.
Now, Porter had...
Yeah you know him, he was good to me.
We went around and around.
He had the best TV show, the most successful syndicated television show and we were one
of the most popular duets ever in country music.
But I wanted to try new things.
I wanted write more songs, different music, and sing and try different things.
But Porter didn't want that, and neither did a whole lot of the so-called conventional
wisdom.
And I knew that even if I fell flat on my face, at least I would know that I tried and
that I would learn something from all that.
I also knew at the time that -- given my size -- that if I did fall on my face, it would
take forever to get me up.
So, but that's a different story for a different crowd.
It goes back to that town trollop, don't it?
Anyway, the same was true when I started branching out into pop music and even doing some dance
music.
And people squawked and they complained and they swore that I had lost my mind.
And I really wish y'all could have seen the look on my lawyer's face 24 years ago when
I told him I wanted to start a theme park and call it Dollywood.
He thought I'd already taken the train to crazy wood, but I'm sure bunches of you have
seen that dream come true for me.
And hopefully if you ain't been to Dollywood, you will get up there.
Can you believe it?
Twenty-five years next year.
We're going to do a big special from up there.
Maybe you'll be back home and come up and see us.
But you know, learning is all about taking chances and -- as the governor said -- rolling
up your sleeves and working hard.
Now sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
But one thing is for sure -- if you never try, you're never going to win.
Now if I have but one favor to ask of you, it's that you care more.
Did you ever notice there's just a whole lot of people that do things just well enough
to get by?
But caring is about striving for perfection.
It's about how you look.
It's about how you prepare and how you keep your commitments.
Now the very first movie that I was ever in was called 9 to 5 -- as the governor mentioned.
That was 30 years ago, when they did the movie.
So, I wanted to be prepared.
That was new territory for me.
I think I overdid it because I memorized the entire script.
I thought it was like a play.
I thought I had to know not only my lines, but everybody else's.
When I got there to do the movie, everybody thought that was the funniest thing they ever
heard of.
And I was too dumb to be embarrassed.
Certainly, after they started missing their lines on the set and I had the opportunity
to say "no it's this, it's this, it's this."
So at least I was prepared, and in my business, I truly love and respect everybody in my audience.
I have always been so proud of my relationship with my fans.
And of course it would just kill me to disappoint them for any reason because they pay my bills.
I always think these fans are spending their hard-earned money on me.
So it would just embarrass me and hurt my feelings -- as well as theirs -- for me to
do a mediocre job.
So I do my best at all times.
Now I hope that you will always care enough to be on time, to look your best, and always
give every task and every job everything that you possibly have to give.
If you truly care for people, you won't judge them.
And then you will learn to appreciate the uniqueness in every single soul.
And if I have but one hope for you, it is that you be more.
Now people are always asking me "what you want people to say about you a hundred years
from now?"
I always say I want them to say "hey, don't she still look good for her age?"
But all joking aside, I think people will remember us for who we were, not how many
records we sell or how much money we make.
Because I have always said that I've always counted my blessings far more often than I
count my money.
And my blessings are many.
I have a loving family.
I have a great home town.
And obviously, I live in the best state in the USA.
Can I get a witness!
I also figured out a long, long time ago that it was not meant for me to have kids so that
everybody's children could be mine.
And now that's a mighty big family and a mighty big responsibility.
And the Imagination Library came from this place, from my desire to do something, to
inspire the little kids to read and to learn.
I just never dreamed that so many other generous souls like Rotaries, United Way, the State
of Tennessee Foundations, you name it, would invest their hard-earned dollars into this
effort.
And their kindness has now helped us give away -- since we started this whole program
-- 20 million books.
That's saying a lot, governor.
We appreciate you for all that, too.
The governor and I have made a wonderful team.
I love working with him.
He's become a buddy of mine and every time I hear that he's going to be where I am, I
get so excited I try on about 15 outfits so I can look good for you.
I'm not joking, it's true.
And like Elvis, I comb my hair 52 different ways thinking the governor's coming.
Anyway, but anyhow, we're very, very proud of all the success of the Imagination Library.
And I'm not saying this just to brag -- because we're all very proud.
I'm telling this so you won't make a mistake and kind of wind up like me going from the
cover of Playboy to being called the Book Lady.
That's a pretty far leap don't you think?
But I'm proud to be here.
You know a loving person is a caring person, and it's hard to be bigger than that.
Of course, I always call that spiritual center that we all have inside us -- I call that
my God core.
In a way, it's where heaven and earth kind of meet.
So, you should always listen to that God core and care for others and then you truly will
be something special.
Now I know if my husband Karl Dean was here right now, he would say "haven't you made
these people suffer enough?"
And I would say, "no, I have not made them suffer enough and I have not listened to you
for 43 years, so why should I start now?"
Anyway, I would have to say that Karl is probably right and it's time I do wrap this up.
Actually, my big moment in the sun is just a few minutes from now, because I gotta march
off the stage put on my black robe -- which they had to kind of tailor make for me because
I'm so little -- they're afraid I'd kill myself on it.
I'm not exactly Pat Summitt you know.
So anyhow, I'm going to traipse off here in a minute and get ready for that.
Go try to get my little hat on, if I can do all that, and come back out here and get my
honor.