Dolly Parton: ‘Laughter Is Truly The Best Medicine’

Dolly Parton has been a bright light during the pandemic; her new song "When Life Is Good Again" says in part, “When life is good again, I’ll try to be someone on which you can depend, a helping hand to lend / I'll open up my heart and let the whole world in / I'll try to make a meds when like if good again."

Parton just released the official video for the song.

Dolly recently told The Today show that laughter truly helps in hard times and she uses it daily. She said, "Even right now during these times I've been making jokes about some of the stuff. People say, 'Oh you shouldn't be talking about that.' I say, 'Oh, I know it's no laughing matter what's going on, but laughter truly is the best medicine, and it's true with relationships as well.'"

She and her husband Carl Dean have been married for 54 years and she jokes that with all the togetherness during the pandemic that might waiver a bit. She joked, "The reason it worked for me is because I've stayed gone. I can't get away now. I'm stuck there now. I might find out who he is. We may not make it until the next anniversary."

Parton added, "We both are very crazy people, and we have a completely different sense of humor, but we just absolutely laugh all the time and that's been true through the years. I think there's a whole lot to be said about being good friends, but a good sense of humor too."

Through the pandemic, Dolly has been reading online to children in a series called "Good Night Dolly." She offered, "I thought this would be a wonderful time with kids having to be stuck at home with their parents, (and) the parents being stuck with kids. I thought, 'Why don't I just read a book to everybody while their parents have their kids up in bed?'"

Parton is a self-proclaimed "book lady" whose Imagination Library gifting program has mailed free books to the families of millions of children since the program's inception in 1995.