About The Song
“Starting Over Again” is a country-pop song recorded by Dolly Parton. It was written by Donna Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano. The track was released in February 1980 (with some discography sources listing March 3, 1980) by RCA Records as the lead single from Parton’s twenty-second solo studio album, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. The album itself was released on April 14, 1980. The song runs 3 minutes and 58 seconds in length and was produced by Gary Klein. Recording took place in December 1979 at Sound Labs in Hollywood, California.
The composition originated from Sudano’s personal experience. Sudano has stated that the song was based on the divorce of his parents after approximately 30 years of marriage. He worked on the melody and lyrics on a Fender Rhodes piano in a back bedroom of the home he shared with Summer in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. Summer contributed the key lines referencing “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men,” which became one of the song’s most recognizable elements. The narrative describes a middle-aged couple ending their long marriage, dividing assets, moving into new living situations, and facing the practical and social realities of beginning again after the children have grown.
Donna Summer performed the song live on television prior to any studio recording by another artist. She sang it on The Tonight Show in place of her then-current single “MacArthur Park” because the complex arrangement of that track was not feasible with the house band. The day after her television performance, representatives for Dolly Parton contacted the songwriters about the composition. No commercial studio version by Summer was released at the time, though she performed it on subsequent television specials during the 1980s, including her own program. Parton became the first artist to record and release a studio version.
Parton’s recording is arranged as a slow-tempo ballad that builds gradually to a dramatic crescendo. The single debuted at number 47 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated March 22, 1980. It reached number one on the chart dated May 24, 1980, holding the top position for one week. This marked Parton’s twelfth number-one single on the Billboard country chart. The song spent a total of 14 weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart. It also peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 35 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. On the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart it reached number 2. On the year-end Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 1980, the single ranked at number 22.
The achievement carried an additional historical note: Donna Summer became the first Black woman to write or co-write a song that reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The B-side of the original RCA single was “Sweet Agony.”
The parent album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly was produced by Gary Klein with Charles Koppelman as executive producer. It contains no original compositions by Parton. The album peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 71 on the Billboard 200. A second single from the album, “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You,” also reached number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. Contemporary trade reviews noted the emotional delivery and arrangement suitability for both country and adult contemporary formats.
Personnel details from the recording sessions include contributions typical of late-1970s/early-1980s Los Angeles studio work under Klein’s production. The track features a sparse-to-lush progressive arrangement that supports the narrative structure of the verses and the repeated chorus questioning how to begin again after long-term shared life.
In subsequent years the song was covered by Reba McEntire for her 1995 album Starting Over. McEntire’s version was released as a single in 1996 and peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. McEntire has noted that she selected the song in part as a tribute to both Parton and Summer.
Chart documentation across Billboard, Cash Box, and RPM sources consistently confirms the February/March 1980 single release window, the May 24, 1980 number-one peak on Hot Country Songs, the one-week stay at the top, the 14-week total country chart run, the number 36 Hot 100 peak, the number 35 Adult Contemporary peak, and the number 2 Canadian country peak. These figures are corroborated by Parton discography resources and contemporary industry publications from 1980.
The song has appeared on various Parton compilation albums in later years. It remains part of her RCA catalog from the period when she was expanding her pop crossover presence while continuing to score number-one country hits. No music video was produced for the original 1980 release in the modern promotional sense; promotion relied on radio airplay, television performances, and the album cycle.
Songwriting credits are formally attributed to Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano. The track’s structure consists of narrative verses detailing the separation process, a recurring chorus focused on the practical difficulties of starting over, and a closing return to the “all the king’s horses” motif. Production and arrangement choices emphasize a building dynamic that matches the lyrical progression from initial division of assets to the longer-term realities of separate lives.
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Lyric
Momma moved out Daddy sold the house They split up the money And went on their way And all the king's horses And all the king's men Couldn't put mommy and daddy back together again Starting over again Where should they begin 'Cause they've never been out on their own Starting over again Where do you begin When your dreams are all shattered And the kids are all grown And the whole world cries Got an apartment She moved in with her sisters He's scheming big deals with one of his friends While she sits at home Just sorting out pieces Of left over memories From thirty odd years Starting over again Where do you begin You've never been out on your own Starting over again Never any end What will the neighbors say? They're talking talk, it's small town news Facing fifty years old Breaking up a happy home And this far down the road You find yourself alone Two fools Starting over again Now where do you begin When you've never been out on your own Starting over again Never any end When your dreams are all shattered And the kids are all grown And all the king's horses And all the king's men Couldn't put mommy and daddy back together again