Dolly Parton’s family held a private funeral ceremony for her Friday, her niece Lainey revealed. She didn’t provide any details, but Dolly herself told an Entertainment Weekly interviewer a decade ago the song she wanted played at her funeral, and it wasn’t “I Will Always Love You.”
There’s a song called “If We Never Meet Again.” It’s an old country-gospel church song that talks about if we never meet again this side of heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore. “Where the charming roses bloom forever and where separations come no more.” That was my daddy’s favorite. We did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine.
The song was written by Albert E. Brumley, who authored more than 700 “Southern gospel” songs, most famously “I’ll Fly Away.” “If We Never Meet Again” was inspired by a singing convention he attended in Memphis in 1945. On the drive home to southwestern Missouri it occurred to him that he would never see many of those people again in this life.
Dolly didn’t specify whose version of the song she wanted played – there are dozens to choose from. The first was by Brown’s Ferry Four, a sort of supergroup of country artists of the time that included Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones along with the Delmore Brothers, Alton and Rabon, pioneers of close-harmony country singing.
The best-known version might be the one Elvis Presley included on his first full album of gospel songs, “His Hand in Mine,” released in 1960 after his Army tour of duty ended.
Dolly Parton never released a recording of the song, but she sang it when she was working on Porter Wagoner’s TV show.
