"Here You Come Again" is a song written by

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

and

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

, and recorded by American entertainer

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. It was released as a single in September 1977 as the title track from Parton's album of the same name, topped the U.S. country singles chart for five weeks, and won the 1978 Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance; it also reached number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, representing Parton's first significant pop crossover hit.

Composition and recording

The song was composed by Mann and Weil, and it was a rare example of a Parton hit that she did not write herself. The songwriting duo originally composed "Here You Come Again" in 1975 as a potential comeback hit for

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

, but when Lee decided not to record it, the song made its way to Parton, who was looking for something to broaden her appeal. Her producer, Gary Klein, who had heard the song on

B.J. Thomas Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...

's recently released self-titled album, reported that Parton had begged him to add a steel guitar to avoid sounding too pop, and he called in

Al Perkins Al Perkins (born January 18, 1944) is an American guitarist known primarily for his steel guitar work. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential dobro player" and began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in ...

to fill that role. "She wanted people to be able to hear the

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

, so if someone said it isn't country, she could say it and prove it," Klein told journalist Tom Roland. "She was so relieved. It was like her life sentence was reprieved."Roland, Tom, ''The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits'' (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (), p. 204. The song modulates keys four times. The first two verses are set in

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

, followed by

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

for the first bridge,

for the third verse,

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

for the second bridge, and finally

for the last verse and outro. The song moves at a swinging tempo of 106 beats per minute in common time, with Parton's vocals ranging from G₃ to D₅.

Critical reception

"Here You Come Again" was the centerpiece of Parton's pop crossover in the late 1970s. The single spent five weeks at the top of the U.S ''Billboard'' country charts and reached number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It earned Parton the award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. The song has sold 271,000 digital copies in the United States as of February 2019 since becoming available for digital download.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers and other versions

recorded the song for his self-titled 1977 album. This version was released before Parton's. * Randy Bishop recorded the song in 1976, released as a single in June 1977 on A&M Records. *

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

recorded the song for her 1981 “The Spirit’s In It” album. *

Kikki Danielsson Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson (born 10 May 1952) is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She has gained notice for yodeling in some songs. Danielsson gained he ...

covered the song on her 1981 album ''

Just Like a Woman "Just Like a Woman" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan first released on his seventh studio album, ''Blonde on Blonde'' on June 20, 1966. It was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. A shorter edit was released as a sin ...

'', with lyrics written by herself in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

as ''Här är jag igen'' (translated: "Here I am again").Information
at

Svensk mediedatabas Svensk mediedatabas (''Swedish Media Database'') is a search engine for the audiovisual works of the National Library of Sweden. The database contains data about TV, radio, video, movies that have been shown in cinemas, gramophone records, CDs ...

It remains one of the few times the singer Kikki Danielsson was self-involved in songwriting. *In 2014, this song was covered by

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

and

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

on a June 13, 2014 episode of ''

CMT Crossroads ''CMT Crossroads'' is an American television program broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres such as alternative rock, pop, R&B, Rock, soul and more, frequently trading off performing one anot ...

''. They also performed it on 2019

MusiCares Person of the Year The MusiCares Person of the Year is an award presented annually by MusiCares, the charity arm of The Recording Academy, the same organization that distributes the Grammy Awards, to commend musicians for their artistic achievement in the music in ...

event honoring Dolly Parton on February 8, 2019 and during the tribute performance for Parton on the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

two days later.

References

External links

Here You Come Again lyrics
at Dolly Parton On-Line * {{authority control 1977 singles B. J. Thomas songs Dolly Parton songs Millie Jackson songs Kikki Danielsson songs Patti LaBelle songs Maureen McGovern songs Clay Aiken songs Jill Johnson songs Songs written by Barry Mann RCA Records singles Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil 1977 songs Song recordings produced by Gary Klein (producer)