"Single Women" is a song, written by ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' writer

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...

. The song, was originally performed during an ''SNL'' sketch by

Christine Ebersole Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals '' 42nd Street'' and ''Grey Gardens'', winning two Tony Awards. She has co-s ...

on the October 10, 1981 broadcast, and was later recorded by

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 ...

for her 1982 ''

Heartbreak Express ''Heartbreak Express'' in the twenty-fourth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on March 29, 1982, by RCA Records. The album returned Parton to a more fully realized country sound (a process she had begun on the previous year's ''9 ...

'' album. Released as the album's first single in February 1982, it reached number 8 on the U.S. country singles chart in April 1982. The Parton version of the song featured somewhat reworked lyrics, as RCA requested she eliminate the drug references, fearful that they would cause the song to meet resistance on country radio. The song later inspired a 1984 TV movie titled ''Single Bars, Single Women'', starring

Shelley Hack Shelley Marie Hack (born July 6, 1947) is an American actress, model and producer. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of '' ...

Paul Michael Glaser Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, ''Starsky & Hutch''. In between his work writing and directing, Gla ...

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

, and

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

, which was produced by O'Donoghue. An abbreviated version of Parton's recording of the song was used as the movie's theme song.

Content

The song depicts a number of women looking for love in a

singles bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

Charts

References

External links

Single Women lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line
Dolly Parton songs RCA Records singles Works by Michael O'Donoghue 1981 songs 1982 singles {{1981-country-song-stub