"Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" is a country song written by singer-songwriter
Pebe Sebert
Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert ( ; born March 17, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter from Brentwood, Tennessee, and the mother of singer and songwriter Kesha. Sebert has co-written number-one hits for Dolly Parton, Pitbull, and Kesh ...
and
Hugh Moffatt. It was a number 14 U.S. country hit for
Joe Sun
James Joseph Paulsen (September 25, 1943 – October 25, 2019), known professionally as Joe Sun, was an American country music singer-songwriter. Recording for the Ovation and Elektra Records labels, Sun charted fourteen singles on the Hot ...
in 1978, and a number 86 hit for
Brian Collins the same year. It was later covered 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 ...
, who took it to the top of the U.S. country singles charts in August 1980.
Parton included her version on her 1980 ''
Dolly, Dolly, Dolly'' album, and it was released as the album's second single after the success of "
Starting Over Again". In 2013, Sebert's daughter,
Kesha, released an acoustic cover of the song as part of her
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. ''
Deconstructed''. A new version featuring Parton is a track on Kesha's 2017 album ''
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
''.
Content
In the song, the narrator tells their lover not to feel threatened by past affairs for these "old flames" are in the past and disappear from memory because of the current love.
Chart performance
Joe Sun
Brian Collins
Dolly Parton
References
External links
Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line
{{Authority control
1978 singles
1980 singles
Brian Collins (1970s singer) songs
Dolly Parton songs
Joe Sun songs
RCA Records singles
Songs written by Hugh Moffatt
Songs written by Pebe Sebert
1978 songs
Song recordings produced by Gary Klein (producer)
Kesha songs