| "9 to 5" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byDolly Parton | ||||
| from the album9 to 5 and Odd Jobs | ||||
| B-side | "Sing for the Common Man" | |||
| Released | November 3, 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:43 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Songwriter | Dolly Parton | |||
| Producer | Gregg Perry | |||
| Dolly Parton singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "9 to 5" onYouTube | ||||
"9 to 5" is a song written and recorded by American entertainerDolly Parton for the 1980 comedy film9 to 5. In addition to appearing on the film'ssoundtrack, the song was the centerpiece and opening track of Parton's album9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, released in late 1980.
Released as a single in November 1980, the song garnered Parton anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Song at the53rd Academy Awards and threeGrammy Award nominations includingSong of the Year, winning her the awards forBest Country Song andBest Country Vocal Performance, Female at the24th Annual Grammy Awards. Parton received an additionalBest Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special Grammy nomination for the9 to 5 soundtrack alongside composerCharles Fox. For a time, it became something of an anthem for office workers in the US, and in 2004, it ranked at number 78 on theAmerican Film Institute's100 Years...100 Songs.
The song was accompanied by a music video that featured footage of Parton and her band performing, intercut with scenes from the film.
The song was written for the comedy film9 to 5, starringJane Fonda,Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton in her film debut; both the song and the film owe their titles to9to5, an organization founded in 1973 to bring about fair pay and equal treatment for women in the workplace.[1]
The song is also featured in amusical theateradaptation of the film, featuring a book by the film's original writer,Patricia Resnick, and 20 additional songs written by Dolly Parton. The musical began showing previews inLos Angeles on September 9, 2008, and played onBroadway at theMarquis Theatre from April until September 2009 before touring. In 2012, a UK theatre tour of9 to 5 began.
A few months before Parton's song and the film, Scottish singerSheena Easton released a single called "9 to 5" in the UK. When Easton's song was released in the U.S. the following year it was renamed "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion. Easton's single topped theBillboard Hot 100 chart three months after Parton's song left that spot. Despite similar titles, the two songs differ in lyrical themes. While Parton's song is about a working woman, Easton's song is about a woman waiting at home for her lover to return from work.
Rolling Stone called "9 to 5" Parton's "most transformative song", ranking it at number 7 on its list of the 50 Best Dolly Parton songs.[2]
"9 to 5" reached number one on theBillboardCountry chart in January 1981.[3] In February 1981, it went to number one on both theBillboard Hot 100 and theAdult Contemporary charts, respectively. It became Parton's first and only solo number one entry on the former, as Parton would later team up withKenny Rogers on their number one duet "Islands in the Stream".[4] The song was certified gold by theRIAA on February 19, 1981, indicating shipment of 1,000,000 physical copies. It was certified platinum on September 25, 2017.[5] The song has accrued 500,000 digital downloads as of February 2019[update] in the United States after it was made available for download in the 21st century.[6]
Despite peaking at number 47 on theUK Singles Chart in 1981, it has sold 303,511 digital copies in the UK as of July 2014[update].[7] As of 2017[update], it is Parton's most downloaded track in the UK, totaling 340,800 downloads, while it has also been streamed 8.46 million times.[8] It remains popular on radio and in nightclubs throughout the UK and was spliced between "Independent Women Part 1" byDestiny's Child and "Eple" byRöyksopp for theSoulwax albumAs Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2.
The track also topped the CanadianRPM Top Singles chart and reached the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Sweden, South Africa, Oceania and the Netherlands.
"9 to 5" is one of the fewBillboard chart songs to feature the clacking of atypewriter. Parton has stated in numerous interviews that when she wrote the song, she devised the clacking typewriter rhythm by running heracrylic fingernails back and forth against one another.[9]
With this song, Parton became only the second woman to top both the U.S. country singles chart and theBillboard Hot 100 with the same single; the first was 1968's "Harper Valley PTA" byJeannie C. Riley, which Parton had coincidentally covered in her 1969 album,In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad).
"9 to 5" served as the theme song for the mid-1980s sitcom9 to 5 which derived from the film.Phoebe Snow sang the theme for the four-episode premiere season, which aired in March and April 1982; however, Parton would be heard singing the theme for the sitcom's 1982–1983 run and for its 1986–1988 revival.
Songwriters Neil and Jan Goldberg filed a lawsuit against Parton, claiming that "9 to 5" was a copy of their 1976 song "Money World". In December 1985 the court ruled in Parton's favor.[10]
In 1985, the air freight companyEmery Worldwide used the tune with advertising lyrics in some TV commercials.[11]
U.S. SenatorElizabeth Warren frequently used the song at campaign appearances during her2020 presidential campaign, with it often playing when she took the stage.[12][13][14][15] Reacting to the song's use, Parton's manager Danny Nozell said, "We did not approve the request, and we do not approve requests like this of (a) political nature."[16] The song was sung from the public gallery of theNew Zealand Parliament by supporters ofGreen PartyMPJan Logie at the conclusion of hervaledictory address, and is thus recorded inHansard.[17]
In early 2021, Parton recorded a new version of the song titled "5 to 9" for aSquarespace advert in theSuper Bowl LV.[18]
The song appeared in the opening scenes of the filmsThe Love Guru performed byMike Myers on thesitar as his character Guru Pitka andDeadpool 2 withDeadpool himself (Ryan Reynolds) using it in a sequence where he kills a series of people in his mercenary job, even starting the music by declaring "hit it, Dolly" immediately before.
The song was featured in thepost-credits scene of theGravity Falls episode “Summerween”.
It was also featured inThe Orville episode "Sanctuary", in which the song was chosen by Haveena (Rena Owen), the leader of female fugitives as an anthem of their attempted revolution.
"9 to 5" was also interpolated into the 2024 song "Powerful Women" byPitbull, which features Parton herself re-recording the song's chorus alongside adding new lines. Pitbull later declared onX that it was "an honor to be collaborating with one of music's most powerful women".[19]
The song was featured in "After Hours", the first episode ofThe Penguin.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[43] | 3× Platinum | 210,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[44] | 3× Platinum | 240,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[45] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[46] | 3× Platinum | 90,000‡ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[47] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[48] | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[5] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
| Streaming | ||
| Sweden (GLF)[49] | 3× Platinum | 24,000,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
