A Song For A Sunday.

Chicken Every Sunday.

Lyrics and Vocals: American singer-songwriter, actress, and businesswoman, the late
great Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean (née Parton) [1946 – 2026].

Dolly Parton’s lesser-known “Chicken Every Sunday” carries a proud message about dignity, belonging and the hurt of being judged by money. Its young narrator faces a wealthy family’s disapproval, while her mother reminds her that humble circumstances never make anyone inferior.
The Sunday chicken dinner becomes a symbol of a home sustained by care, shared pleasures and self-respect. To my ears, the song’s deepest meaning lies in that refusal to feel ashamed; a modest life has value, and nobody’s wealth gives them the right to look down on yours.

Chicken Every Sunday.

Chicken Every Sunday.

Just because all my dresses are just cotton hand-me-downs,
His family calls me the lower class.
‘Cause we’re only poor folks on the other side of town,
They won’t let him walk up my path.

But my mama says, “Don’t worry when they say those things about you,
You remember you’re just as good as him.
Just because they got that big house sitting way up on the hill,
Why, you don’t have to look up to them”.

[Chorus]

“We’ve got chicken every Sunday and the preacher comes around,
And every Saturday morning, daddy takes us all to town,
And we go to the picture show, have picnics on the ground,
Oh, if that’s the lower class, then I’m glad that’s what I am”.

‘Cause my mama don’t belong to the ladies social set,
And my daddy can’t afford the country club.
His folks look down on me and they won’t let us date,
‘Cause they think that I’m not good enough.

But my mama says, “Forget him, honey, he ain’t worth it all,
And if anything, you’re too good for him.
Just because they got money and a big fine house,
Why, we won’t take no sass off of them”.

Repeat Chorus Twice.

End.