Dolly Parton Buried An Unreleased Track Under Dollywood

Fresh off of her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Dolly Parton confirmed what many long thought to merely be an urban legend: that there is in fact a time capsule buried under Dollywood and it contains an unreleased song.

“I have written a song that nobody’s gonna hear until I’m 99 years old — I might be there, I might not be,” Parton revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

The song was included among other artifacts that "had to do with the times” when the park first opened its doors in 1986. Written with the express purpose of being played on a CD player and/or cassette player (it's unclear which, as she mentions both in the interview) included among the time capsule's contents, Parton teased, “It’s a really good song." Given that she's yet to steer us wrong, we're more than inclined to take her word for it.

However, there's a very real threat that the song might end up lost to time before the capsule is actually retrieved. As anyone that's had the misfortune of digging through an old collection of toys or other electronics can attest, sometimes battery acid does seep through its container — so there's a risk that the cheap '80s electronics may have already ruined the unheard recording. Even Parton admits that “it’s going to be a song that nobody’s ever going to hear, if it rots in there before they open it.”

For now, we'll just have to be content with ringing in the new year with Parton and Miley Cyrus.

Photo via Getty/ Ron Davis