9 to 5 and Odd Jobs was received as a return to country form for the singer after her pop dalliances, but to Parton herself it was something even bigger and more ambitious than that. “Now I can write and record whatever I want, whatever way I want,” she told the Chicago Tribune shortly after the album was released, explaining that her pop success had freed her from the churn and expectations of Music Row.
What she wanted, it turned out, was both fun and smart, country and irreverent. The album’s politics and tone are established with its undeniable, era-defining title and opening track, which somehow distills the ideas of 9 to 5 even better than the movie itself does in an absolutely addictive pop package.
