I think about the folks who watched that performance at the time, about whether those passively consuming fans who, after witnessed Parton’s parlor trick, might have taken it upon themselves to “try this at home,” to experiment with this most basic form of active consumption of music: to take the music that’s given to you and “flip the switch up”-to listen at a different speed just to hear what it’s like. They do just one verse and a chorus-after all, as expertly executed as it was, it’s intended only as a gag-and cap it off with Parton quickly saying “Thank you,” still in her sped-up voice. Let's pretend,” she says, “that we have the record recorded on a 45-speed record, and we flip it up on 78-speed.” And off they go, performing the exact same tune in chipmunk voices sung through broad smiles, Parton’s long-nailed fingers deftly driving the tempo.
At the song’s conclusion, she admits, grinning, “We have another version of that same song we'd like to try a little bit of for you. Accompanying herself on guitar, she sings a cool and bouncy version, backed up in close harmony by the boys in her band. There's a great video of Dolly Parton performing her song "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?" in 1977 on the West German television show Der Musikladen.
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