Dolly Parton – Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You, is a country song written by singer-songwriter Pebe Sebert and Hugh Moffatt. It was a number 14 U.S. country hit for Joe Sun in 1978, and a number 86 hit for Brian Collins the same year. It was later covered by Dolly Parton, who took it to the top of the U.S. country singles charts in August 1980. Parton included her version on her 1980 Dolly, Dolly, Dolly album, and it was released as the album’s second single after the success of «Starting Over Again». In 2013, Sebert’s daughter, Kesha, released an acoustic cover of the song as part of her extended play Deconstructed. A new version featuring Parton is a track on Kesha’s 2017 album Rainbow.
In the song, the narrator tells their lover not to feel threatened by past affairs for these «old flames» are in the past and disappear from memory because of the current love.
Dolly Parton – Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You
From the album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly
B-side «I Knew You When»
Released June 23, 1980
Recorded 1980
Studio Sound Labs, California
Genre Country
Length 3:26
Label RCA
Songwriter(s) Patricia Rose Sebert, Hugh Moffatt
Producer(s) Gary Klein
COUNTRYPEDIA
Dolly Parton – Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Downtown tonight I saw an old friend
Someone who I use to take comfort from long before I met you
I caught a spark from his eyes of forgotten desire
With a word, or a touch, I could have rekindled that fire
[Chorus]
Old flames can’t hold a candle to you
No one can light up the night like you do
Flickering embers of love, I’ve known one or two
Old flames can’t hold a candle to you
[Verse 2]
Sometimes at night I think of old lovers I’ve known
I remember how holding them helped me not feel so alone
Then I feel you beside me and even their memories are gone
Like stars in the night lost in the sweet light of dawn
[Chorus]
Old flames can’t hold a candle to you
No one can light up the night like you do
Flickering embers of love, I’ve known one or two
Old flames can’t hold a candle to you
GENIUS
