Dolly Parton spent a lifetime giving the world songs people chose for weddings, heartbreaks, goodbyes and some of life’s most important moments.

But years before her own death, Dolly revealed that when her final goodbye eventually came, there was one particular song she hoped would be there.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t “Jolene.”

It wasn’t “9 to 5.”

It wasn’t even the song most people would probably expect: “I Will Always Love You.”

Dolly’s choice went much further back — all the way to her childhood and the man she still lovingly called “Daddy.”

In a 2014 interview, Dolly talked openly about the music she imagined being part of her funeral someday.

She acknowledged that “I Will Always Love You” would probably be played. After all, the song had become inseparable from some of the most emotional moments in popular music.

But there was another song Dolly personally wanted sung.

An old country-gospel hymn called “If We Never Meet Again.”

The reason had almost nothing to do with fame.

It was personal.

The hymn had been a favorite of Dolly’s father, Lee Parton.

When Lee died in 2000, Dolly and her family sang the song at his funeral.

Years later, Dolly still remembered that moment.

And when she was asked about her own eventual funeral, she said she wanted the same song sung for her.

For longtime Dolly fans, the choice reveals something that fame never seemed to change about her.

Behind the rhinestones, enormous stages, Hollywood movies and millions of records sold, Dolly remained deeply connected to the family and faith of her Tennessee childhood.

Her father had never lived the glamorous life his daughter eventually experienced.

Lee Parton raised his family in rural East Tennessee and worked hard to provide for them. Dolly frequently spoke about him with enormous affection and pride.

She also credited him with inspiring one of the most important parts of her legacy.

Because her father never had the opportunity to learn to read and write, Dolly’s relationship with him helped inspire her passion for children’s literacy — something that eventually became her famous Imagination Library.

But this particular connection between father and daughter was even simpler.

It was just a song.

A song her daddy loved.

A song his family sang when they had to say goodbye to him.

And a song Dolly hoped would one day accompany her own goodbye.

Dolly was laid to rest privately in Nashville on August 28, surrounded by immediate family.

For millions of fans, her most famous songs will undoubtedly continue playing for generations.

But knowing which song Dolly herself chose gives her story a different ending.

She could have selected one of the enormous hits that made her famous around the world.

Instead, she reached back toward home.

Toward family.

Toward faith.

And toward her daddy.

More than two decades after singing his favorite hymn while saying goodbye to him, Dolly wanted those same words waiting for her when her own journey came to an end.

For a woman who spent her entire life writing unforgettable songs, perhaps her most personal final choice was the one she didn’t write at all.