Dolly Parton Originally Declined ‘Pam & Tommy’ Usage of ‘I Will Always Love You’ Song

In the final episode of Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, Dolly Parton‘s infamous “I Will Always Love You” track is overheard, and it turns out that it almost wasn’t.

Music Supervisor Amanda Thomas is opening up about Dolly‘s original decision to decline the program usage of the song.

Amanda opened up in a new interview with IndieWire about why Dolly said no, and what convinced her to say yes.

“Dolly was one that was actually denied, initially,” Amanda explained. “She’s certainly very open to things.”

She added, “As music supervisors, when we watch content, especially when there are big songs used, we tend to be like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting that person approved that.’ I always think about the use of ’9 to 5′ in Deadpool for this wildly violent scene.”

After Dolly initially said no, Amanda re-pitched her with a different angle.

“We went back and we recontextualized the whole thing. And we’re like, ‘Here’s the story we’re trying to tell. We are telling this narrative from Pamela’s perspective, as someone who got the short end of the stick and was not done well by the men in her life,’” Amanda explained. “[Pamela’s] in a place where she can look back fondly on this time in her life, and Tommy being a part of that time, but from a point of view that she’s moved on from it and she’s grown from it. The song really speaks to that in a cool way.”

“When it was initially denied and I told the team, I was like, ‘We’re going back for it.’”

Amanda ultimately sent her the scene just before the epilogue as well in her new pitch.

“I was like, ‘Let’s include a little bit leading up to that epilogue.’ So you can see that moment of Pam in the tattoo shop, and the baby next to her and changing the tattoo to ‘Mommy,’” she said. “Even though the song isn’t playing during that part let’s include that as a lead-in so you can clearly communicate tone.”

Pam & Tommy is streaming on Hulu now.

“I Will Always Love You” got a special rendition earlier this week at the ACM Awards.