About The Song
Released on January 19, 1970, “Tomorrow Is Forever” served as the second single from Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s fourth collaborative studio album Porter Wayne and Dolly Rebecca on RCA Victor. Written by Dolly Parton herself and produced by Bob Ferguson, the two-minute-forty-five-second track featured “Mendy Never Sleeps” on the B-side. The album arrived on March 9, 1970, capturing the duo at a moment when their on-screen and recording partnership had become one of the most recognizable in country music following Parton’s arrival on Wagoner’s television show in 1967.
By early 1970 Wagoner and Parton had already scored several top-ten duet hits, most recently “Just Someone I Used to Know” which peaked at number five the previous fall. Their contrasting voices—Wagoner’s deep, steady baritone paired with Parton’s bright, emotive soprano—had drawn consistent radio play and television viewers. This single continued that momentum as part of an album that mixed new recordings with a few earlier cuts, all shaped in the straightforward style that defined their early joint work.
The song was recorded on December 2, 1969, at RCA Studio B in Nashville during sessions that stretched across several months in late 1969. Ferguson kept the arrangement clean and focused on vocal interplay, allowing the harmonies to carry the message without elaborate production. Parton took a more active songwriting role on this project, contributing several original tracks including this one and the B-side.
The single debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated February 14, 1970, and climbed steadily to reach number nine on April 4, spending a total of fifteen weeks on the survey. It also peaked at number ten on the Cashbox country singles chart and number thirty-four on the Canadian RPM Country Singles survey. The performance helped the album reach number four on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 137 on the Billboard 200.
In the lyrics the duo extends an invitation to leave yesterday behind and step forward together. They sing of running out of the past, forgetting sorrows and memories that bring pain, and walking hand in hand into tomorrow. The chorus repeats the simple assurance that yesterday is gone but tomorrow is forever, emphasizing present love and a shared future without looking back. Delivered through traded verses and tight harmonies, the song unfolds as a gentle, optimistic declaration rather than heavy drama.
Parton later described the track in her 2020 book Songteller as one of her favorite love songs from the duets with Wagoner. At the time Wagoner had encouraged her to move beyond the story songs and mountain tales that filled much of her early solo catalog, pushing her instead toward more direct expressions of love and commitment suited to their joint recordings. The result gave their partnership a fresh emotional layer while staying rooted in the honest country style that had built their audience.
The release added to the string of successes that defined one of country music’s most enduring duet teams through the early 1970s. It later appeared on compilations such as The Best of Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton and surfaced in live settings, remaining a quiet reminder of the period when Parton and Wagoner translated personal encouragement and vocal chemistry into radio hits that helped shape their shared legacy.
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Lyric
Take my hand and run with me
Out of the past called yesterday
Walk with me into the future of tomorrow
Yesterday must be forgot
No looking back, no matter what
There’s nothing there but memories that bring sorrow
Yesterday is gone
But tomorrow is forever
No more crying, tears leave tracks
Memories find their way back
Tomorrow’s waiting, let’s journey there together
Yesterday is gone
But tomorrow is forever
I care not for yesterday
I love you as you are today
And yesterday just helped to pass the time while waiting
We must forget, we will in time
My love for you is the real kind
The kind that won’t hurt you, no, never
Yesterday is gone
But tomorrow is forever
Yesterday is gone
But tomorrow is forever