About The Song
Released in February 1986 as the fourth single from Dolly Parton’s album Real Love, “Tie Our Love (In a Double Knot)” arrived on RCA Records during the final chapter of her long association with the label. The three-minute-twenty-one-second track featured “I Hope You’re Never Happy” on the B-side and was written by Jeff Silbar and John Reid. The album itself had been issued on January 21, 1985, and mixed polished pop-country arrangements with more traditional elements, marking Parton’s last full studio project for RCA before she moved to Columbia.
By the mid-1980s Parton had already delivered a string of major hits and crossover successes while balancing film roles and television work. Real Love continued that momentum with the Kenny Rogers duet “Real Love” and the solo number-one “Think About Love.” David Malloy produced the sessions, which emphasized contemporary sounds yet kept Parton’s warm soprano front and center. The project reached number five on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
Silbar and Reid crafted the song in the mid-1980s Nashville songwriting scene. It offered an upbeat take on commitment at a time when many country releases leaned toward heartbreak or drama. Parton delivered it with straightforward energy that suited the album’s accessible style, allowing the track to sit comfortably alongside both the romantic duets and the more reflective cuts on the record.
The single climbed to number seventeen on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1986, spending twelve weeks on the survey. It also appeared on the 1986 compilation album Think About Love, which collected remixed and previously released material from the Real Love era. While it did not match the chart-topping success of the album’s earlier singles, its steady radio presence added to the project’s overall commercial run and helped close out Parton’s RCA singles catalog on a positive note.
In the lyrics the narrator proposes strengthening a relationship by tying their love “in a double knot.” The chorus repeats the idea that love gets strained these days and needs an extra measure of security to give both hearts a better chance. Verses emphasize mutual effort and the desire to make the bond last, framing commitment as a deliberate, optimistic choice rather than passive hope. The message unfolds with lighthearted determination, delivered in Parton’s clear, engaging style without heavy sentimentality.
The arrangement featured mid-tempo instrumentation that supported the vocal without overpowering it, aligning with the album’s blend of country and contemporary production. Critics noted the track’s radio-friendly appeal and its role in rounding out a diverse collection of songs. It later resurfaced on various compilations, reminding listeners of Parton’s ability to interpret outside material with the same direct honesty that defined her own songwriting.
Decades afterward “Tie Our Love (In a Double Knot)” stands as a snapshot of Parton’s transitional period in the mid-1980s. It illustrated how she could turn a well-crafted outside song into a solid country radio entry while maintaining the personal warmth that had sustained her career through years of stylistic shifts and label changes.
Video
Lyric
Gonna tie our love in a double knot
‘Cause these days love gets strained a lot
To give our hearts a double shot
Let’s tie our love in a double knot
Woah, if we want to endure
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
While we’re wrapped up in those ties that bind
I want to make sure we don’t unwind
So we’ll tie our love in a double knot
‘Cause these days love gets strained a lot
To give our hearts a double shot
Let’s tie our love in a double knot
‘Cause I’ve got my dreams, baby you got yours
Put it together, we got a whole lot more
‘Cause I ain’t lookin’ for just one night
No, I want to make it the rest of our lives
So lets tie our love in a double knot
‘Cause these days love gets strained a lot
To give our hearts a double shot
Let’s tie our love in a double knot
Woah, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Tie our love in a double knot
‘Cause these days love gets strained a lot
To give our hearts a double shot
Let’s tie our love in a double knot
Tie our love in a double knot
Let’s tie our love in a double knot
Tie our love in a double knot