The original song, "Travelin' Thru" received a host of awards and nominations. In 2006, it earned a GRAMMY nomination for Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Dolly performed the song on the soundtrack of, "Transamerica." The director/producer, Duncan Tucker, gave Dolly some direction when he made his request.
"He wanted the song to be about redemption and about people's feelings."
After giving the song and the film some thought, Dolly decided on a spiritual direction with a gospel feel.
""Travelin’ Thru," Dolly’s song from the movie "Transamerica," was one of four songs nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2005. "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," from the movie "Brokeback Mountain," won during the Jan. 16, 2006 ceremony.
Dolly said of the nomination,
“What a great honor to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for my song 'Travelin' Thru' from the wonderful, touching film 'Transamerica.' After all my years in show business, I’m still humbled and overjoyed when I am recognized for my work.”
The Golden Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association whose mission is partially to "To recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, (Golden Globe® Awards), serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television."
Dolly’s song "Travelin’ Thru," from the 2005 motion picture "Transamerica," won the 2005 Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Song. The award is given by a group of film reviewers for Phoenix area publications.
"Travelin' Thru" is an original song written and performed by Dolly for the movie "Transamerica." The song went on to receive nominations for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. It was also nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Song and won for Best Original Song at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards on 2005.
When Duncan Tucker, the director of the movie "Transamerica," was looking for a song for the end credits of his movie, he had only one thought, Dolly Parton.
Dolly said about her motivation for writing the movie’s song,
"Some people are blind or ignorant, and you can't be that prejudiced and hateful and go through this world and still be happy. One thing about this movie is that I think art can change minds. It's alright to be who you are."
The song was one of three songs nominated for an Oscar the same year. The song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the movie "Hustle & Flow" won the Academy Award.
Dolly spoke to legendary interviewer Larry King about the process that created the song.
“Well Duncan Tucker, who is the writer/director of the film, I understood he was a fan of mine and he called me and asked if I would write this song. And so I said, I'll give it a try. I was actually on tour, and I was out promoting a new CD of my own, the CD that you know about, 'Those Were The Days.' And so I said, I don't know if I'm going to have time to work on it, but I'll see. He said, ‘Oh please, give it a try.’ So he sent me a rough cut of the film, and he gave me some great direction, gave me some great input and I kicked around with it for a little while and one morning I woke up and it just all come together and now here I am, nominated and I was really shocked and surprised it all happened so quick.”
The Oscars, "reward the previous year’s greatest cinema achievements as determined by some of the world’s most accomplished motion picture artists and professionals. The Academy’s roughly 6,000 members vote for the Oscars using secret ballots, which are tabulated by the international auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. The auditors maintain absolute secrecy until the moment the show’s presenters open the envelopes and reveal the winners on live television."
