How an artist interprets a song can say a lot about their stage of life and state of mind, and that’s certainly true of the two opposing deliveries of “Jolene” by the original songwriter, Dolly Parton, and Beyoncé’s version that came just over five decades later. The latter rendition appeared on Beyoncé’s long-awaited and equally controversial country crossover album, Cowboy Carter.
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But of all the naysayers who had something negative to say about the pop star’s album within the context of “country purism,” Dolly Parton, de facto Queen of Appalachia herself, was not one of them.
How Each Version Of “Jolene” Speaks To The Singer’s Mindset
Of all the hundreds of songs Dolly Parton has amassed over her decades-long career, “Jolene” is one of the most distinct. The groovy guitar riff, Parton’s desperate lyrics begging the titular Jolene to stop wooing her man, the haunting background vocals—it has all the makings of a timeless country pop hit, and indeed, that’s exactly what it is. In an ode to Parton’s skills as a songwriter, the story of “Jolene” was half-fabrication, half-truth. She lifted the name “Jolene” from a young girl for whom Parton signed an autograph. But the rest of the verses, the true lament toward the “other woman,” was based on a woman at the bank with eyes for her husband.
“There was a girl that worked at the bank when my husband and I first got married,” she explained. “She had a big crush on him, and I think he kinda had a crush on her. I know he was spending more time at the bank than we had money. So, I called him on it. And so I just kinda took that little bit of, you know, that “other woman” kind of thing. Every woman can relate to it. And every man, really. I think women love it because I think we all know that there’s somebody out there that could turn the head of the person that you love. Everybody has that fear. And it happens all the time.”
Parton’s original version of “Jolene” was insecure, desperate, and full of heartache. (No hate to Parton—we’ve all been there.) Beyoncé’s version from Cowboy Carter, on the other hand, is completely sure of herself, defiant, and unafraid. You’re beautiful beyond compare, she sings. Takes more than beauty and seductive stars to come between a family and a happy man.
Dolly Parton Reacts To Beyoncé’s Interpretation Of Hit Song
Beyoncé is no stranger to writing about her marriage’s ups and downs. She wrote her 2016 album, Lemonade, about infidelity in her marriage. It was full of anger, confusion, and spite. By the time she released her version of “Jolene” on Cowboy Carter eight years later, we were listening to a woman who was far more comfortable in her own skin, external temptations be damned. Jolene, I’m a woman too, Beyoncé continues in the first verse. The games you play are nothing new. So, you don’t want no heat with me, Jolene.
It’s hard to imagine a sweet, butterfly-and-sequin-clad Dolly Parton from the ‘70s singing, “you don’t want no heat with me.” (Honestly, that sounds more like a Loretta Lynn lyric á la “Fist City.”) But nevertheless, the “9 to 5” singer has a great appreciation for this more confident, independent rendition of her classic song from 1973.
“I was just honored that she, of course, did a completely different take on “Jolene” than my version of it,” Parton told People. “Hers was more like, ‘Well, you’re not getting him, you’re not taking him, you’re going to go through me to get to him.’ Mine was more like, ‘Please don’t take him!’ So, I loved her interpretation. As a writer, you like to hear how different people interpret your songs and how they put their own spin and do their own take on it.”
“I’m a huge fan of hers,” Parton said. “I mean, who’s not?”
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