Beyoncé‘s highly anticipated Act II has finally dropped today (March 29), with surprising interludes, covers, and collaborations. One of the most interesting additions to the 27-track album is a reworking of Dolly Parton‘s classic hit “Jolene.” With similar instrumentation but fresh lyrics, Beyoncé has taken the age-old concept and breathed new life into it.
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Similarities Between Dolly’s “Jolene” and Beyoncé’s “Jolene”
As one of Dolly Parton’s biggest hits, “Jolene” paints the picture of a tortured woman begging another not to take her man. Jolene is beautiful, seductive, and hard to refuse, and the speaker’s husband or boyfriend is under her spell. It’s possible for Jolene to take her man, as he’s most likely weak and easily swayed, but she begs Jolene not to. Please don’t take him even though you can, Parton sings, letting us know that it all comes down to Jolene.
In Beyoncé’s homage, there’s still a Jolene hunting for the speaker’s man. Jolene is rooting around that relationship like a truffle-hunting pig, but the lyrical similarities really stop there. Still, there are similarities in the instrumentation as well. Where Parton’s song is a little more twangy on the guitar, more picky, Beyoncé employs a smoother guitar sound backed by a pulsing beat to tie the song into her pop/R&B roots. However, the melody is the same, linking the two versions together.
Differences Between the Two Songs
Now, the lyrical similarities stop with the name Jolene. Where Parton is begging Jolene not to take her man, Beyoncé is straight up warning Jolene not to come for her man. Jolene I’m a woman too / The games you play are nothing new / So you don’t want no heat with me Jolene, Beyoncé sings, firmly establishing that Jolene is not to cross her.
Where Parton’s man is easily seduced by Jolene, Beyoncé’s man is happy with a family, and Jolene is purely operating on her own assumptions. Beyoncé’s speaker is protecting her man from outside forces who aim to break up their family, while Parton’s speaker wants to save her relationship with a terrible man who has no qualms leaving her for someone else.
The differences are stark, but both versions have merit. Parton’s “Jolene” is a sign of the times she wrote the song in—wives tended to forgive their husbands for more things back then, tended to try and save their marriages because divorce was harder to instigate without an overly complicated reason, and still, women were not often awarded divorces.
Now, in Beyoncé’s version, she’s calling out a toxic woman for her behavior. She’s trying to save her marriage from Jolene not because she’s afraid her man will leave her, but because Jolene needs to be put in her place for trying to break up her family. It’s a strong statement, but one that has evolved with the times.
Featured Images via YouTube/Dolly Parton; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
