Jolene (song)
"Jolene" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee on May 22, 1973, then released on October 15, 1973 by RCA Victor as the first single and title track from her album of the same name.
For other uses, see Jolene."Jolene"
"Love, You're So Beautiful Tonight"
October 15, 1973
May 22, 1973
2:42
Dolly Parton
Considered by music critics to be one of the most representative songs of the country genre, the song was ranked No. 217 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004 and No. 63 on the revised version of the list in 2021.[1] The song was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and 1976 for its live recording.[2]
The song was covered in English and Spanish by many artists, including Olivia Newton-John, The White Stripes, Miley Cyrus and Måneskin. Pentatonix 2016 version won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. In 2024, Beyoncé covered the song with significant changes in lyrics and production; the version reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Official Singles Chart.
Background[edit]
According to Parton, the song was inspired by a red-headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl Dean, at his local bank branch around the time they were newly married. In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene's name and appearance are based on that of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph.[3][4]
The guitar parts on the recording were performed by Chip Young[5] and Wayne Moss.[6] Young played the primary thumb-picked part with Moss playing the complementary steel-string part that enters on the second refrain. Young got the fingerpicking pattern from a similar pattern played by Joe South. [7]
During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show in 2018, Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You".[8][9]
Content[edit]
The song tells of the narrator confronting Jolene, a stunningly beautiful woman, who she worries will steal away her lover/husband. Throughout the song, the narrator implores Jolene "please don't take him just because you can." The song is unclear about whether or not Jolene intends to steal the narrator's lover, an ambiguity that has been addressed in several answer songs.[10][11][12][13] Onstage in 1988, Parton told the audience that "Jolene" was a true story and the reason she did not like to sing it too often.[14]
In 2019, the podcast Dolly Parton's America had an episode addressing the question of whether the narrator's focus on Jolene's beauty and desirability is indicative of her own attraction to Jolene. A musicologist wrote and performed a fourth verse which makes this interpretation explicit; when the podcast's hosts played audio of this performance for Parton, she responded that this was "another take on it".[15]
Release[edit]
The song became Parton's second solo number-one single on the country charts after being released as a single in October 1973 (prior to the album's release). It reached the top position in February 1974; it was also a moderate pop hit for her and a minor adult contemporary chart entry. As of December 2019, the song had sold 935,000 digital copies in the US since it became available for digital download.[16]
The song was released as a single later in the UK, and became Parton's first top ten hit song in the country, reaching number seven in the UK Singles Chart in 1976.[17] The song also re-entered the chart when Parton performed at the Glastonbury festival in 2014. The song has sold 255,300 digital copies in the UK as of January 2017.[17]
Legacy[edit]
The song is considered by music critics to be one of the most expressive songs in the country genre.[18][19] In 2014 Rolling Stone ranked the song 9th on their 2014 list "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time".[20] The song was also ranked No. 217 on Rolling Stone's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and No. 63 on their revised list in 2021.[21] Genius placed the song at 38th on their list of the "The 100 Best Country Songs Of All Time Lyrics".[22] Time includes the song on their 2011 list of the "All-TIME 100 Best Songs".[23]
Time Out ranked the songs at the second place on their list "The 35 best country songs of all time".[24] Parade placed the song second on their list of the "101 Best Country Songs of All Time".[25] The Tennessean includes the song on their 2019 list of the "The 100 best country songs of all time", writing that it "crosses genre and generations, a once-in-a-world song without boundaries".[26] NME also includes the song on their 2018 list of the "The 25 Best Country Music Songs of All Time".[27]
In the film The Intervention (Clea Duvall; 2016), Annie (Melanie Lynskey) tells Lola (Alia Shawkat), "Nobody likes a Jolene," after the younger woman stirs up trouble among a group of older couples by making a play for several individuals among them.
The song's international popularity became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic when the New Zealand government put the country in lockdown. A newspaper summary of "essential things to know" explained that washing one's hands with soap should take "as long as it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice or the chorus of Dolly Parton's hit song Jolene."[28] According to Parton, "Jolene" is her most frequently covered song.[3]
Awards[edit]
"Jolene" was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and 1976. The first nomination was for the original recording, and the second was for a live recording from the TV series In Concert. It did not win either time, but in 2017, a cover by the a cappella group Pentatonix which featured Parton as a guest singer won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.[29]
"Jolene"
1976
3:07
Dolly Parton
November 15, 2004
3:18
Dolly Parton
September 16, 2016
2:11
Dolly Parton
Ben Bram
March 29, 2024
3:09
- Beyoncé
- Khirye Tyler
- Jack Rochon
- Brittany Coney
- Denisia Andrews
- Alex Vickery
Answer songs[edit]
Kirsty MacColl's 1995 song "Caroline" was inspired by "Jolene" and is told from the other woman's point of view.[10]
In 2013, country singer Jennifer Nettles recorded "That Girl", which she stated in interviews is a lyrical counterpoint to "Jolene".[11][12] The song is written from the perspective of the Jolene character, who Nettles feels is unfairly maligned in the original song. In this version, the other woman is shown to have no interest in taking another woman's man, and her song is in fact framed as a warning to Parton's character that "her man" has a roving eye.
In 2017, American singer-songwriter Cam released her single "Diane" in response to Parton's song. The song is sung from Jolene's point of view, where she sings to 'Diane', Parton's character, and states that she did not know that 'her man' was her man. Cam noted to Rolling Stone Country that the song is her "response to Dolly Parton's 'Jolene.' It's the apology so many spouses deserve, but never get. The other woman is coming forward to break the news to the wife about an affair, respecting her enough to have that hard conversation, once she realized he was married. Because everyone should be able to decide their own path in life, based on the truth. Women especially should do this for each other, since our self-worth can still be so wrapped up in our partners. And in true country fashion, I've set the whole raw story to upbeat music, so you can dance while you process it all."[13]
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, linguist Gretchen McCulloch wrote a parody of the song entitled "Vaccine", inspired by Parton's $1 million donation funding research on a coronavirus vaccine. The parody was sung by English professor Ryan Cordell, and the video went viral.[129] Dolly Parton broke into parody herself, singing "Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I'm begging of you please don't hesitate" as she got a 'dose of her own medicine' in a March 2021 vaccination.[130]
Chapel Hart released an answer song in 2021 titled "You Can Have Him Jolene".[131]