Dolly Loves Beyoncé: The Country Legend Is Wowed By The Fiercely Revised ‘Jolene’
Dolly Parton is weighing in on Beyoncé’s new version of “Jolene,” and like just about everyone else who’s heard the drastically revised lyrics, the creator seems blown away.
“Wow, I just heard Jolene,” Parton posted on Instagram this afternoon. “Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!” She signs the message, “Love, Dolly P.”
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The Daily Show today reposted part of a 2022 interview with Dolly where then-host Trevor Noah asks the icon about her wish to see Beyoncé cover the tune. She explained, “I would love to hear ‘Jolene’ done in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney did my ‘I Will Always Love You.’ Someone that can take my little songs and make them, like, powerhouses.”
Parton then added, “That would be a marvelous day in my life, if she ever does ‘Jolene.'”
Listen to both the Beyoncé and Dolly versions of “Jolene” below.
Beyoncé covered Parton’s 1973 country classic on her new album Cowboy Carter, replacing the original’s “begging” lyrics with fierce demands.
Where Parton beseeched of the auburn-haired Jolene, “I’m begging of you please don’t take my man,” Beyoncé sings, “Jolene, Jolene, I’m warning you, don’t come for my man.” Later, Bey threatens, “Jolene, I know I’m a queen / Jolene, I’m still a Creole Banjee bitch from Louisianne (Don’t try me).”
On the new album, Parton provides a brief introduction to the new version, saying, with a reference to Beyoncé’s 2016 “Sorry” and its lyric “Becky with the good hair”, “Hey miss Honey B, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminding me of someone I knew back when, except she has flaming locks of auburn hair, bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color but it hurts just the same.”
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