Beyoncé’s updated lyrics to “Jolene” came as a surprise to everyone — including Dolly Parton.
Parton, 78, knew the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer, 42, was covering her 1973 country hit for her. Cowboy Carter album, she revealed to E! News that Beyoncé didn’t know about gave her own take on the song. But despite the surprise, the country legend was impressed with the modern update.
“Well, I think that was very brave of her,” Parton told E! News. “When they said they were going to do ‘Jolene,’ I expected it to be my regular song, but it wasn’t. But I love what it did to her.”
Parton added that as a songwriter, “you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them.”
The “9 to 5” singer provided an opening for Beyoncé’s version of “Jolene” on Cowboy Carter, in which she said, “Hey, Miss Honey Bey. It’s Dolly P. You know that girl with the good hair you were singing about? Reminded me of someone I used to know. Except she’s got flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just as much.”
Dolly Parton.
Jon Morgan/CBS via Getty
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For her version, Beyoncé changed the lyrics, singing “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man”, instead of “please don’t take my man”. She also makes it clear that the titular Jolene is no challenge for her.
“It takes more than beauty and seductive looks/To stand between family and a happy man,” she sings. “Jolene, I’m a woman too/the games you play ain’t nothing new/so you don’t wanna fight me, Jolene.”
Parton is for E! News that she loved Beyoncé’s confident new lyrics and how the Grammy winner made the song her own.
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Dolly Parton congratulates Beyoncé on reaching #1 Board Hot Country Chart, ‘Very Excited’ for her full album
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Beyoncé in Los Angeles in April 2024.
Kevin Mazur/Getty
“She wouldn’t go begging another woman like me,” the 78-year-old continued. “Don’t steal my man.” S—, get out here, bitch, you’re not stealing mine.”
This isn’t the first time Parton has shared her love for Beyoncé’s take on her song. After years of lobbying for the “16 Carriages” singer to cover “Jolene,” she celebrated the track’s release on Xu (formerly known as Twitter) on March 29, writing, “Wow, just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it !”
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Parton was also among the first to congratulate Beyoncé for topping Billboard’s Hot Country Chart in February.
“I’m a huge fan of Beyoncé and I’m so excited that she’s done a country album,” Parton wrote in a statement on Instagram at the time. “Congratulations on your Billboard Hot Country number one single.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education