The Queen Dolly P seal of approval.
As you might’ve heard, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album is out everywhere today, which has some country-inspired moments and features from icons like the aforementioned Mrs. Dolly, as well as Willie Nelson, but is, for all intents and purposes, “not a country album, it’s a Beyoncé’ album.”
And of course, one of the songs many people are talking bout is Beyoncé’s reimagined version of Dolly’s iconic country song, “Jolene.”
And while many country music fans are mad about it, Dolly had perviously requested that Beyoncé cover her song, and this afternoon, released a glowing statement giving her blessings on the reworked rendition, which is quite a far cry from the original:
“Wow, I just heard ‘Jolene.’ Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
There are tons of opinions on the internet about this new version (because of course there is), but I personally think the only one that matters is Dolly’s who wrote the song entirely on her own, based on her own personal life, and made it what it is:
Dolly’s famously penned her iconic hit after a woman at her local bank was getting a little too flirty with her husband, Carl Dean, not long after Carl and Dolly got married, though her real name wasn’t actually Jolene.
Dolly took mercy and renamed her for the song, and honestly, it’s probably a good thing that she did, because it’s one of the most recognizable country songs of all time and is of course synonymous with that name. It was included as the title track to Dolly’s 1974 album of the same name, and peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Country songs chart as a single.
Beyoncé introduces “JOLENE” with a clip of Dolly talking called “DOLLY P,” where Dolly calls in to leave a message, saying:
“Hey Mrs. Honeybee, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminded 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.”
That “hussy with the good hair” is a character Beyoncé fans know as “Becky,” who is featured on her 2016 Grammy-nominated Lemonade album, which focused on infidelity in her marriage with her husband Jay-Z. Then, it goes straight into “JOLENE,” which is completely rewritten and much more modern than the version Queen Dolly put out in the 70’s. Beyoncé takes a much harder stance when it comes to her “Jolene,” though:
“There’s a thousand girls in every room
That act as desperate as you do
You a bird, go on and sing your tune, Jolene (What?)
I had to have this talk with you
‘Cause I hate to have to act the fool
Your peace depends on how you move, Jolene”
Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, has Louisiana Creole heritage, so fans are speculating it might a sort of tribute to her, too, because of this line… I’m not a Beyoncé expert, though, so I really can’t say one way or the other:
“Jolene, I know I’m a queen, Jolene
I’m still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisianne (Don’t try me)”
I’m sure Bey pulled inspiration from more than one place, because she really did recreate the entire song, while using the title “Jolene” and interpolating a lot of the original music. You can see what you think about it for yourself and listen here:
Willie Nelson Revisits His Radio DJ Days On ‘Cowboy Carter’
Willie is featured on two interlude radio segments called “SMOKE HOUR WILLIE NELSON,” which harken back to his early days as a radio DJ in Texas:
“Welcome to the ‘Smoke Hour’ on KNTRY Radio Texas. You know my name, no need to know yours.
Now for this next tune, I want y’all to sit back, inhale, and go to that good place your mind likes to wander off to. And if you don’t want to go, go find yourself a jukebox. Thank you.”
The second one goes like this:
“You’re tuned into KNTRY Radio Texas, home of the real deal. If there’s one thing you can take away from my set today, let it be this: Sometimes you don’t know what you like until someone you trust turns you on to some real good shit.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m here. Up next on the ‘Smoke Hour is ‘Just For Fun’ by Beyoncé.”
Honestly, it was pretty smart of her to bring in two of the remaining, living legends of country music to give their seal of approval:
