It’s pretty much common knowledge at this point that Dolly Parton wrote her iconic song “Jolene” about a real life girl.
Released on this day in 1973, it was one of her first big hit singles, and served as the title track for her 13th studio album. She famously wrote it on the same day in 1972 that she wrote her other massive hit, “I Will Always Love You.”
She’s talked about how the song is based on a true story many times, and in an interview with Access to talk about her new baking line a couple years ago, she gave a little more backstory to what really went down with “Jolene.”
She says she started to notice that Carl was going to the bank way more often than he needed to back then:
“Well, actually, it was based on a little truth. Her name was not Jolene, but she was working at the bank, and she was this beautiful girl. And that was bad enough, that he was having to go to the bank as much as he was going.
And I kept thinking, we ain’t got that kinda money, not yet anyway. He was in asphalt paving, he and his father, and I said, ‘Why are you having to talk to her all the time?'”
Carl assured her there was nothing more to it, and Dolly wanted to know why there wasn’t someone else he could talk to at the bank if that was the case:
“And he said, ‘I’m trying to get a loan, I’m trying to do this for our asphalt paving company.’ And I said, ‘Well, couldn’t you talk to one of those hairy legged boys about a thing like that?’ And he said, ‘No’.”
Dolly was gonna set him straight regardless of why he was really there, though, and told him he better act right or else…
“And I said, ‘Look, you better be talkin’ to one of those boys, or it’s gonna be your ass and your fault! So there’s your asphalt.'”
Spoken like a true queen… I have a feeling he never went out of his way to talk to “Jolene” again.
Decades later though, Dolly looks back on the situation and realizes that it was more about her own insecurities than anything else.
But hey, at least we got one of the best country songs of all time out of it, right?
“But I was just jealous, ‘cuz she was prettier than me and I think I just felt threatened. He didn’t have a thing going with her, but he was flirtin’.
But I’m a flirt, too. Anyways, I thought, this makes a great idea for a song. So I wrote it.”
In a performance she did on her Dolly variety show years ago, she admitted that she actually “fought Jolene like a wildcat” and Jolene ripped her wig off and almost beat her “to death with it.”
Now I don’t know if she means that so literally, but I guess she got the last laugh, because when she got home, she says she beat the tar out of Carl Dean too when they got home:
“Now this is a true story for those of you that don’t know. I wrote this song about 20 years ago about this woman down in Nashville, that worked at the bank. She was trying to take care of my husband while I was out on the road.
Well that didn’t go over too big with me, I fought that red-headed woman like a wildcat. She jerked my wig off and almost beat me to death with it. But I kept my husband, I got that sucker home and I beat the tar out of him.”
Can’t say that wasn’t deserved… and honestly, what the heck could Jolene have possibly looked like? I just don’t see how she was any competition whatsoever…
I guess at the very least, we have her to thank for this incredible song, so there’s that. I bet she was scared straight to see Dolly coming too, which I love to think about. For over 50 years now, it’s remained one of country music’s most beloved and popular songs, and I don’t think that will ever change.
Here’s a little more on the story from Dolly herself:
I mean, it’s just an all-time classic…
