but one of the biggest is her take on Dolly Parton’s singular classic “Jolene,” which she’s chosen to completely reimagine with new lyrics. It’s more than a clever flip; in the larger context of the record, it’s the singer’s undeniable stamp on country music.isn’t a country album — it’s a Beyoncé album, and this applies to her version of “Jolene,” which has been morphed from an anthem of desperation into a song of warning, a much more fitting Bey theme.
What makes Beyoncé’s “Jolene” more than your average rewrite is the way she pushes and plays with the established narrative by personalizing its lyrics. Like how Parton’s original was inspired by a, Bey also draws from her life to make the song her own — and it heightens the stakes.
The personalization continues as she calls herself “a Creole banjee bitch from Louisianne,” and claims, “I had to have this talk with you'/ Cause I hate to have to act the fool” . But where Beyoncé’s version dovetails the most is its ending, which closes on a note of assurance and safety knowing that she and her husband are in it for the long run: “I'ma stand by him, he gon' stand by me.
In many ways, Beyoncé’s reclamation of “Jolene” — as a song and as the narrator — feels like the sharpest distillation of the larger thesis of. For years, the message Beyoncé received from the country-music establishment and its fans was that she didn’t belong — that her songs and her life weren’t congruent with the messages of the genre.
The biggest question from the original “Jolene” was who the titular woman was — and Bey has even accounted for that, too: A cheeky intro from Parton herself brings up the “hussy with the good hair.” That’s another parallel — like the original Jolene, she’ll likely continue to be referenced for decades to come.
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