Dolly Parton dispenses her blessing to Lil Nas X’s “Jolene”
Lil Nas X's heart-broken version of the Dolly classic debuted on BBC1
Aux News Dolly Parton
“Jolene” is probably the most-covered song of Dolly Parton’s wide oeuvre. (“I Will Always Love You” likely comes close, but “Jolene” reportedly tops it—and has the added benefit of still feeling only, and entirely, like it’s Parton’s in the public consciousness.) Olivia Newton-John, The White Stripes, and more have all offered their takes on the song, in which Parton’s singer begs the beautiful Jolene not to take her man. (Arguments about Jolene’s stance on this situation remain widely debated, including in a number of response songs that have attempted to answer Parton’s hit.)
Last week added another high-profile version to the pile, as Lil Nas X, deep into the Montero hype, released his own stripped-down, somewhat mournful take on the classic track. Nas (no stranger to dipping into the country sound, obviously), dropped his version of the song on BBC1 during a Live Lounge set, infusing it with a heavy note of despair.
And, for what it’s worth, Dolly approves: Parton got on social media today to dispense her saint-in-all-but-name blessing to Nas’ spin on the song, calling it, “Really good.” “Of course,” she adds, “I love him anyway.” Which, what would that even feel like, to know that Dolly Parton is “honored and flattered” by you, in addition to the general all-purpose approval she seems to beam out into the world? Lil Nas X—who tried to pitch Parton on an “Old Town Road” collaboration once upon a time—tweeted out a straightforward “HOLY SHIT” in response to the tweet.
“Jolene” is having something of a cultural moment at present, not least of which because Parton tossed out a few bars of “vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine” when she issued her request that her fans please get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially since she went to all the trouble to help fund the damn thing, because she’s Dolly Parton.
88 Comments
That may be the dullest version of Jolene I’ve ever heard. He looks like he’s doing it because he lost a bet.
He’s not a bad singer as such, but that’s not a good key for him. He’s just kind of doing a low mumble throughout. He could probably do better if he did it up an octave.
I mean, it’s fine, but yeah, I was expecting more after that buildup.
yeah, after Saint Dolly de Gatlinburg blesses your tune, you better really bring it.
I was sort of hoping it was a trick and he introduced Me First and the Gimme Gimmes after 10 seconds or so.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes…Couldn’t post it because #kinja, but I assure you I pasted a picture of Obi-Wan’s “Thats a name I have not heard in a long time.”
somehow, it’s both better and worse than what i expected.
I was never a country music fan, but…Dolly. Mmmmmmm.
Even as a country fan (mostly the classic stuff) her catalog has some insanely good deep cuts. She’s one of the best pop song writers ever
I don’t have the best understanding of mainstream country music over the years but I really like this version of one of Dolly’s songs:
Ooh, I love her. I first discovered her on Nashville and I just love everything she does. She is immensely talented.
Rhiannon was featured in Red Dead 2s soundtrack and I think that’s pretty great. She’s quite talented.
Yeah she’s amazingly good. Great at banjo, great at fiddle and an operatic quality voice. I wish she’d get more recognition because she really is an outstanding example of the best of the different threads of traditional American culture.
And she can play a tiny sax!
9 to 5, that she just knocked out for the movie, is way cleverer than it has any right to be.
Purportedly she writes and finishes a whole new song every single day, and has for the last 50ish years, and then gathers together her favorite melodies and lyrics into her albums.
9 to 5, that she just knocked out for the movie, is way cleverer than it has any right to be Great song, but the revelation from that movie for me was her acting. I think it was her first role and she was just so natural. There’s a scene where she talks to her husband while peeling an orange in one spiral piece and it plays like they’re just chatting and no cameras are there. I mean – yeah, she’s not Meryl Streep but she’s charming as all get out.[The peeling of the orange? That’s another miracle for her, I’ve lost count.]
I will forever trumpet her performance in Steel Magnolias.
and if you play bass, it’s like a wonderland!
coat of many colors has some crazy bass-playing.
To my knowledge Dolly Parton isn’t Catholic, but the Pope needs to start working on an exemption right now because she really needs to be sainted.
Anyone can be a saint. That just means you’ve gone to Heaven. And there is actually no rule against canonizing non-Catholics. St. Joseph was Jewish, for example. Dolly would have to start working some miracles though. You need two to prove you are a Saint, with a capital ‘s.’
Dolly would have to start working some miracles though. You need two to prove you are a Saint, with a capital ‘s.’ Wait, are you saying she hasn’t worked any miracles? Come on. She’s Dolly.
I believe canon law says that a saints miracles have to be performed post death. Which means Dolly can’t be a saint because she is gonna love forever
I thought you made a typo with that second last word but on immediate reflection, obviously not.
damn right she is
Dolly would have to start working some miracles though. You need two to prove you are a Saint, with a capital ‘s.’
“Jolene” and “9 to 5” don’t count?
Dolly has worked plenty of miracles. She’s sent books to millions of low-income children every month, she’s one of the very few singers that manages to be great at singing and acting and she can play a very tiny fiddle. That’s three right there.
Dolly’s done far more to help people than mother Theresa, scam artist and woman hater, ever did
Years ago, on some country music awards show, Dolly won something, Artist or Musician of the year or whatever, and demonstrated a smidgen of her talent by playing a banjo, really well. With those fake fingernails that had to be about two inches long. Counts as a miracle for me.As does her Imagination Library, and her Dollywood Foundation (a bunch of 15K scholarships each year for high school graduates), half a million dollars for a cancer hospital in Sevier County, another million for a different hospital, and oh yeah, the goddamn vaccine money.I love her music, have since I was a kid, but she could be [fill in the name of a musician I don’t like at all] and would still make the saint list for me.
Agreed. I love her as an artist and as a person and frankly, we could all stand to be a lot more like Dolly.Also yes, she is crazy talented. People write her off because of her looks and her music genre (although I don’t know why. Sure, most new country sucks, but country in the 60s-80s has broad crossover appeal) but she can play a lot of different instruments and can write giant hits in the amount of time it takes most of us to binge a couple episodes of The Circle.
I feel making people visit East Tennessee and writing two major hit songs in a day count as miracles.
Yeah, I’m pretty anti-religion but Dolly seems like a the rare Christian who focuses are the parts of the Bible that help and uplifts others while mostly ignoring the parts that old white men have determined condemn others.
Dolly Parton is a wonderful woman, although speaking as a Catholic (lapsed for 20 years and probably atheistic for about 15, but it still counts right?) her song The Sacrifice is a bit tone deaf. Jesus’s crucifixion taught you about sacrifice, so you were going to be “rich, no matter what it cost”? That’s your takeaway from the gospels?
Well, her shit is holy already apparently, they just need to get the rest of her.
The world never deserved Dolly, but we got her all the same. I’m glad.
You know there’s a universe where Dolly Parton is like Dan Halen.
Jolene is one of those perfect songs.
So we’ve gone from Kinja not showing us links to where folks replied
to Kinja not notifying us when we get our precious stars? Jesus
Christ.
They’re baaa-aaack!
+1Isn’t that how it used to work? I guess we’re back to that.
No, it’s never worked that way, this is a new problem.
I feel so bad for people in the “greys” that reply to me and I have no way to reply back because their comments won’t load. Kinja is so broken
Yep me too. On the odd chance that I post something interesting and it generates a really good reply, there’s no way to respond and that is just left hanging in the Kinja Void to fester.
It’s easy: you can just click “Show more replies in this thread”! 30% of the time it will reveal more comments (including those posted earlier than the ones above them?)
30% time it will reload the article,
30% it will scroll to the TOP of the thread,
and 10% of the time it will do nothing!
Sex Panther vibes.
I swear to Christ, each individual Kinja “function” is run on a different server and they’re each starting to blink out.
…like Voyager 2…
and they don’t care enough to fix it.
thank you.
Dolly approves: Parton got on social media today to dispense her saint-in-all-but-name blessing to Nas’ spin on the song, calling it, “Really good.”It’s good, but it’s not the best version of “Jolene”.
the best version of jolene is the original 45 played at 33rpm.
Nah.
We don’t deserve Dolly Parton. I wish the world was packed with people like her.
somebody might suffocate amid all the boobs.
And that’s a bad thing?
The public should know the risks!
somebody might suffocate amid all the boobs.I can think of worse ways to go.
Dolly’s Blessing > Pope’s Blessing
Parton for Pope
Pope Parton?
pope not within shouting distance
He could have written his own song about losing his gay lover to another gay man, but the ongoing campaign against women (white & not white) must continue. It’s unfortunate that so many young naive women believe that gay men are automatically allies. That was very generous of you, Dolly.
What the fuck are you on?
I think women and men can share a song. It’s not a limited resource.
Or just an incredibly stupid take.
Maybe that’ll be his next song.
This….took a turn.
Huh? Okay, what you just said was pretty homophobic.For one, it’s literally just a cover. One that Dolly Parton, the cisgender white woman who wrote it, actually liked. Not to mention, Lil Nas X HAS created songs about losing gay lovers that don’t mention women. He just didn’t sing them because losing a man to a woman is the story of Jolene.Yes, queer men are absolutely capable of misogyny. However, as a black gay man who has experienced massive amounts of homophobia and racism, Lil Nas X still has (at least publicly) done nothing but defend women and people who menstruate. He even hosted a charity for pregnant people. Also, the stereotype of gay men automatically being assumed as allies is one that is perpetuated by WOMEN, and it’s one that hurts gay men as well.Also, if you’re going to talk about “a campaign against women” in regards to Jolene—a song written by a white woman about another white woman— it’s probably not a good idea to lump white women, women of color and black women together. White women do not experience the same patriarchal oppression or desirability discrimination that black women and women of color experience. If anything, Jolene is progressive because it highlights how white women are the ultimate beauty standard and have used that to their advantage. A black gay man singing about how he cannot compete with this beautiful white woman is very true to how desirability politics actually work. If you didn’t like the song cover, just say that. You don’t have to mask it behind white feminism and homophobia.
Still the best version:
Fair play to this kid, “HOLY SHIT” would probably be my exact reaction to Dolly Parton saying something nice about me.
Or even just like, Dolly briefly flashing me a smile if I waved at her in an airport.
Okay, people – let’s get working on boosting the next most deserving song of Dolly’s. Mylie Cyrus did a heck of a job on SNL last spring, but we need to keep the pressure up.
Im still quite partial to her version of Mule Skinner Blues.
I’m not always a fan of this guy but I am here for it every time he tweaks the conservative country base. Turning Jolene into a lamentation about a white woman stealing a black man’s lover is going to have delightful, hypertensive ripples through the country base and it brings me a certain amount of joy. I want him to do a Charlie Daniels cover next.
“…it’s honest, humble, and has an infectious hook, and a banjo. What the hell more do ya need?”- Billy Ray Cyrus on whether or not “Old Town Road” is country.
Uneasy Rider would be perfect.
That was exactly the one I was imagining.
Including Devil Went Down to Georgia in Guitar Hero was enough to anger Charlie Daniels. Its not hard to piss off his ghost.
I imagine being haunted by his ghost smells like Beechnut and stale urine.
He is a joy on Twitter, too. I like some of his music and not others (although Montero is a genuine fucking jam) but as a person, he is a goddamn delight.
Yawn… I’ve become a huge Lil Nas X fan of late, but this cover is the least remarkable performance I’ve seen from him.
My Grandma used to say “I like Dolly because she’s got pep!.” These are words I’ve chosen to live by.
Imagine a world where everyone over 60 aged as gracefully and evolved as progressively as Dolly.Can’t do it, can you?
I like lil Nas but this is honestly a pretty terrible cover
Learn to use hyphens properly, for fuck’s sake
Am I taking crazy pills, or does this version sound really “lazy?” Even the way he looks at the camera makes it seem like he’d rather be anywhere else.
That was a boring rendition.