Dolly Parton reveals it was ‘very bold’ of Beyoncé to change Jolene lyrics
Kya Buller
Featured Image Credit: E! Entertainment/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Queen of country music Dolly Parton has finally had her say about Beyoncé's spin on her classic hit 'Jolene'.
While the legendary song about being broken-hearted has been covered in the past - people were stunned to hear Beyoncé had changed the lyrics when releasing it on her country album, Cowboy Carter, on 29 March.
Dolly's iconic lines of: "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I'm begging of you please don't take my man," were changed to: "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I'm warnin’ you, don't come for my man," by Beyoncé.
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There were also more direct changes, such as Bey adding in: "You don't want no hеat with me, Jolene / We've been deep in love for twenty years / I raised that man, I raised his kids."
Many listeners surmised that the new lyrics point at her relationship with husband Jay Z - the pair have been married since 2008, but battled a flurry of cheating rumours in 2016, which led to the release of Beyoncé's album Lemonade that same year.
While most people absolutely loved Bey's take on Jolene, others were less impressed and expressed a wish that she'd kept to the original.
Dolly herself has finally weighed in and given her own thoughts on Beyoncé's version.
Speaking to E! News, Dolly shared: "I think it was very bold of her.
"When they said she was gonna do 'Jolene', I expected it to be my regular one, but it wasn't. But I love what she did to it."
She continued: "As a songwriter, you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them."
Dolly then added: "She wasn't about to go and beg some other woman like I did!"
She impersonated Bey, saying: "Get the hell outta here b****, you ain't stealing my man."
So it turns our Dolly actually loved Beyoncé's version. That isn't much of a surprise given how catchy it is.
As for what Jolene herself thinks of all the hype?
Dolly shared: "Well you know, I don't want to see her either. I might rewrite it Beyoncé style - 'OK, enough of you woman'."
She then added some more thoughts about Beyoncé's version.
The country singer said: "I was very proud of her album, I thought she did a great job with country music.
"I was just happy she did 'Jolene', of course I would have loved to have heard how she'd have done it in the original way, but of course, you know, it's Beyoncé. Her life is different than mine."
Dolly admitted that if given the chance, she'd perform Jolene live with Beyoncé.
I hope we're lucky enough to see that one day!