Cover songs are almost always worse than the original.
There are very few exceptions to this rule.
And the ridiculous reason Beyoncé ruined one country music classic will make you livid.
After dominating the pop and R&B charts for years, Beyoncé chose to make what some are claiming is a “country music” album entitled Cowboy Carter.
The album has received mixed reviews, but one song that has stirred up controversy is Beyoncé’s cover of Dolly Parton’s classic Jolene.
Heart-wrenching classic
The original song was an emotional ballad in which Parton begs “Jolene” not to steal her husband.
The chorus goes:
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him just because you can
All of the pain and heartbreak was taken out of the cover because Beyoncé sings the song from the perspective of a woman who is threatening “Jolene.”
The cover lyrics go:
I can easily understand
Why you’re attracted to my man
But you don’t want this smoke, so shoot your shot with someone else (You heard me)
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m warnin’ you, woman, find you your own man
Jolene, I know I’m a queen, Jolene
I’m still a Creole banjee b**** from Louisiane (Don’t try me)
The song is effectively another “boss babe” anthem from Beyoncé, and even some of her fans were scratching their heads at the cover.
The “BeyHive” prefers the original
Woke self-proclaimed “Journalist” Ash Sarkar wrote, “I was so excited about Jolene – I love Beyoncé, I love that song – but I don’t know how I feel about this. I’m not sure that Jolene works when you take the pain out of it. If you’re not threatened by her, why are you plaintively singing her name repeatedly?”
Another author wrote, “What makes Jolene so visceral is that it’s a love song to the other woman, seeing her through prisms of desire, desire for the way she’s desired. I get that Bey is reclaiming power, but the song is about powerlessness: even if Jolene doesn’t take him, Dolly still loses.”
Parton was gracious in response to the song, and she even said years ago that she would love Beyoncé to cover Jolene.
Parton previously told The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah she thought Beyoncé is “ fantastic and beautiful, and I love her music.”
“I would just love to hear ‘Jolene’ done in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney did my ‘I Will Always Love You,’ just someone who can take my little songs and make ’em like powerhouses,” Parton added at the time. “So that would be a marvelous day in my life, if she ever does do ‘Jolene.’”
Coincidentally, Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same day in 1972.
