Dolly Parton is giving Beyoncé‘s “Jolene” cover her seal of approval.
The country music legend took to Instagram on Friday, the day Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album dropped, to weigh in on the singer’s cover of her iconic 1973 song.
“Wow, I just heard Jolene,” she shared in a statement. “Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
Dolly — who previously praised Beyoncé when her Cowboy Carter track “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted at #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart — signed the statement as “Dolly P,” a playful reference to the interlude on Cowboy Carter of the same name in which Parton introduces Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover.
“Hey, Miss Honeybee, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?” Dolly says in the interlude, referencing Beyoncé’s song “Sorry” off her 2016 album, Lemonade, in which she sings, “He only want me when I’m not there/ He better call Becky with the good hair.”
“Reminded me of someone I knew back when,” Parton continues. “Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
There are a lot of similarities between the two versions, but Beyoncé adds her own flare to her cover.
The tone is different, as well. While Parton’s version is pleading with Jolene not to take her man, Beyoncé’s version reminds Jolene “you don’t want no heat with me.”
The rest of Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover continues this trend, taking Parton’s iconic tune and fully reinventing and modernizing the song to fit her own story through to the very end.
Cowboy Carter is what Beyoncé recently described in an Instagram post as “act ii” and “a continuation of RENAISSANCE,” which was released in July 2022.
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