“She wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did,” the legendary country singer said
Beyoncé’s updated lyrics to “Jolene” were a surprise to everyone — including Dolly Parton.
While Parton, 78, knew the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer, 42, was covering her 1973 country hit for her Cowboy Carter album, she revealed to E! News that she didn’t know Beyoncé was putting her own spin on the song. But despite her surprise, the country legend was impressed by the modern update.
“Well, I think it was very bold of her,” Parton told E! News. “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.”
Parton added that as a songwriter “you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them.”
The “9 to 5” singer provided an introduction for Beyoncé’s version of “Jolene” on Cowboy Carter, in which she said, “Hey, miss Honey Bey. It’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
For her version, Beyoncé switched up the lyrics, singing “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man,” instead of “please don’t take my man.” She also makes it clear that the titular Jolene is no challenge to her.
“Takes more than beauty and seductive stares/To come between a family and a happy man,” she sings. “Jolene, I’m a woman too/Thе games you play are nothing new/So you don’t want no heat with me, Jolene.”
Parton told E! News that she loved Beyoncé’s confident new lyrics, and how the Grammy-winner made the song her own.
“She wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did,” the 78-year-old continued. “‘Don’t steal my man.’ S—, get out here, bitch. You ain’t stealin’ mine.”
This isn’t the first time Parton has shared her love for Beyoncé’s take on her song. After years of lobbying for the “16 Carriages” singer to cover “Jolene,” she celebrated the song’s release on X (formerly known as Twitter) on March 29 writing, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”
