“Jolene” is one of Dolly Parton’s most successful songs, and continues to be relevant years after she released it. The song is about a woman pleading with another to stay away from her man. However, it comes from Parton’s authentic experience when she felt threatened by another woman taking her husband, Carl Dean. Parton said Dean felt “embarrassed” by “Jolene” as he is the man referenced in the song.
Dolly Parton said her husband was initially ‘embarrassed’ by ‘Jolene’
“Jolene” is a classic song in the history of country music. It has a fantastic rhythm and perfect lyrics by Parton. The lyrics are not artificial, as they come from Parton’s personal insecurities. In a 2014 appearance at Glastonbury, Dolly Parton revealed the inspiration behind “Jolene”. The story was based on an interaction between her husband and a redheaded bank teller, who her husband was spending a bit too much time with.
“I wrote that [song] years ago when my husband … was spending a little more time with Jolene than I thought he should be,” Parton explained. “I put a stop to that. I got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry.”
When the song debuted in 1973 and became a hit, Dean felt “embarrassed” as the song was revealing about his own behavior.
“He was a little embarrassed when I wrote the song ‘Jolene’ because, actually, it wasn’t as serious [as it seems],” Parton told BBC. “I was just jealous ’cause she was a beautiful woman and he was just flirtin’. So it gave me a great idea for a song. There’s always a Jolene in somebody’s life. There’s always someone prettier than you, somebody, you know, maybe you fear that they’re better.”
50 years later, the two don’t see the track as a big deal anymore. Parton says she jokes about “Jolene” all the time to Dean, saying that sometimes she’d be fine if Jolene took him.
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“I just joke about it now,” she continued. “I look at him when I say, ‘Every time I see you over there in that La-Z-Boy chair, snorin’ and sleepin’, I think, where is Jolene when you need her? You can have him now Jolene!”
‘Jolene’ isn’t the only song Parton has written about her husband
While “Jolene” is a less flattering song for her husband, Dolly Parton has expressed her love for him in other tracks. One such tune is “From Here to the Moon and Back”. In the 2020 novel Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, Parton explained that she intended the song to be used in a musical about her life.
“This song is very much based on my husband, Carl,” she wrote. “I’m using it in a musical for Broadway that I’m writing. It’s my life story as a musical. This is going to be sung as a duet between the ‘Carl’ character and the ‘Dolly’ character in that.”
“From Here to the Moon and Back” debuted in 2012 on the soundtrack for Joyful Noise. Parton also performed it as a duet with her colleague and longtime friend Willie Nelson, which was released on her 2014 Blue Smoke album.
“Willie was doing an album of duets with girls,” Parton added. “He said, ‘I like that song of yours. Why don’t we do ‘From Here to the Moon and Back?’ I said, ‘Okay. I think I can pick that on my guitar.’ And so we did it.”
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