Record of the Day: Dolly Parton - Jolene

I'm having a Dolly day today. I honestly can't get enough of her. And this song is by far one of my favourite songs. However, I need to be in a pretty specific mood to listen to it as I find it kind of sad. Apparently Dolly has said that the inspiration for the story was a tall, red-headed bank teller who she believed was flirting with her husband, and her husband's apparent vulnerability to the teller's charm which she drew from his sudden interest in making frequent trips to the bank. In live performances of the song, she often says that she fought this woman tooth and nail for her husband.

It's very possible that the story was exaggerated significantly for performance purposes, however i really don't like the idea that the husband in this story has absolutely no mind of his own! Clearly he is unable to control himself, to the point where his wife needs to bat away beautiful women just so he doesn't get distracted like a small child. Forgive me but this is definitely not the kind of man I'd want to marry! It's also very sad to think that the woman telling the story thinks so little of herself and that nothing she has could possibility compete with physical beauty of "Jolene"...not quite an advertisement for strong, independent females all over the world, but it was the '70s I guess.

Anyways, I thought I'd share. Rant over.


Record of the Day: Dolly Parton - Jolene (From her thirteenth (!) solo studio album also called Jolene in 1974, RCA Records)