In the 70s, I mostly listened to whatever music the adults in my life listened to, since I was but a wee lass myself. My parents listened to folk rock and country music at the time, in the era of folks like Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gale, Waylon Jennings, and, of course, Dolly Parton.
One of the great things about Dolly's songs is their sing-along-ability, if that's a word. She sings in a pretty ordinary vocal range and whether you're an 8 year girl or her 30 year old mother, you can probably at least kind of sing with her. I have fond memories of doing just that, singing along to the radio with my mother to this and many other of Dolly's great songs.
Lyrics from AtoZ lyrics:
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can
Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene
He talks about you in his sleep
There's nothing I can do to keep
From crying when he calls your name, Jolene
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can
You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He's the only one for me, Jolene
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene
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Great blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteThis is a great song covered by many. I like what she said and she got her man back...hopefully she smacked him a few times. Sadly, he just passed away this year.
ReplyDeleteI did read about that, and I grieve for her loss with her.
DeleteI love this song and Dolly Parton's voice. Have you heard the Jack White version of it? Different but still really good. (this is Lisa from tao-talk)
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/yXlULkwhgrc?si=SRovduLqawC9S9f2
No! I'll have to check it out.
DeleteVery iconic song, although I only recently heard of it. (In that era I was also subject to my parents' music tastes. They were not country fans.)
ReplyDeleteMy parents are probably why I know it--they were country listeners then because they HATED disco.
DeleteI have heard the song of course, but am not a country listener. Well, a long time ago, but that was due to my late husband's listening choices! I have a cat that turned up in my backyard with a microchip with no info., but from Texas (I'm in Oregon). We pretend she tells us in an accent, "My name is Jolene." That's not the name we gave her, but it's not a bad cat name!
ReplyDeleteLove this story!
DeleteI remember when we did karaoke with this song. LOL.
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for A-Z Challenge Jaded Loki & My Languishing TBR: J #AtoZChallenge2025 #Books #Bookreview
It's a good one for karaoke.
DeleteI'm not generally a country fan, but this is one of the few exceptions. Definitely a classic.
ReplyDeletehttps://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com
Dolly is kind of her own phenomenon.
DeleteIt doesn't take much work to understand what this song is about. Love it! Did you see the song she released when her husband died? It made me cry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEbLzz7Y4Uk
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet! I'll have to look for it.
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