Friday, January 08, 2021

Song of the Day: 'Slow-Ass Jolene' by Dolly Parton


Now that film and television are finally catching up with stories about LGBTQ people, it would be nice if more songs tackled the topic -- and who better than queer icon Dolly Parton to (sorta) lend a hand:

As That Eric Calper writes, a 45 of Dolly's 1973 hit “Jolene” played at 33 1⁄3 rpm not only sounds cool, it also manages to change the meaning, if only through the actual sound of her voice. 

The New Yorker's Andrea DenHoed notes that in “Slow Ass Jolene,” Parton’s “baby-high soprano” into something deep, soulful and seemingly male. 

As one YouTube commenter said, “Possible interpretations: gay cowboy laments the loss of his bisexual boyfriend to a woman named Jolene -- or a gay cowboy laments the loss of his boyfriend to another man named Joe Lean.”

Truly delightful! 

3 comments:

Marc said...

Cody Below did a version of the song where he didnt change the pronouns, so it becomes a song about a man not wanting a woman to take his man.

JP Aragon said...

Wow yeah it's a different song

Jack said...

Too funny! It sounds great!