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Jolene
performed by Dolly Parton
written by Dolly Parton
released May 22, 1973
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
___________________________
Before I jump into the song background and lyrics, I want to point out that the secret sauce of this song is how good the music is. The guitar by itself – sans lyrics – sets the mood for worry and turmoil. It’s really well done. The melody of the lyrics blends with it and adds to that mood. That fourth “Jolene” when she is singing is the sound of pain. The words aren’t necessary, though. Try humming it in front of your dog. If you’ve got a good dog, he or she will probably come check on you to make sure you’re okay.
The nature of the song is that it needed to be sung by someone who can sell it. Parton’s vocals here are soft and vulnerable. Some of the covers of this song – I’m thinking primarily of the Beyonce cover – don’t’ work because her vocals, though great, don’t possess those qualities. You can’t sell “I’m worried to the point of pain” while your vocals and tone communicate callousness.
One of the most baffling things about this song is that it was written by Dolly Parton and based (very loosely) on a true story. Why would one of the most famously beautiful, talented, and good-natured women in show-business be insecure? By all accounts, Carl Dean was a loyal devoted husband for nearly 50 years before he passed away in 2025.
I suppose insecurity doesn’t disappear just because you’re Dolly Parton. There’s something to be learned from that, I think. That said, I have recently learned some more information about her late husband Mr. Carl Dean. He was, as hard as it might be to believe, as good-looking as his wife.
Looks aren’t everything, but neither one of these two people would have had any trouble landing another partner. You get a sense that they each must have known the other’s worth and considered it to be high. Of course, with a high worth asset can come insecurity about losing it (err, him/her) – especially early in a relationship. The other side of that is that if you are in a relationship with a high worth asset, and if you don’t want to eventually be crushed by your anxiety, you need to think pretty highly of yourself, too.
The other funny thing about this song is it’s title. It came from the name of a fan at one of Parton’s shows in the early 70s. It *appears* that Dolly misheard the young girl’s name. I’m not sure “Juline” would have worked as well.
(more via wiki)
“Jolene” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 22, 1973, and released on October 15, 1973.
Considered by music critics to be one of the most representative songs of the country genre, the song was ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004 and number 63 on the revised version of the list in 2021. The song was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and again in 1976 for its live recording.
The song was covered in English and Spanish by many artists, including Olivia Newton-John, the White Stripes, Miley Cyrus, Måneskin and Leila Forouhar (1977). A 2016 version by Pentatonix won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. In 2024, Beyoncé covered the song with significant changes in lyrics and production; her version reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Official Singles Chart.
Most recently, following the late singer’s death, the song instantly exploded and crowded the charts. Also, the song—along with 26 others—broke the record previously held by Nicki Minaj for the most simultaneous tracks in the top 30 on U.S. iTunes.
Background
Onstage in 1988, Parton told the audience that “Jolene” was based on a true story, which was why she did not like to sing it too often. A red-headed bank clerk used to flirt with her husband, Carl Dean, at his local bank branch when they were newly married, she has said. In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene’s name and appearance (red hair, green eyes, and fair skin) are based on those of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph. This fan may have been Juline Whelan, a Canadian who met and got an autograph from Parton at age 10 in 1972; her appearance was as described, and her first name has often been confused with Jolene. Parton sang “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene” to remember the name, which is how it became the chorus.
The guitar parts on the recording were performed by Chip Young and Wayne Moss. Young played the primary thumb-picked part, with Moss playing the complementary steel-string part that enters on the second refrain. Young got the fingerpicking pattern from a similar pattern played by Joe South.
During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show in 2018, Dolly Parton revealed that she wrote “Jolene” on the same day that she wrote “I Will Always Love You“. Parton said in a later interview the songs were written “pretty close at the same time” but not necessarily on the same day.
Content
The song tells of the narrator confronting Jolene, a stunningly beautiful woman, who she worries will steal away her lover or husband. Throughout the song, the narrator implores Jolene, “Please don’t take him just because you can.” The lyrics state the narrator’s partner is fixated on Jolene and speaks her name in his sleep, but it’s unclear if Jolene actually intends to steal the narrator’s lover, an ambiguity that has been addressed in several answer songs.
In 2019, the podcast Dolly Parton’s America had an episode addressing the question of whether the narrator’s focus on Jolene’s beauty and desirability is indicative of her own attraction to Jolene. A musicologist wrote and performed a fourth verse, which makes this interpretation explicit; when the podcast’s hosts played audio of this performance for Parton, she responded that this was “another take on it”.
Commercial performance
The song became Parton’s second solo number-one single on the country charts after being released as a single in January 1974 (prior to the album’s release). It reached the top position in February 1974; it was also her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, where it entered the top 60, and a minor adult contemporary chart entry. As of December 2019, the song had sold 935,000 digital copies in the US since it became available for digital download.
The song was released as a single later in the UK, and became Parton’s first charting song in the country, reaching number seven in the UK Singles Chart in 1976. The song also re-entered the chart when Parton performed at the Glastonbury festival in 2014. The song had sold 255,300 digital copies in the UK as of January 2017. According to the Official Charts Company, it is Parton’s third most-streamed track in the UK with over 209.4 million streams. Interest in the song renewed after Parton’s death in 2026, with streams on Spotify increasing by 630 percent worldwide. “Jolene” reached number 9 on the UK singles chart in the week following, leading other songs in Parton’s library that recharted. As of August 2026, “Jolene” has amassed 2,127,139 total units in the United Kingdom since 1994.
Legacy
The song is considered by music critics to be one of the most expressive songs in the country genre. In 2014, Rolling Stone ranked the song number nine on their 2014 list “100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time”. The song was also ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004, and number 63 on their revised list in 2021. In a 2024 update, Rolling Stone expanded their ranking to the 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time, this time placing “Jolene” at number one. Genius placed the song 38th on their list of the “100 Best Country Songs of All Time Lyrics”. Time includes the song on their 2011 list of the “ALL-TIME 100 Best Songs”.
Time Out ranked the song at second place on their list of the “35 best country songs of all time”. Parade placed the song second on their list of the “101 Best Country Songs of All Time”. The Tennessean includes the song on their 2019 list of the “100 best country songs of all time”, writing that it “crosses genre and generations, a once-in-a-world song without boundaries”. NME includes the song on their 2018 list of “The 25 Best Country Music Songs of All Time”. In June 2026, CBS News included the song in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.
In the film The Intervention (Clea Duvall; 2016), Annie (Melanie Lynskey) tells Lola (Alia Shawkat), “Nobody likes a Jolene”, after the younger woman stirs up trouble among a group of older couples by making a play for several individuals among them. The song is the basis of Catherynne M. Valente‘s 2025 short story “When He Calls Your Name“, in which Jolene is a vampire.
The song’s international popularity became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the New Zealand government put the country in lockdown. A newspaper summary of “essential things to know” explained that washing one’s hands with soap should take “as long as it takes to sing the ‘Happy Birthday‘ song twice or the chorus of Dolly Parton’s hit song ‘Jolene.'” According to Parton, “Jolene” is her most frequently covered song. Parton sang “Jolene” at her 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Awards
“Jolene” was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and 1976. The first nomination was for the original recording, and the second was for a live recording from the TV series In Concert. It did not win either time, but in 2017, a cover by the a cappella group Pentatonix won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance; this version featured Parton as a guest singer.
Charts
Chart (1973–1974) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 99 Canada Top Singles (RPM) 84 Canada Adult Contemporary Songs (RPM) 40 Canada Country Singles (RPM) 1 Denmark (Tracklisten) 19New Zealand (Listener) 6 South Africa (Springbok Radio) 3 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 16 US Billboard Hot 100 60 US Cash Box Top 100 80 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 44 US Country Songs (Billboard) 1 Answer songs
Kirsty MacColl‘s 1995 song “Caroline” was inspired by “Jolene” and is told from the other woman’s point of view.
In 2013, country singer Jennifer Nettles recorded “That Girl“, which she stated in interviews is a lyrical counterpoint to “Jolene”. The song is written from the perspective of the Jolene character, who Nettles feels is unfairly maligned in the original song. In this version, the other woman is shown to have no interest in taking another woman’s man, and her song is in fact framed as a warning to Parton’s character that “her man” has a roving eye.
In 2017, American singer-songwriter Cam released her single “Diane” in response to Parton’s song. The song is sung from Jolene’s point of view, where she sings to ‘Diane’, Parton’s character, and states that she did not know that ‘her man’ was her man. Cam noted to Rolling Stone Country that the song is her “response to Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene.’ It’s the apology so many spouses deserve, but never get. The other woman is coming forward to break the news to the wife about an affair, respecting her enough to have that hard conversation, once she realized he was married. Because everyone should be able to decide their own path in life, based on the truth. Women especially should do this for each other, since our self-worth can still be so wrapped up in our partners. And in true country fashion, I’ve set the whole raw story to upbeat music, so you can dance while you process it all.”
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, linguist Gretchen McCulloch wrote a parody of the song entitled “Vaccine”, inspired by Parton’s $1 million donation funding research on a coronavirus vaccine. The parody was sung by English professor Ryan Cordell, and the video went viral. Dolly Parton broke into parody herself, singing “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate” as she got a ‘dose of her own medicine’ in a March 2021 vaccination.
Chapel Hart released an answer song in 2021 titled “You Can Have Him Jolene“. Okay Kaya released “Jolene From Her Own Perspective” in September 2022 as a single off her album SAP. She described it as “‘Jolene’ as a queer anthem” and jokingly as a “love note from a depraved bisexual“.
______________________
The first thing that jumps out at me after reading up on this song is that both of the real people who became the inspiration for Jolene were redheads. Everyone has a different beauty ideal. I wonder if Dolly’s ideal wasn’t herself, but was instead a Celtic beauty. I also think that the bank teller *had* to have known the song was about her. How could she not? She just couldn’t brag about it to anyone. Why would she want anyone to think she was flirting with Dolly Parton’s husband?
In a weird way this song is an incredible compliment, with a hook in it that means no one can ever know about said compliment. I like to imagine that woman in later years talking to herself in the mirror. “Dolly Parton wrote a song about how beautiful I am.”
I am always fascinated by songs that seem to outperform their debuts. This is one of those. It did well on the country charts, but it was by no means a song you’d think would continue to be huge decades later. I mean… Beyonce covered it in 2024. That tells me that there’s something in this song that really resonates across time.
Maybe “stay away from my husband, you beautiful ginger” is a timeless message.
