March 29 should now just be recognized as COWBOY CARTER day. The long-anticipated album *finally* dropped and it’s safe to say that it was well worth the wait, especially if we’re talking about Beyoncé’s rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” COWBOY CARTER is the long-awaited follow-up to Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE, released in 2022. The album showcases a different side of Beyoncé, as she enters the genre of country. It even features one of country music’s most coveted stars: Dolly Parton.
On the song “Dolly P,” Parton talks about that “hussy with the good hair you sing about,” referencing “Becky with the good hair,” from Beyoncé’s song “Sorry” off her 2016 album Lemonade. “Dolly P” leads into Beyoncé’s cover of “Jolene,” with Parton saying, “[Becky] reminded me of someone I knew back when / Except she has flamin’ locks of auburn hair / Bless her heart / Just a hair of a different color but it hurts just the same.” The tea is hot!
Beyoncé offers a different rendition of “Jolene,” keeping the lyrics mostly the same, but changing them up a bit. And TBH, it sounds like Beyoncé still has a lot to say about Becky with the good hair, and rightfully so.
The chorus begins with the original lyrics from “Jolene,” but Bey alters them a bit: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man / Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / Don’t take the chance because you think you can.” Compared to Dolly’s version, Beyoncé displays a more straightforward approach to make sure Becky knows her place.
In the first verse, Bey wastes no time letting her feelings be known. You don’t want to get between her and her man! “You’re beautiful, beyond compare / Takes more than beauty and seductive stares / To come between a family and a happy man,” she sings. In the same verse, she adds, “The games you play are nothing new / so you don’t want no heat with me, Jolene / We’ve been deep in love for twenty years.” Jolene, you gotta chill out, girlfriend!
Beyoncé closes the first verse with a reminder to Jolene: “I know my man better than he knows himself / I can easily understand / Why you’re attracted to my man / But you don’t want this smoke, so shoot your shot with someone else (You heard me).” If I were Jolene, I’d be hiding in a corner right now.
The second chorus really puts Jolene in her place. Shoutout Dolly for writing one of the biggest “F you” anthems ever, because it truly is timeless. The second chorus begins the same, but the following lines change. “I’m warnin’ you, woman, find your own man / Jolene, I know I’m a queen, Jolene / I’m still a Creole banjee b*tch from Louisianne (Don’t try me).” Somebody check on Jolene, fr.
In verse 2, Bey reiterates the same message she’s been telling Jolene the whole song. She sings, “There’s a thousand girls in every room / That act as desperate as you do / You a bird, go on and sing your tune, Jolene.”
In the bridge, Bey sings about all that she and her man have been through together, letting Jolene know nothing can come between them. “Me and my man crossed those valleys / Highs and lows and everything between / Good deeds roll in like tumblin’ weeds / I sleep good, happy / ‘Cause you can’t dig up our planted seeds / I know my man’s gon’ stand by me, breathin’ in my gentle breeze.”
It’s safe to say Beyoncé has got some things to say to Jolene, and TBH, I’m right there with her.