One of the most iconic songs in country history, ‘Jolene’ has seen a resurgence in popularity following Dolly Parton's death in August 2026. The day after Parton's passing, the track leapt to No. 1 on Apple Music, overtaking Ella Langley's ‘Choosin’ Texas’.

Released in 1973 ahead of her 1974 album of the same name, ‘Jolene’ tells the story of a beautiful woman who seemingly attempts to steal away the protagonist's husband.

The song was supposedly based on a true story, with Parton outlining in various interviews that ‘Jolene’ was inspired by a bank-teller who flirted with Parton's husband, Carl Dean, shortly after they got married. Parton changed the name, though, with the choice of ‘Jolene’ coming from a young fan who Parton met at a concert.

The song remains one of Parton's signature earworms and a country staple, with ‘Jolene’ reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country charts in 1974, as well as receiving two nominations for the Best Female Country Vocal Performance GRAMMY in 1975 and 1976, with the latter being in honour of the live version. ‘Jolene’ has amassed over 950 million streams on Spotify alone, and is sure to join the Billions Club soon.

‘Jolene’ is a traditional country ode, with Parton's unmistakable vocals drifting across an undulating, finger-picked guitar riff. The composition remains relatively stripped-back through, mirroring the classic Appalachian country style that Parton grew up with, with additional steel and backing vocals entering the fray later on.

Over the course of ’Jolene’, Parton pleads with the woman that's attempting to charm her husband to leave him be. Our protagonist admits a sense of insecurity and inferiority to this almost mythical Jolene character, with Parton painting a rose-tinted image of her overwhelming beauty (“Your beauty is beyond compare / With flaming locks of auburn hair / With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green”).

It's a striking confession, with the narrator simply wanting to hold onto her husband because of how much she loves him, even though she accepts that Jolene could easily take him from her. It's interesting that the song is addressed to Jolene, rather than to the husband, with our protagonist at her wits end at how much her thinks about her (“He talks about you in his sleep / There's nothing I can do to keep / From crying when he calls your name, Jolene, Jolene”).

The narrator implies that Jolene doesn't really love her husband, rather, she's simply flirting with him because she can. Our protagonist, meanwhile, can't imagine ever loving another man, going as far as declaring, “My happiness depends on you”.

In one of many old interviews, Parton revealed the origin of the song, “I tell the story about Jolene. My husband got a crush on this beautiful, red-headed, long-legged girl down at the bank. So I tell the story about how I went down there one day, he was sitting talking to this girl, and I said, ‘What're you doing?’ And he said, ‘I'm trying to get a loan’, because he was in the asphalt paving business. I said, ‘You need to get your ass home or it's gonna be your ass and your fault”.

While chatting to Pitchfork, Parton recalled, “Her name wasn't Jolene. I did get that name from a little girl that I was signing autographs for. I'd never heard that name before. I remember signing the name Jolene and I said, ‘That's a beautiful name. I'm gonna write a song about that’. I said, ‘If you ever hear a song about that, you'll know I wrote it about you’. So I just kept thinking, ‘Jolene, Jolene’”.

“Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Oh, I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can

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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 skin is soft like summer rain
And I can not compete with you, Jolene

-

And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene

-

He talks about you in his sleep
There's nothing I can do to keep
From crying when he calls your name, Jolene, Jolene

-

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can

-

I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene

-

And you could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
Cause he's the only one for me, Jolene, Jolene

-

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Oh, 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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