It was a country song to start with.
I call it Cunt-ry.
I am very immature.
For me the quality of the original Jolene is how powerful the “Jolene” character is, at least in the mind of the singer. The feeling of almost desperation as she begs Jolene to give her a break and not take her man away is what sustains the song.
The new version makes Jolene into a “non-threat” it’s a song about a strong confident woman who is in a stable relationship with a man who won’t leave her, so what’s the point of the story where is the emotional narrative that was so strong in the original? The singer is punching down and there is no reason to care about Jolene as we hear all song she can’t win.
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Exactly, it subverts the original song.
Instead of doing another version of the song that is more or less the same, Beyonce has reimagined it into a bold deceleration.
You could look at the original as how women viewed the world in 1973. It’s meek and begging.
You could look at Beyonce’s version as being bold and assertive with a strength born from the last 50 years of feminism, in part helped along by marvellous women like Dolly Parton.
Dolly’s protagonist has no agency. She’s is dependent on how Jolene decides to act. When were women allowed to open their own bank accounts in the USA?
Beyonce’s protagonist has agency. She can open her own bank account.
And the beauty of it is that the original still exists. Beyonce didn’t erase it.
Slow down there Clementine Ford!
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Dolly’s nemesis was a woman not a man.
The original isn’t about the oppression of women, it’s about the passing of time and the impact it has on beauty, excitement and passion in a relationship and how someone shallow but determined can wreck a lifetime’s love.
I like the white stripes version.
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I know.
Oppression in different words from a different angle?
By that standard any act of meanness is oppression, I always thought of it as systemic and by an authority.
”And people say she’s just a big pair of tits” - David Brent
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Have you been paying attention the last 10 years? Everything is oppression!
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These mash ups are just getting better and better
Still not as good as lobster magnet.
Claudio Narea, one third of the great Chilean rock group Los Prisioneros, is coming to Australia in August. He is playing at Crowbar in Sydney, glad to have locked a ticket in.
I’ll never see the group together, so I’ll take this as the next best thing.
Beth Gibbons’ solo record is out today about a billion years after it was announced. It’s phenomenal.
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Anyone received their email for the Thom Yorke solo show at the Opera House.
My mother & Nonna in 1973 would have slapped you for calling them meek. 
Hey, if it saves me $50!
You were on the hook with my crew of 4 for this recommendation… started off a little on the gimmicky side with the whole screaming into the saxophone schtick, but they started to win me over with some of the groovier / melodic stuff without that. Would see again.
The ‘gurge were superb as always, really digging their new album. They’ve got a catalogue of pisstake songs with amusing lyrics but don’t know that I’ve ever laughed at music before, the first time I spun Cocaine Runaway nearly pissed myself when that sax kicked in, the accompanying clip on YouTube does it great justice. 
They’ve got a phenomenal knack of being able to sum up an entire genre in 3-4 minutes. Missed the entire 80’s? They’ve got you covered. Quarnsy is also the best rapper in the country and he does it as an afterthought in his down time from being a guitar god, what a guy.
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