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Reading “Jolene”
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Abstract
Dolly tells two origin stories about “Jolene”: in one, she met a little girl named Jolene after a show. She decided to use the name in a song, eventually transforming Jolene from a little girl into “the other woman,” a red-headed bank teller Dolly said flirted with her husband. “Jolene” is dramatically different from cheating songs like those of Loretta Lynn. Where Lynn insults her rival, Dolly admires Jolene’s beauty. This chapter places “Jolene’s” lyrics in the context of Appalachian balladry and examines them through Eve Sedgwick’s concept of “erotic triangles,” which suggests that the bond between the betrayed lover (the song’s narrator) and the rival for her partner (Jolene) is as intense as the bond between either of them and the man in the song. This bond between rivals in the song is so strong that, for some listeners, it can become the focus of the song. Thus, “Jolene” is a springboard for others to articulate queer expressions and identities.
Title: Reading “Jolene”
Description:
Abstract
Dolly tells two origin stories about “Jolene”: in one, she met a little girl named Jolene after a show.
She decided to use the name in a song, eventually transforming Jolene from a little girl into “the other woman,” a red-headed bank teller Dolly said flirted with her husband.
“Jolene” is dramatically different from cheating songs like those of Loretta Lynn.
Where Lynn insults her rival, Dolly admires Jolene’s beauty.
This chapter places “Jolene’s” lyrics in the context of Appalachian balladry and examines them through Eve Sedgwick’s concept of “erotic triangles,” which suggests that the bond between the betrayed lover (the song’s narrator) and the rival for her partner (Jolene) is as intense as the bond between either of them and the man in the song.
This bond between rivals in the song is so strong that, for some listeners, it can become the focus of the song.
Thus, “Jolene” is a springboard for others to articulate queer expressions and identities.
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