Search engine for discovering works of Art, research articles, and books related to Art and Culture
Javascript must be enabled to continue!
Listening to “Jolene”
View through CrossRef
Abstract
“Jolene” is often described as heavy, chilling, full of dread, and haunted. Writers frequently attribute these qualities to the old-world, mountain music atmosphere in her songs. The minor mode—specifically the Aeolian mode—of “Jolene” is what sounds spooky to these critics. They associate this sound with music of the English Renaissance with references to Elizabethan music and “Greensleeves.” This chapter includes in-depth analysis of the song’s music—its signature guitar riff, chorus, verses, musical form, melody, harmony, phrase structure, and rhyme scheme—that reveals the way Dolly shapes its elements to convey the song’s anxious, pleading quality and ambiguity. “Jolene” marked a new development in Dolly’s songwriting. Even as she saturated the song with old-world resonances, she created an innovative sound. Two years after the song’s release, Dolly signed with the LA-based management firm of Katz, Gallin & Cleary in 1976, and two pop hits soon followed.
Title: Listening to “Jolene”
Description:
Abstract
“Jolene” is often described as heavy, chilling, full of dread, and haunted.
Writers frequently attribute these qualities to the old-world, mountain music atmosphere in her songs.
The minor mode—specifically the Aeolian mode—of “Jolene” is what sounds spooky to these critics.
They associate this sound with music of the English Renaissance with references to Elizabethan music and “Greensleeves.
” This chapter includes in-depth analysis of the song’s music—its signature guitar riff, chorus, verses, musical form, melody, harmony, phrase structure, and rhyme scheme—that reveals the way Dolly shapes its elements to convey the song’s anxious, pleading quality and ambiguity.
“Jolene” marked a new development in Dolly’s songwriting.
Even as she saturated the song with old-world resonances, she created an innovative sound.
Two years after the song’s release, Dolly signed with the LA-based management firm of Katz, Gallin & Cleary in 1976, and two pop hits soon followed.
Related Results
Reading “Jolene”
Reading “Jolene”
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 tr...
Jolene Speaks
Jolene Speaks
Abstract
Answer songs were especially popular in country music in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and “Jolene” is a song that begs for an answer. Several artists have r...
Jolene, the Album
Jolene, the Album
Abstract
Dolly Parton’s Jolene was her thirteenth studio album (1974). At the time of its release, critics recognized the album’s excellence, and later critics viewe...
Introduction
Introduction
Abstract
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” has become a cultural phenomenon for several reasons. First, Dolly is an icon, and “Jolene” is one of her most well-known songs. Whe...
Returning to Jolene
Returning to Jolene
Abstract
This brief chapter returns to the origin stories of “Jolene.” Dolly always uses the humorous, presumably autobiographical bank teller account to introduce t...
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF NON- ENGLISH STUDENTS DEPARTMENT IN ANSWERING LISTENING SECTION IN TOEFL
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF NON- ENGLISH STUDENTS DEPARTMENT IN ANSWERING LISTENING SECTION IN TOEFL
Abstract
Several universities in Indonesia apply the TOEFL test as one of the graduation requirements by considering the importance of mastering English for students, either ...
Returning to Dolly
Returning to Dolly
Abstract
Dolly has performed “Jolene” numerous times, usually sticking close to her original recording. She has also refashioned the song several times. She re-recor...
Olivia Newton-John’s “Jolene”
Olivia Newton-John’s “Jolene”
Abstract
British-Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John recorded the first prominent cover of “Jolene” in 1976. At that time, Nashville was worried that pop music ...