I think we’ve all heard “Jolene”, but have you ever heard the Dolly Parton song “Cologne”?
In 1974, Parton released one of her most famous songs, a twangy ballad about a fiery redhead temptress, on an album of the same name. “Jolene” was inspired by something Parton herself had experienced. She got the idea for the song when a pretty redhead bank clerk started flirting with her husband, Carl Dean.
During her performance in Glastonbury in 2014, she told the crowd this story.
“Now, some of you may or may not know that that song was loosely based on a little bit of truth,” Parton explained. “I wrote that years ago when my husband was spending a little more time with Jolene than I thought he should be. I put a stop to that. I got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry…”
As we all know, “Jolene” sings from the perspective of the taken woman, who begs Jolene not to take her man. Years and years later, Dolly Parton would, ironically enough, write a song from the opposite perspective as Jolene herself.
The Story Behind “Cologne”
On her 2008 album, Backwoods Barbie, Parton included a song called “Cologne”, which essentially has the opposite premise to “Jolene”. It follows a Jolene archetype, who happens to be sleeping with a man that’s already taken. He asks her not to wear cologne so that his wife doesn’t pick up on the affair.
You ask me not to wear cologne
She’ll know you’ve been with me alone
And you can’t take our secret home
So you ask me not to wear cologne.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2021, Dolly Parton gave some insight on the song: “When I wrote that—‘You ask me not to wear cologne because that’s a scent I can’t take home’ —it’s a cheating song about some guy asking his mistress or his girlfriend not to wear cologne, so he don’t have to take that back to his wife or his other girlfriend. So I just thought that was a good idea…”
I guess that’s the mark of a true songwriter. It’s someone who can write a story from every single angle and still manage to be relatable to everyone. Dolly Parton was certainly that.
Photo by: Robin Platzer/Getty Images
The post After She Wrote “Jolene”, Dolly Parton Penned This 2008 Song From the Other Woman’s Perspective appeared first on American Songwriter.
Go To Source | Author: Kat Caudill