![]() ![]() Oswald was a self-proclaimed “Plunderphonic” who argued for the necessity of (basically) fucking with famous pieces of music. It’s unclear whether “goodlittlebuddy” knew this or not, but either way Oswald deserves some of the credit here. Not a lot of people discussing “Slow Ass Jolene” took the opportunity to credit John Oswald for the insight about “Jolene”-but Oswald realized the exact same thing as early as 1988 (to be fair, a sprinkling of YouTube users did make the connection). The main YouTube video, originally uploaded by YouTube user “goodlittlebuddy” in April 2012, has now been viewed 1.75 million times. Many, many listeners expressed astonishment that Dolly’s phrasing and even vibrato were so finely expressed that hardly any flaws showed up, even at such a slow speed. The premise was that if you played that single not at the correct 45-rpm speed but at the 33-rpm speed, a reduction of about 25%, the resultant version was quite startling, as if “a soulful male ballad singer” ( The New Yorker) were covering it (and, incidentally, fucking with the gender dynamics of the song). Last month a slowed-down video of Dolly Parton’s classic song “Jolene” made the rounds on the Internet. Join her in NYC on Monday, September 24 for another monthly installment of her book-based variety show, Necromancers of the Public Domain. R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” Reworked from Minor to Major ScaleĪyun Halliday is an author, illustrator, theater maker and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine. Hear Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Shifted from Minor to Major Key, and Radiohead’s “Creep” Moved from Major to Minor Please don’t take him even though you canįeel Strangely Nostalgic as You Hear Classic Songs Reworked to Sound as If They’re Playing in an Empty Shopping Mall: David Bowie, Toto, Ah-ha & More With ivory skin and eyes of emerald greenįrom crying when he calls your name, Joleneīut you don’t know what he means to me, Jolene Please don’t take him just because you can I’m begging of you please don’t take my man Or, as one waggish Youtube commenter succinctly put it, “Jolene better stay the hell away from Roy Orbison‘s man!” Or perhaps Jolene is one hot female-identified tomato, and as far as the singer’s man’s concerned, his pastor and his granny can go to hell! Jolene’s the only one for him. Perhaps the singer’s man craves the comfort of a more socially acceptable domestic situation. ![]() Or maybe the singer and his man live in a place where same sex unions are frowned on. Jolene’s prodigious feminine assets could also prove worrisome to a gay man whose bisexual lover’s eye is prone to wander. Parton told NPR that women are “always threatened by other women, period.” The pain is the same, but the situation in much less straightforward, thanks to blurrier gender lines. In the slow ass version, it’s plaintive and sad. In the original version, the irresistible chorus wherein the soon-to-be-spurned party invokes Jolene’s name again and again is plaintive and fierce. Wouldn’t it be wild if she grew up to be a bank teller? Yes, the kid had red hair and green eyes. Parton was so taken with the child, and her unusual name, that she resolved to write a song about her. Jolene was a pretty little girl who attended an early Parton concert. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.įor the record, the teller’s name wasn’t Jolene. It was kinda like a running joke between us - when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. In an interview with NPR, Parton recalled a red-haired bank teller who developed a big crush on her husband when she was a young bride:Īnd he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. The song is somewhat autobiographical, though the situation was nowhere near as dire as listeners might assume. ![]() Instead, she appeals to Jolene’s sense of mercy: Apparently she also knows better than to raise the subject with him. ![]()
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