![]() ![]() Bizarrely written about the end of a professional relationship (with her frequent duet partner and early champion Porter Wagoner) rather than a romantic one, nevertheless I Will Always Love You has endured as one of the all-time great breakup songs. Whitney Houston’s showboating rendition may have been the bigger hit, but it can’t touch the intimacy of Parton’s original. The haunting, desolate pitch of the singer’s final note is shot through with despair, suggesting her pleas have fallen on deaf ears. ![]() “I had to have this talk with you/ My happiness depends on you/ And whatever you decide to do, Jolene” – the protagonist knows she can’t prevent her husband from leaving her, so her last line of defence is to appeal to the mercy of the other woman. From the sparse, faintly sinister arrangement to the desperate but strangely pragmatic lyrics, Parton’s best-loved and most-covered song paints a vivid picture of a woman fighting a battle she knows she’s already lost. The key to Jolene’s enduring appeal lies in its simplicity. Sentimental? Absolutely – but at heart Coat of Many Colors is the story of a family on the precipice, holding themselves together in the only way they know how. Her youthful protagonist seems unconcerned by the taunts she suffers from her schoolmates, drawing strength from the unconditional love of her mother. Parton’s genius is to frame this sad tableau completely without bitterness. Essentially a description of grinding poverty and social isolation, Coat of Many Colors could easily come off as maudlin. Throughout her career, Parton has drawn inspiration from her childhood in Tennessee. As ever though, Parton stops short of haranguing her audience – the song hints at the possibility of mutual understanding and reconciliation. Written in response to her husband’s negative reaction to learning she wasn’t a virgin before they met, the song points an accusing finger at the hypocritical expectations of many men at the time – considered a somewhat daring subject for the highly traditionalist US country scene. The title track from her second studio album is a sharper, angrier cousin to Dumb Blonde. ![]()
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