Lily Allen has expressed her view on Beyoncé’s rendition of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’. Despite receiving praise from Parton herself, Allen found the cover “weird,” highlighting how it was bizarre for Beyoncé to cover the most successful songs in that genre if she was trying to tackle it. Although she admitted to only hearing a few parts of ‘Cowboy Carter,’ she did not understand why Beyoncé chose to cover Dolly.
In her ‘Miss Me?’ podcast, Allen explained, “I mean, you do you, Beyoncé – and she literally is doing her, but why is she doing Dolly?” She didn’t provide further commentary regarding the situation.
‘Cowboy Carter’ contains a few surprises for fans, with Beyoncé rewriting most of the lyrics to reference her husband Jay-Z’s cheating scandal. She subsequently explained that she gave Dolly Parton the sole songwriting credit for ‘Jolene’ and that Stevie Wonder had played harmonica on it.
In addition to Allen, Paul McCartney also sang praises for Beyoncé’s ‘Blackbird’ rendition, acknowledging how she used it to “ease racial tension.” It was later revealed that Beyoncé used The Beatles’ original ‘Blackbird’ backing track in her cover of the song.
Overall, Beyoncé’s album has been a hit amongst her fans and critics, with many praising the new direction she’s taken. Whilst some have expressed their thoughts on why she chose to cover certain songs, most have appreciated the final output
Read the full article on NME here: Read More