Beyoncé has released her new album ‘Cowboy Carter’ which was originally reported to include a cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’. However, she has reworked the track’s lyrics to reference the Jay-Z cheating scandal, which had come to light when Beyoncé released her iconic album ‘Lemonade’ in 2016. In the new lyrics, Beyoncé sings, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man / Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / Don’t take the chance because you think you can”. She also reaffirms her love for Jay-Z, “We’ve been deep in love for twenty years / I raised that man, I raised his kids / I know my man better than he knows himself.” This time round, Beyoncé sees herself as a queen rather than someone who “can’t compete” like in the original song.
The news of her new album was announced a month ago, with Beyoncé surprising fans with the release of two new songs ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ and ‘16 Carriages’ in February. ‘Cowboy Carter’ is the second act of a trilogy, with ‘Renaissance’ expected to be the first part released in 2022. Producers have recently revealed that ‘Cowboy Carter’ was actually made before ‘Renaissance’. While there has been backlash from artists such as Azealia Banks, Parton herself has given Beyoncé’s country pivot her blessing, stating “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album”.
The release of ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ has made Beyoncé the first Black woman to top the country charts. She has also become the first woman to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs charts since they began in 1958. Although Beyoncé has addressed some of the backlash surrounding her album, stating that the music was “born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t” and that she had “studied our rich musical archive”, the controversy surrounding ‘Cowboy Carter’ is unlikely to die down any time soon.
Listen to Beyoncé’s rendition of ‘Jolene’ below:
Read the full article on NME here: Read More