Beyoncé has rewritten Dolly Parton‘s ‘Jolene’ lyrics, seemingly to reference the Jay-Z cheating scandal.Queen Bey has just dropped her new ‘Cowboy Carter‘ album today (March 29), which was reported to include a cover of Parton’s iconic hit.
However, fans have discovered Beyoncé has actually rewritten ‘Jolene’ and its lyrics to address Jay-Z cheating on her.‘Jolene’ now refers to someone trying to “come between a family and a happy man”, with Beyoncé singing in the chorus: “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”.Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’ cover also sees her reaffirm her love with her husband, with whom she tied the knot in 2008, after having dated since roughly 2002: “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”.In the original song, Dolly Parton thought she “can’t compete” with ‘Jolene’.
But this time round, Beyoncé has a more empowering perception of herself: “Jolene, I know I’m a queen, Jolene / I’m still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisianne (Don’t try me)”.Listen to Beyoncé’s rendition of ‘Jolene’ below:Fans speculated Jay-Z may have cheated on Beyoncé back in 2016, when she released ‘Lemonade‘ and specifically took aim at ‘Becky With The Good Hair‘.
The rapper later admitted his infidelity on his own record ‘4:44‘.Beyoncé unveiled the news of her new album a month ago, surprise dropping two songs ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ and ’16 Carriages’ in February and announcing the record in an ad at the Super Bowl.
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