“Jolene” captures a woman’s desperate fear of losing the man she loves to another woman. Dolly Parton’s narrator pleads with the beautiful, confident Jolene to leave her relationship alone. Filled with jealousy, insecurity, vulnerability, and devotion, the song turns a personal romantic fear into one of country music’s most unforgettable stories.
Jolene Lyrics
[Guitar Intro]
[Chorus]
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him just because you can
[Verse 1]
Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene
[Verse 2]
He talks about you in his sleep
And there’s nothin’ I can do to keep
From cryin’ when he calls your name, Jolene
And I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don’t know what he means to me, Jolene
[Chorus]
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him just because you can
[Verse 3]
You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He’s the only one for me, Jolene
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene
[Chorus]
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him even though you can
[Outro]
Jolene, Jolene
Video of Jolene Lyrics – Dolly Parton
Song Credits
- Song Name :– Jolene
- Singer Name :– Dolly Parton
- Producer:- Bob Ferguson
- Album:- Jolene
- Release Date :– October 15, 1973
Behind the song:
Parton said the song drew from a real-life incident involving a red-haired bank teller who showed interest in her husband, Carl Dean. The name “Jolene,” however, came from a young fan Parton met while signing autographs.
Song Bio of Jolene Lyrics – Dolly Parton
Some songs are written. “Jolene” was survived. Dolly Parton has told the story for decades: a red-headed bank teller in Nashville had taken a shine to her husband, Carl Dean, and Parton, half-joking and half-terrified, turned that jealousy into one of country music’s most enduring pleas.
Released October 15, 1973, as the title track of her album Jolene, the song was produced by Bob Ferguson and became an instant signature for Parton, whose voice carries the song’s desperation without ever tipping into melodrama. It’s a woman begging another woman not to take what she loves, delivered with a vulnerability rarely heard in mainstream country at the time.
What’s made “Jolene” endure across five decades isn’t just its melody. It’s the universality of the fear inside it. Artists from The White Stripes to Miley Cyrus have covered it, and Parton herself has called it one of the hardest songs she’s ever had to sing live, because the emotion never really faded.
More than fifty years later, “Jolene” remains proof that Parton’s storytelling gift was never just craft. It was confession set to music.
