Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) Couldn't find a pure acapella track so had to use a DIY one with some bleed from the bass and drums. Sorry about that. 2) On the rapid strumming in the intro, I did my best to transcribe it but it's tricky. If I slow it down, I'm _pretty_ sure it's an alternating pattern from C# to E, but the rhythm seems to be just "play as fast as possible". I have it as quintuplets, but I actually counted 22 attacks per bar, I just refuse to notate 16th note ununuplets. 3) Sorry about the strings mistranscription, not entirely sure how that happened.
I trued deliberatly reading it without expecting the son, and concluded it's gotta be read either like the actual song, or as a growling intensification. Now I have an urge to hear the latter...
The trouble with that is that a song that "just doesn't work" probably will never get famous enough to be included in one of these videos. Every song that becomes a hit (or so famous that it becomes part of the cultural inventory, à la "Stairway to Heaven") has done *something* right.
@@rustygray5058 that might work, as a trueky Bad song wont be let out the studio but there are alot of songs, here represented by Friday, that have a inexplicable backlash. Exploring the reasons that such a varied selecrion of people may say "thats sucks" would be intresting
I kind of agree. I don't think she thought quite as deeply about it as 12tone did - she just played something that sounded right and went with it. But eastern philosophy claims that the highest mastery of any skill is to know it so well that you don't even recognize your own brilliance ("I know this is right, but I can't explain why it is right").
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." --ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY I don't really like country music but I still enjoy this song.
I don't either, but the older stuff is a lot different/better from the newer stuff (IMO), especially with regard to how right-wing politics co-opted it.
@@internetuser8922 The political leaning of a lot of the earlier country artists, at least with artists like Johnny Cash, is nearly opposite that of current ones. Bo Burnham's country song joke covers that well, and there's also a great PBS documentary series about country music throughout the decades up to the 80s.
I think this quote must've originated with a carver or a sculptor - someone who subtracts material for their art, or at least a hybrid artist, like the author. A painter would have a more additive approach to perfection. An author is also an editor, as is a musician, so they're of a hybrid approach - build up too many phrases and then mercilessly pare them down. It's an oversimplification to generalize one's chosen approach, since there are paths that manifest wisdom and means from a different frame of reference. Which is good, because it takes all kinds.
About the breath bar, I don't think it's there directly for us, the listeners. Rather, it's there for Jolene, the fictional addressee. Imagine Jolene answering: "What?" The narrator addresses her in the second person, so there has to be enough room for her to stick in a "minimal response", as they call it in Conversation Analysis.
Things we know about Jolene at the end of the song: - Has auburn hair - Has a beautiful smile - Has perfect skin - Has green eyes - Has beautiful voice - Singer thinks her beauty is beyond compare What we know about her man: - Dreams about other women It doesn't sound all that straight to me.
There is a gay cover of Jolene where the singer instead sings "I'm begging of you please just leave your man" and it hits my little gay heart so hard. Iirc, the channel name is Reinery and she does gay covers of popular songs.
@@mycatistypingthis5450 I may need to listen to more "Eldritch Jolene" covers. My bard in DnD recently found out his childhood best friend/love interest is possibly a warlock now, and that his mysterious patron has a really strict control over their long distance communication, so I might write a Jolene parody begging her to let them speak. She's a spooky lady, so it might end up having "Eldritch Jolene" energy.
It's because she is comparing herself to Jolene. And like many spurned lovers she has missplaced feelings, she blames the other woman instead of the cheating man. She is rationalising the why he would leave. If she is wonderfully beautiful it makes sense, it's not just an act of betrayal, it's reasonable, and she needs to convince herself that to cope
Years of working in technology has taught me many things that apply across the board. One of the biggest: Simplicity is not easy. Great analysis and I definitely have new respect for this classic.
This is fantastic analysis. Thank you, 12 Tone. I've resisted enjoying this song, because it is so dismal. But why? I love Dolly and this is a fantastic song. She cultivated this ditzy on-stage persona. She is one of the smartest people I've ever encountered.
Slowing down Jolene, like it was the 45 single played on the 33 setting on the turntable, is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I've heard. You can find it on youtube.
Even though enharmonic equivalence is like, *a thing* and its usage in this is *correct* and *informative*, I can't ever look at B# and not think "aww look at C trying to be special".
I once had a very long discussion about c#/db in a g major vs g minor version of a part. We agreed that it is reasonable to use c# as an invitation to a Bb maj chord in a G maj context. Makes sense. But replacing every single chord by its minor counterpart... in the end we settled on a c# db transition which was quite awkward for some of the instruments.
If you read music frequently it actually becomes easier to read and understand B# in the context of C# than a bunch of natural and sharp signs on the root C#. Same goes for double sharps, as well as f/c flats and double flats in flat keys.
Yeah, it's good old equal temperament thinking. B# doesn't have to be the same frequency as c in more natural tuning systems. When I picked up the Cello I quickly came to realize how fast you start with intonating those notes differently according to harmonic function. My cello teacher e.g. told me to hit an e over a when we were in e minor. Then we changed to F major and suddenly the same e felt terribly wrong 😊
I, for one, can't ever look at a score that “simplifies” B♯ to C and not think _GNNN argh, this is wrong, please can't you just learn properly how to write tonal music_
@@II-V-I yeah, absolutely - notes need to intonated differently according to function. However, it doesn't really make sense to use this an argument against confusing enharmonic notes, because in practice even the B♯ of a G-major tonic and the B♯ that's the leading note of a c-minor melody will be intonated differently, although classically both are definitely called B♯. Vice versa, you can have situations where C and B♯ really are indistinguishable as far as pitch is concerned, but still should be called differently because they belong to different contexts.
43 years after it was released a 2016 recording of Jolene with the a capella group Pentatonix would finally win Dolly a Grammy for the song (Best Country Duo/Group Performance).
Gotta say, I don't listen to a ton of country, but I've always respected it because of it's apparent complexity. Nice to know some of the cogs and gears now. This is practically a ballad.
I love this song so much, but I can't listen to it without crying. Something about the sorrowful instrumentation and the pain and resignation in Dolly's voice gets me every time.
Fun fact: Elvis Pressley wanted to cover I Will Always Love You, but only if he could buy 100% of the rights to it. Dolly refused, and eventually kept all of her songwriter and ownership rights when it was covered by Whitney Houston.
Jolene, Jolene , Jolene, Jolene I’m begging of you please don’t take my man Jolene, Jolene , Jolene, Jolene Please don’t take him just because you can The flock is screaming in the barn The wind itself attempts to warn The living of the coming of Jolene The beasts that creep and swim and fly Flee before the baleful eyes Of that before which death must die Jolene He screams about you in his sleep, And when he wakes does naught but weep In terror of the one they call Jolene Sigils scratched into the earth Do naught to slow or stay the birth Into this world the end of mirth Jolene Blackening the summer skies, With burning wings and countless eyes, We tremble at the thought of you, Jolene. Jolene, Jolene , Jolene, Jolene I offer up this gift to you, my man Jolene, Jolene , Jolene, Jolene Please take him ere your darkness ends this land Your teeth are sharp, your mouth agape Your claws rend flesh, there’s no escape From judgement of the Eldritch One, Jolene We cower here beneath your gaze That sets the earth and sky ablaze Have mercy at the end of days, Jolene
13:17 I feel this. I love incredibly intricate counterpoint and elaborate orchestrations, but I also love unaccompanied folk songs, even ones that use simple melodies to tell simple stories.
Dolly Parton's vocals are perfect for the story and for the vocal range needed. The guitar riff is also great (and a lot of fun to play). If you take everything else away the song is still great. So it makes me wonder whether this analysis is really catching the essence. But I like this analysis a lot and agree fully with the 12tone interpretation.
I never noticed the second guitar!! But between the two guitars, I've always thought the beginning of the song sounds like a rainstorm. I really agree with your points on the song's simplicity; a lot of my favourite songs are simple too (especially filk songs; one of my favourites, Temper Of Revenge by Julia Ecklar, shows pretty neatly how well a simple tune and a really strong story can effect you). While there's a place for very complicated music, and plenty of my other favourites are complex, the enduring qualities of a simple, unmistakable classic are also beautiful.
It only now occurs to me how little ive heard this song, that, before going for a relisten, i couldn't remember what the chorus sounded like, even with you mentioning how iconic it is
I'd love to see an addendum to this, interpreting the White Stripes cover version of this song, and the changes they make to the track. Or perhaps all the various covers of this song :)
I've loved Dolly Parton since I was little,and there are so many great songs she's written and performed that it's hard to pick one favorite,but this is one of them the other is Coat of many colors.💖💖💖
This analysis was really insightful, thank you. I like the fact that you talked about the prosody. I believe that prosody is often overlooked when analysing songs.
The fact that this song has so much to say when in reality it's a very simple song says so much for the genius of its creator 🤘 thank you for this awesome analysis keep up the amazing work
Everyone appreciating the analysis itself but I love how you got the doodles to align with your lecture really nicely and very in time and it all feels like it’s the same speed which is really admirable. Great job on the video
My only additional note is that isn't just a fiddle, there's a steel guitar doubling (and often harmonising) on the right track with the fiddle on the left
As always, I love your work, but this one is particularly special. Dolly Parton is a national -- strike that, a global -- treasure in so many ways, and this song is just...man, I really can't pay proper respects with mere words. It embodies and exemplifies so much of what you rightfully champion in your analysis, especially the "just three chords and the truth" adage that might be trite in certain contexts, but not this one. Superbly done!
Amazing and impressive! It was only some months ago (shortly after the HoF induction) that I first heard this song, even though I've been around a while, and I thought I'd heard every popular song from the '50s on up by now. I was happy to make the discovery, and this analysis lets me appreciate the artistry of the composition all the more. Many thanks, young man!
I never gave much thought about the lyrics; probably because i'm a non-native speaker. But the riff and bassline are amazing! And i guess there's also a girl singing, but i was never really into lead melodies. Near the end it's perfect when she's almost quiet and the band keeps on jamming...
In theory books I used to read, bIII was noted as "dt" i.e. something between dominant and tonic, and it was bVI that carried the flavour of the IV degree.
I always felt that Parton's character in the song is in love with Jolene herself. We learn so much about Jolene, whom Parton sings about with such emotion, while the only thing we ever learn about her unnamed man is that he speaks about Jolene in his sleep. To me, it feels as if Parton's character is projecting her own infatuation with Jolene onto her man-perhaps because she's unable to accept her attraction, since homosexuality was still very stigmatized back in the 70s.
The percussion I believe is compressed conga, not body of guitar. Disco and country had a solid overlap during the 70s, and conga on top of a more stable/less varied drumset is quintessential to disco rhythm sections.
@@TheKartoffel101 Okay, just listened to it and...wow. Sooooooo good. Rebecca and Megan Lovell are incredible. I noticed Rebecca is playing the same progression; the Imi - bIII - bVII - I mi, but she's playing it in Bm, not C#mi (the shapes look like Am - C - G, which would also fit the progression, but she's capo'd the second fret, so it's in Bm). My guess is that's simply because it fits their vocal range better. Whatever they like -- they know waaaaay better than I do! :)
A Final Fantasy 7 reference!!! This Channel has style and skills! I wish I could Patron one day, but, Motorhead - Rock n Roll, as well as, Lucy by Aesop Rock I think your channel would get a real blast out of doing. Especially Lucy with the art.
Yes, I hear it as well. It's is following the strings very closely making it harder to pick up (e.g. at 10:50), but it's easier to pick up towards the end (at 12:20) because at this point the strings are hard panned left and the slide is hard panned right and they might be a touch louder.
To borrow from this video, if 12 tone had been afraid to apply his knowledge to popular songs in genres not always highly regarded , we would not have got this analysis and I , for one, am glad we did. Very glad actually. Superb job.
I’ve been thinking a lot about chord loops that mostly use i, bIII, bVI and bVII, which dominate the harmonic language of a lot of the music I like and play. I’d started thinking that it was mostly because it’s almost harmonically neutral: there’s a bit of harmonic motion, but no real tension and release to get in the way of the endless forward momentum driven by rhythm and timbre. But your interpretation of this “neutrality” as specifically signalling resignation and passivity in this context is interesting. When I hear bIII-bVII-i I immediately think of Blue Monday, and that was intentionally written to be cold and flat emotionally (“when your heart grows cold”), so I think that analysis works there too.
I love your videos. I always go and listen to the original song again after watching your analysis, and always have a much richer appreciation for the music.
Dammit, every time I watch one of these I think, "Okay, now do Supper's Ready", because I am an evil sadist who also loves Genesis. "Why did you say the same thing twice?" Point taken.
Hey 12tone, love the vid! As always great content and love how you brought things like the strumming out! Personally i really like the slowed down version of this too, at 33rpm. She just sounds like a man and the groove becomes more laid back, really cool stuff! Keep up the great vids and have a good day!
In Reality, love doesn't work that way. She gives Joleen too much power. If someone loves you then they love you. If someone doesn't love you then they don't love you. If Joleen agreed to stay away from the guy, that doesn't guarantee he would come back to her. Desperation is an ugly trait. Just love yourself. I've been single and happy with it for many many years. You have to be happy alone. I know it's just a song though. And love is a great topic to sing about. I love your channel by the way. I'm trying to create music myself. It's very difficult. At age 37 I'm starting to learn how. I make music on Super Mario maker 2 but I am learning piano simultaneously.
I gotta say, while the song is very well done, I was shocked at how short and simple it was. I expected something long and ballad-like, perhaps, or maybe something off the wall (and also long) like Bohemian Rhapsody. Jolene is very, very simple.
@12tone I strongly feel that the extra two beats come earlier. To me it's 6/4 4/4, not 4/4 4/4 2/4. That last "-lene" feels very much on beat one, not three. It's the highest point in melody and feels accented. It also lasts for a full bar so this way it does not extend half way to next bar. Also the chord changes make more sense to me this way as it resolves back to the tonic at the start of the bar. I could even imagine a tiny microrhythmic fermata on the last "Jo-", further emphasizing the subtle record skip effect, which to me happens there, not later on. The ascending ramp up also makes more sense to me being an extended bar, which then resolves the tension when it drops back to 4/4.
I wanted to argue, but sure enough, as you were saying it the lyrics were going through my head. Dangit. Funny, just as you were making the punk connection, I was thinking that the bit you'd just played sounded a lot like "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day.
I don't know if they ever did it, but with all the times that Parton toured with Kenny Rogers, they should have released a 7" with "Jolene" on one side and "Ruby" on the other.
If you don't love Dolly as a plain 'ol genuine person & appreciate her amazing song writing skill then there's just something wrong with you. PERIOD! (from a Southern girl raised in NJ & a NZ citizen for past 13 yrs).
Hello, i was wondering is you ever wanted to break down Moonlight Densetsu AKA the sailor moon theme. Theres something about that song that no matter the style or instruments used, it always seems to hit the same.
I've been watching the remake of the series recently and the first thing I noticed was how unmemorable the opening theme was in comparison. Moonlight Densetsu is distinct and punctuated. The verses are melodically simple (within a limited ranges of notes, mostly rising and falling), but there's something about the way it keeps coming back to that home base.
Can you maybe do a video on which chord changes specifically give you what feelings? Such as tension, rest, dissonance, mood, etc. I can’t find any information on that online without a ton of other non understandable music jargon. It seems like to know this you have to either have real schooling or hard experience to know this.
The actual music samples are really nice compared to just the notes played on some instrument like you used to. Has something happened relating to copyright stuff or why the change?
