Molly Smitten-Downes, who placed 17th for the United Kingdom this May, has moved on to performing at one of the UK’s biggest music festivals, Glastonbury. The world-iconic festival, which kicked off today, will feature some big names, such as Lana Del Rey, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and Ellie Goulding. In preparation for the big day, she has covered one of the festival’s biggest names, Dolly Parton, with her song Jolene.
http://youtu.be/V2_zNXxcBJA
For those of you who don’t know who Dolly Parton is, think “American Bonnie Tyler with curly hair”. She is one of the most iconic names in American country music, with hits such as 9 to 5 and Islands in the Stream. The 68-year-old also wrote I Will Always Love You, which Whitney Houston famously covered in “The Bodyguard”. She also has a theme park, Dollywood, based on her larger-than-life persona.
Jolene originally came out in 1973 and reached number 7 in the UK, number 8 in Ireland, and number 16 in Sweden. It talks about how a woman, named Jolene, is confronted by another woman who believes Jolene is trying to steal her man. It’s been covered by the likes of The White Stripes, Keith Urban, and Bobbysocks! member Elisabeth Andreassen.
Molly stays true to the song’s authenticity, and preserves Dolly’s work in its original form, rather than trying to take it in a whole new direction. Still, she presents the song well and targets a new audience. It doesn’t matter that the audience may not be into the music of the Deep South.
http://youtu.be/1plvBR02wDs
Cool, sweet, pared-down almost Nordic version of a C&W classic … so we’re left wondering, Molly, if you can so poignantly (fabulously!) mourn the loss of your feminine power over a masculine overlord, how can you also “shine like diamonds with fire in your bones with the feeling that you’ll never be a-a-lo-o-o-o-one”?? We want to love you, sweets, but are you a hippy revolutionary or an apologist for threatened housewives?
Tell us how to love you, darling! Pick a personality, ANY personality; just pick it soon!
Love Dolly so much! Molly’s version is OK. But it’s like taking on Mariah Carey — you just don’t do it!
I wouldn’t call it demeaning, Padraig. Eu amo Bonnie! 🙂
Dolly is a woman who needs no introduction. We all know who she is 😉 And I wouldn’t demean her by drawing comparisons to Bonnie!
Nice cover by Molly. Ellie Goulding, since you mentioned her, has a good version too http://youtu.be/Wj6hSDhIB94