My Inner Lester Bangs: "Jolene" by The White Stripes

The first time I ever heard Jack White sing "Jolene" was at the Alexandra Palace in London with my friend Ang.  She'd gotten tickets to the White Stripes gig and sold me one.  (Thanks Ang!)  The opening act was a band from Detroit named Blanche, a kind of alt. country/ Southern Gothic band that had an auto-harp in it.  (Try to find something from them, as they were a pretty great band.  The lead singer started the concert with, "Hello, we're Blanche." and then started playing.  I liked that.)  The gig was great, and in the middle of it, Jack White started to play a very haunting song I'd heard before, but couldn't place.

"Jolene" as everyone knows is a Dolly Parton song.  It's the type of 70s Country song you'd expect:  Married woman's husband is in love with someone else, and she's begging the woman to leave her man alone.  It's a fantastic song in Dolly's repertoire, and perfect for her.  (Although I certainly couldn't see anyone stealing Dolly's man.  She'd probably get a good beating for that.)  Still great song, and not one you'd expect to be covered by The White Stripes.

However, Jack White is a fan of that stuff.  He was originally in a cow-punk band in Detroit named Goober and The Peas, and has also worked extensively with Loretta Lynn.  He loves old country music, and it has influenced him probably as much as Son House has.  So it's not a stretch for them to cover a song.

The one thing you have to get over is that Jack White doesn't change the words from feminine to masculine to make you feel better about it.  There is no, "I'm begging of you, please don't take my girl."  He leaves it as man.  It changes the meaning of the song, and certainly gives the listener a new perspective on what's being said.

Then of course is the sound of Jack White's voice.  Dolly's voice, even though the song is sad, still has a bit of a bounce in it.  (It's Dolly Parton for goodness sake.)  Jack's voice has more of a hard edge to it (as it would) but also a bit more of an urgency in it.  There's an actual pleading in the voice.  You can hear the heartache.

The music is of course heavy on guitar, but also very haunting at the beginning, with a lone guitar with an effect in the background.  Starts the song with a bit of foreboding.

Live, this song just rocked.  I can't tell you how the Ally Pally blew up while this song was being played.  I'm sad that the White Stripes decided to call it a day, but at least you can listen to the music.  See if you can find this song, and I think you'll like it.