Dolly Parton recently ran into the woman whose flirtations with her husband inspired her hit Jolene – and jokes that she hasn’t aged well.
The country legend penned the 1973 hit, in whose lyrics she begs Jolene to stay away from her man, as she feared her husband Carl Dean was being tempted by a beautiful bank clerk.
Speaking to U.S. late night host Jimmy Fallon, Dolly says she recently bumped into the woman concerned – and her one-time love rival has lost the looks she once envied.
“I did see Jolene not so long ago – she’s not so hot now,” Dolly explains. “She used to have that beautiful red hair, now she’s grey. She used to have a little tight butt, now it’s a tight spot getting her butt through the door.”
Describing the story behind the track, she shares: “The real story was about my husband…and this girl that worked at the bank when we first got married. He was spending more time at the bank than we had money, and I thought “well, that ain’t gon’ work out too good.”
Jolene, the song, is also the inspiration for the first episode of Dolly’s new Netflix anthology show, Heartstrings, which turns eight of her songs into dramas. The series debuts on Friday.