One Song - Dolly Parton's "Jolene" with Andy Richter

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

In 1973, Dolly Parton released her seminal track “Jolene”. In the years that have followed, the song has been reinterpreted and reimagined by many artists including Olivia Newton John, Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, the White Stripes, and, of course, Beyonce. On this episode of One Song, LUXXURY and Diallo Riddle are joined by comedy legend Andy Richter to talk through the history and impact of this singular anthem, and the many Jolenes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor,

free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Jolie, Jolie. Jolene, Jolet, because we can. This melody is beyond compare. We guitar blocking everywhere in a seltry seductress named Jolene. The chorus like a breath of spring,

her vocals and iconic thing. We're talking Jolet this time on one song. I mean, at least the notes were right. Yeah, accuracy is what we go for in comedy music. luxury my friend today we are doing something different today we are going country yes very different for us very different for us very different for me i will often say to people the one genre where i feel like i just don't know a whole lot is country but today we are going country and we're going to tell you the story of truly one song you know we're going to track this song all the way from its genesis

which was apparently sparked by a chance encounter at a bank but we're going to talk about its genesis We're going to talk about its recording and its release. And then we're going to examine how this song, which was recorded in 1973, has continued to stay relevant and transcend genres and eras. That's right, to y'all. It has been covered by a really eclectic range of artists from Olivia Newton-John to Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, even the White Stripes had to go. But most recently, the song is at the forefront of popular culture because it was covered by none

other than Beyonce on her recent... Oh, Cowboy Carter. Cowboy Carter. That's fantastic. That's right. That's right. on this episode, the story of one song and the many Jolene's. Jolene Jolese don't take him just because you can.

I'm actor, writer, director, and sometimes DJ Dialla Riddell. And I'm producer, songwriter, and musicologist Luxury, aka the guy who talks about interpolation on the internet. You sure do. I sure do. Today, to talk about Jolene, we have a very, very special guest with us. You've seen him on TV on Late Night with Conan O'Brien at The Tonight Show. and Conan and in movies like Elf,

Talladega Knights, Blades of Glory. He is a comedy hero of mine. I truly mean that. Oh, gosh. Long-time listeners of the show know that I was a writer on Fallon by writing partner and I,

Bashir. You know, we were roommates before we were writing partners and when I say that we watched you do your thing for so long, Bashir to this day, wears a masturbating bear t-shirt. To this day,

like in the most inappropriate setting. So we are... I don't even... Did we sell those or is at home-made? It might be bootleg. It must be bootleg. But the bear has on the diaper. It is very disturbing.

I don't see NBC going like, you know what we need. We know what we need in the gift shop. You know what Rockefeller Center needs? It needs bears and diapers masturbating. But listen, he is like us also a podcaster and he is the host of three questions with Andy Richter. Andy Richter. Andy Richter, welcome to the show.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And here I should show. Uh-oh. Wait, he's got on a dolly. Parton

Chal coincidence shirt of bonding No no way It actually was a coincidence Because we were We were emailing about Like what song to do On the episode

I was suggesting a few I was like what about Dolly Part What about Jolene And you like moments later Meaning you did you're in your car I was sitting at my car You could not have gone to your dress Your bureau

Right right right right And you showed me You were wearing this shirt All right Andy before we started Taping this episode We were talking a little in the green room You actually have a genuine history

of love for country music, which is perfect because we'll talk about it on this show, on this episode. Both y'all and I were a little, we're not very knowledgeable about the genre will be the first to admit. We adore this song and we adore the artist. So that's good enough for the episode to be called one song. The show is called one song. But you can fill us in a little bit more and tell us about your history and love for Dolly and country music in general. Yeah, well, I grew up in the Midwest, in Illinois, but in rural Illinois, which is as much about Chicago, a town called York, Okay, cool.

And it's as much about Chicago as it is about Kentucky. You know, I mean? And as you get into Illinois, you know, Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana, it's country. And we didn't, nobody growing up, like my mom or my dad or my, you know, like in our house, we didn't listen to country music. But I had aunts and uncles. And I was telling you that when I would go down to Springfield, Illinois, go to my Uncle, Raymond to his house. It just seemed like he-haw was on the TV around the clock. With those freckles they always painted on the makeup? Yeah, and the freckles and the fake corn cobs and

every cliche in the book, right. And also, too, they would, they would listen to the grand old Opry too. I would hear that, you know, and I don't know, it might even been televised. I can't remember exactly. But so I heard country music and I didn't dislike it, but it wasn't until I was an adult that I really started to appreciate country music. And by country music, I mean, beyond about 1978, no thank you. There's a few, you know, like what, what passes for country music now to me is just like bon jovi with a twang, you know, with an accent. The line is very, thing. We're going to talk a little bit later on about genres and about like how they're defined and how like a little arbitrary and a lot of overlap there is among them for exactly that reason. But

you're right. And it's interesting you note that because the mid-70s is when, for my understanding, country music does start to massively evolve out of the South and out of its sonic realm of sort of for the 50 years that it sounded like country music of the George Joneses and sort of Hank Williams is the opera. It becomes more commercialized. It starts to integrate other sounds. Yeah. So that's interesting that that's right when you start to tune out a little bit. There was a big time where, and it was Chad Aikins was, he was an amazing picker. And, and and always a deeply respected guitar player picker, but took over, I believe it was RCA

and brought in this sound with lots of strings. Like, you know, sweet dreams. That's the word sweeten it up. Yeah, yeah. And just tons of strings. And that Willie Nelson was actually a reaction to that, you know, was that. That was all like, too fancy.

Too commercial and too fancy and too popped up and to New York City. and they wanted to get back to, you know, dope smoking country. Itinerant kind of like bad behavior, men with bad behavior. Exactly. I have a question right off the bat. Will we consider Dolly Parton part of this more sweetened up version of country? Well, I mean, yeah, probably.

But she also, too, she's just like, she's above it all. You know, she's her own. And I mean, for a long time, you know, like, she's, you know, like, she's, she's, she's her own. And I mean, for a long time, you know, like, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, She was a duo with Porter Wagner, and she was kind of the girl singer. And that was always, that was a country chestnut of the girl singer. Did you watch that show? This is a big show in the 60s into the 70s.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, I was too little at the time. I wasn't aware of it at the time. But, you know, she talks about wanting to break away and start selling her own songs and that he didn't like it. You know, he didn't like it. But she, you know, so yeah, she was part of the system. But when she just has too much talent. She's just, you know, like the fact that she wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You,

like in the same day. Right. The same day. We're going to talk about that a little bit. Willie Nelson wrote like crazy and the nightlife. But he wrote those songs in like a day. Like on a drive from Nashville to Texas. as he's driving.

Both of them must have been visible from space on those days. Like how you can do that in just a couple of days. Yeah, I think on this show we've taught a lot about how some of our favorite songs were crafted in a matter of like 15 minutes to two hours. Yeah, just the initial inspiration comes. And then, of course, the hard part maybe is the recording and like getting that second first down. But yeah, Dolly talks about how she has those two. She actually talks about, I found an interview where she says,

she thinks she wrote them both on the same night, but they're definitely on the same tape that she found. Yes. So her presumption is they came from the same time. period because they're next to each other on this tape. So, Andy, Jolene has remained popular for about 50 years, and it's been covered so many times over the years. Why do you think it indoors? Well, I mean, that hook, just the guitar hook is, is, yeah. And I mean, and I heard you

trying to play it. No, no, I mastered it. I'm not, I'm not a guitarist, but it sounds like a bear to play. It is a beast. It is a beast. And Dolly, by the way, is the one who came up with it. I think it's that lick. And I just think, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. Like, that's... Haunting, right? Yeah. It's a build.

Yeah, the combination of the two. Like, because you've got, you know, the guitar lick that's kind of doing something to your nether regions. And then there's the other part that, you know, makes you feel like you're standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean, you know, for a lost love, you know. vocally we are looking off you know off into the distance a thousand yards there but our hips are shaken and we can't control but i will also say i think it's also the subject matter like we're going to talk about storytelling yeah and there's a there's some great characters in this in this song and also there's the vulnerability which it's you know all about that yeah if you can write a song any kind of pop standard where like the singer's being you know vulnerable and not bombastic and you know full of braggadocio

there's something special there that's perfect that brings this back to dolly and i wanted to ask you like what in particular about Dolly with the t-shirts and everything? What is your connection to Dolly Parton? Like, what do you feel about her? And where do you think that feeling came from? I mean, for me, well, I mean, there's just the undeniable talent. Like, she just, and if you watch clips of her, like, just on the Tonight Show, like, there's a, if there's a clip of her singing a song about being on the Tonight Show called, like,

you know, being on the Johnny Carson Show. and she plays it and she can't play it well because she's got nails like she has two different kinds of guitar playing there's with nails and without nails and and it's just amazing like it's just

the talent the talent the songwriting talent the singing talent and then on top of it charm and I mean I thought you're going to go for the pun with the on top of it no no no no no no well I know she would but I mean big titties who cares

but but just she's so charming yes she's just such and and then when you find out just the stuff that she's done the goodness that she brought to the world in addition to like she's so talented she could have been an asshole her entire life and we'd still be talking about every story instead she's literally turning down a war and saying like I'm not worthy of that right right that's not really what I'm about charm is such a great word for her and also just to get back to the boob joke because they are inevitable she will be the first to make them or to head you off at the pass and make your joke about her boobs funnier. Absolutely.

And that is a part, that contributes to the child. She is unimpeachable. Like I told her, one of my favorite jokes of hers ever was at an award show and she was in a very tight outfit and she said, she said, I'm something about regretting to wear this out and that her dad had told her that she looked like, she looked like 50 pounds of shit in a 40 pound bag. Holy dog. She said she said shit. I think she'd be like, but that's what he said. I think you're being a little bit, you know, humble and I love it. But like you say, oh, when you see her on clips of the Tonight Show,

she came on your show a couple of times. She did, yeah, yeah. And so I'm guessing you've met her. Absolutely. I have to ask, what did she like? Well, I'm assuming, because I mean, I've had it. And I'm not saying I'm an, well, I guess I am kind of saying I'm an expert. I've been around a lot of famous people.

Yes. Like to the point where I forget if I've met. certain famous people. But you can, you do, I feel like I do, and I might be kidding myself in some cases, I can tell like whether somebody's just playing nice or whether they're actually nice. Yeah. And she's one where it's like, what you see is what you get. I mean, and I just cannot believe that that is anything but that.

And she just, there are people that just have what I can only consider a strength of character, which means that no matter what. what situation they go into. They are the same person that they were years before all the fabulous stuff happened to them. And they have been that same person walking throughout their entire life. And it reads too. You can tell. You can pick up on it.

Well, after the break, we'll talk through Dolly Parton's Jolene and we'll also be talking about the Beyonce version. All that after this break. Welcome back to one song. All right, luxury. Let's talk about Jolene. Why don't you walk us through the writing of Jolene? and please tell us who was Jolene. Let's talk a little bit about Ms. Dolly Rebecca Parton,

who as we talked, alluded to, was born in a one room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River, which is in Pittman Center, Tennessee. She was one of 12 children that her mother, Abby Lee, had by the age of 35. So 12 kids by the time she was 35. Can you imagine? I can't even do the math on that. There was no breaks in between.

Right, right. It all just happened. And I bring... Do you know? I'm not sure. 12 by 35. I know there were six boys, six girls, and I bring up Miss Avily because Ms. Parton credits her songwriting from her mom's storytelling. And that's interesting to me because as I do my recent investigation on country music, as we mentioned, I'm not an expert in this.

In fact, Jolene is probably my most favorite country song by a country mile, because I simply don't know the genre very much. But what I do know is that it is very much about storytelling and lyrics first. And what's fascinating if you do do the deep dive, and I recommend the Ken Burns documentary that we've been talking about. Yeah, we love that documentary. You haven't seen it in this wonderful stuff, but they really talk about and hammer home the point that so many of these stories have been in circulation for hundreds of years. Yeah. In this case, in particular, Dali's mother's ancestors were Welsh. There's also a lot of Scots-Irish. These are stories that people told their kids for one generation to the next. And by the time they come to America and by this unique combination

of instrumentation with like banjos coming from Africa and the slaves, and we have like, Hawaiian pedal steel comes from Hawaii, all these incredible, and violin, all of these influences with the stories on top are kind of the origins of country music, but the storytelling front and center. So all this to say as we get into the story of the song, which is itself a story, that's something that's really struck me about country music. It may be different from some other genres. I mean, certainly there are other genres. We were talking about how hip hop has the lyric centric nature. Yeah, I was thinking like, you know, like it's interesting because I think all genres have like those, you know, revered storytellers.

You know, anytime I think, I'm always like, oh, Nas when he does New York State of Mind, Biggie when he does, I've got a story to tell. Even like, you know, Slick Rick, a children's story. Right. You know, it's beginning, middle, and end. Like, you know, it's perfectly structured and the ability to tell a story while rhyming is incredibly difficult. So, yeah. Yeah, I think that that's one thing that's, you know.

But that's what draws you in and you're just. It draws you in. So according to, so one thing also I want to say, about the storytelling, the meta of the meta. So I was just in Nashville a few weeks ago. I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I also went to RCA Studio B, where the song was recorded. And one thing that struck me as I was only in Nashville 48 hours,

but at the studio, logically, I heard the story about how Jolene was made and the story of how it was the same night that she wrote, I will always love you. But it wasn't the only time on this trip to Nashville, I heard those stories. And what sort of struck me about it is that the storytelling about storytelling, is itself its own sort of genre of thing. We love the song. We listen to Jolene over and over again.

I can hear the story of how Jolene was made over and over again. And when you listen to interviews with Dolly, she tells the same story over and over again. It's its own pleasurable thing to re-experience. Yeah, yeah. And so basically the story, as we may have heard many times, I'll tell it briefly one more time, is that there were two different things that coalesce.

One, she's playing a show, and there's a girl who comes up for an autograph afterwards, words and Dolly says, what's your name? And she says, my name is Jolene. And she walks away from that and in her head, it just struck a chord, this name. And she starts going, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. And right there she discovers her melody and her song. And the repetition of the name itself that happened as she was trying to remember it. Yeah. That becomes the song. And then so part two, what's married to that? And as she has this idea, like, what should the story be about? She attaches to that melody, the word, the name, and this sort of phrase, this chorus, the fact that her

husband, Carl, by the way, we should mention Carl, shout out to Carl. They got married when they were, I think, when she was 21, they've been married this whole time, 50 plus years. There's about eight photographs of Carl Dean in circulation. She's very protective of him. He's not interested in being a celebrity. Yeah. That's an interesting part of the Dolly Parton phenomenon as well, because that obviously provokes lots of questions and mystery and uncertainty. So Carl, according to legend, went to the bank. There was a teller there with red hair, and he's going to the bank a little more often than Dolly feels comfortable with. She keeps, she's like, why do you keep going to the bank?

And then one day she sees the teller there. He's like, oh, why are you pulling one dollar out at a time? You can be a little more efficient, Carl. I know you're not a mathematician. We're getting a lot of ones usually indicates another kind of problem. Yeah, probably. A little suspicious. So that is the story of Jolene, according to legend.

in these two things. And again, you will hear her tell this story for these last 50 years over and over again in every interview. And they're probably true, but it almost doesn't matter. Like, it's perfect. Those are great little things to tell. So without further ado, let's get into the stems. Let's get into the stems. I think you're going to start with the drums. The story behind the song. So I did mention that this song was recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. It was recorded on May 22nd, 1973, or possibly June 12th. There's some differing liner notes I was able to find. But in 1973, she goes in the song. The song is a Gemini. It's somewhere in that range. Somewhere in that range. And the drums were

done by a gentleman called Kenny Malone. And they sound a little bit like this. And you can hear the bleed. It's playing with headphones on maybe or just in the other room with some separation. That's pretty much the beat. It's kind of like a bit of a disco beat, frankly. I was going to say, for 1973, that is kind of a disco beat. And I will say the, most of my relationship with the song Jolene is when I was an open format DJ meaning a DJ who could spend pretty much anything as long as people kept dancing.

Yeah, yeah. You can play this. Open format DJs, we loved this song because, you know, you could blend it with, it's about 120 BPM after the internet. It's 120. 116. It's 116.

Okay, so it's, but you know, like, you can juice it up. You can pitch it up a little bit. It is a driving song that, like you say, mixes in with dance music. Yeah. And again, which then to have this core of it be this vulnerability is really compelling. It's really compelling, you know. It's got a dancey beat, but it's a confession.

It's like aggressive vulnerability, you know. And literally on her, when she debuted the song on the Porter Wagner show, that's how she described it. She said, it's an old-time folk song with an up-to-date beat. So there's clearly some awareness that this beat would sort of bring modernity to the genre to the song. Right. So that's pretty much what Mr. Malone plays throughout the entire track, nothing fancy. But then about halfway through some Congas enter, adding some more, frankly, you know, funk and disco elements or black music elements. These are African instruments.

And that sounds like this. So it is deeply funky in there. I mean, you could have put Barving Gay over that. Yeah, yeah. That definitely sounds like something that could have come out of Hitzville in 1973. When you take the top part off, you know, this song is very flexible genre-wise, which is kind of some foreshadowing to what we'll talk about a little later. Yeah. I never had be, I never, if you'd say.

said to me, are there congas in Jolene? I would have said, I don't think so. Right. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff that I didn't notice until I pulled back, looked under the hood myself, and we'll talk about that in a moment. But first, let's talk about the bass, which I believe is by Mr. Bobby Dyson. He starts off, what's funny about this song, too, and it speaks a lot to how songs are recorded in Nashville. You know, a lot of times it is the rule, not the exception. It's safe to say. You'll go in, a songwriter will go in with a song, and there will be a team of professional musicians, like the guys. And they just, all day long, they are recording song after song after song. There may not be a lot of takes. There may not be a lot of rehearsals.

They'll look at the score, which is like the chart, basically, a basic musical, what would you call it? Roadmap, maybe. Oh, perfect. Yeah, yeah. I like that. A blueprint. If you will. Yeah, yeah. And that'll give them enough to be like, to pick up, it'll just be the chords, it'll just be the changes. And in this case, I hear in the base that he starts out with something, Then he just starts out with like a chord. And then he's like, oh, okay, I think I got this. Then he starts playing the baseline. And that's for the rest of the song.

He doesn't do that first thing ever again. So I'll just play that for you. And then he's like, quarter note, quarter note. Boom. That's where it gets country to me. Yeah, absolutely. And then it gets funky. Yeah.

And then it starts to get a little funky. Did they record all of this? Are we getting bleed because it was recorded all at once? Yeah, this is being recorded live in that studio, where I just was in RCA, Studio B in Nashville. Yeah. Yeah, and you can kind of hear Dolly in the background. Yeah, yeah. Isn't that haunting?

There is this little middle, it's not eight, middle ten. I'll talk about the unusual numbers of the song in a second. But normally you'd have a bridge or what we'd call a middle eight in like a beetle song. The British call it the middle eight. But it's literally eight bars. In this song, it's ten bars for reasons I'll explain in a second. That's the one change where it kind of gets mellow for a second. Let's hear what the bass does there.

It gets a little chill. And then he starts to come back a little louder. So that's interesting. Let's let's lock it in together and put. the bass and drums together and see what that feels like. That is just hella funky. Now all I can hear are the caucus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. I'm like, that's a nice touch. That feels like it would be really fun to play. That sounds great. That's a groove. Stone groove. Yeah, that could be a funk song. Yeah.

Really could. Absolutely. Or the theme song to an early Muppet show. Like, I totally see Herbert. Right. Or a Quinn Martin production. Like, you know. There's a story behind the get.

guitars on this song. Is that the story? So Dolly Parton wrote that famous guitar like. I'm going to play it for you, but I'm going to tell you the story afterwards. So this is Chip Young on guitar, and I'll explain why it's not Dolly in a minute. And this is the thumb-picking part, which is the riff, the iconic riff by Chip Young, and here it is. And I'll stop it right there, right as it's going into the second part, which I'll explain a little bit about. So I mentioned that there's some funny timing stuff in this. The bars, like usually with songs, it's pretty common in pop music. You got like these, your brain expects there to be groups of four. So it'll be like four bars or eight bars or 16 bars or something, right?

And then your body's like, oh, it's about to go into the chorus. You know it because you're mentally, your body's counting it. In this case, it's unusual. The Jolene section, the chorus, is five and a half bars. So I'll count it with you. And I'll play the guitar part. And you'll hear he's also not doing the finger picking in this. So here's the guitar in the Jolene part, picture Dali singing it.

one, two, three, four, one, two, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. So that's unusual, and that's, I think, part of the effect of the song, and the surprise, and it comes from your, sort of hesitant. It stops short. You're only getting half of the bar, and then suddenly you're into the next thing. How do you feel about that?

Is that? Sometimes, and I love this show, but sometimes you got, it's like it feels more like math. There is a little bit of math. We did not warn you and I apologize for that. But I mean, but I, like, I'm not, I don't exactly know what you're talking about. Okay. You know, and I can understand, like, I understand what that, what that hook does and what

that riff does. But like if you'd said, oh, there's a one, two there in the middle, I, you could get, I would take two years and never have figured that out. No, you know what's interesting. I'm so glad you read that. The song's about vulnerability. Thank you for being vulnerable. Sure, sure.

No, you know, like there are times when, when, because I didn't play an instrument with like chords and notes, like I was a drummer. Yeah. Like, I only know the math. I only know how to count. So I know what you're saying. And as a drummer, I do feel like we often feel like when you step away from four, do you know what four-four is? Sure. Yeah, okay.

So when you step away from four-four, things get really interesting. And I'm so glad that he brought that up because in my head, I didn't notice it until he brought up that, you know, it kind of goes to five, which is insane. that extra thing in there is what makes the song feel kind of reflective. Yeah. You know, it's like, yeah, it's got this cool, danceable beat, but then it's like, it's like when you're hit with a deep thought while dancing. You know, you're like dancing. Oh, wait a second.

Okay, back to dancing. There's a little stagger. There's like an extra count in there for some reflection on the behalf of Dali. I'm so glad. And it makes it stands out too. It's a subtle little thing. And you don't, as a listener, you don't have to know what happened. and for years I didn't know until I stopped to sort of try and figure it out for this episode.

I was like, oh, that's so unusual that it's only half a bar in that one section, and it doesn't add up to eight total. And that's just a contribution to the song, kind of like the funk beat. All these things together, maybe Jolene, but no single thing has like outsized importance. Well, earlier we talked about Porter Wagner, and we talked about their relationship. And as I mentioned, I was very moved by the entire story of Dolly Parton and Porter Wagner. It starts out with him basically taking her under his wing on this show and essentially with their duets on TV for seven years and bringing her into RCA for a record deal. He absolutely helps to make her famous. And she's appreciative, but by 1973, she's over it.

And that night that she wrote Jolene, she also wrote a song about Porter Wagner called I Will Always Love You, which is about her leaving the show. And she tells the story. and Dolly Parton fans and Jolene fans, it's one that I have seen and heard in many podcasts and videos of bringing it to Porter and this is sort of how he tells, how she tells him that it's over. And he's really upset,

but in the moment of her being, when the song is played to him, it helps soften kind of the blow of it being, kind of a career ending thing for him and career, beginning for her. All this to say, and I'm going to tell the, end of that story later. But in this moment when the song is recorded, Porter Wagner says,

hey, let me play that. And he picks up the guitar to try to play the do-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, because Dolly brings it in. And it's her lick, but her nails are too long. So she can't play it. Porter's like, hand me that guitar, I want to try it. And it can't do it. And it's a little humiliating. And in the room, it's just a moment where it's sort of the beginning of the end. It's happening in real time. And there's some sense of like, you know, this guy is trying to control Dolly, but Dolly's not going to let it happen. Let me ask you a question. Were they just colleagues and never romantically linked?

There's a lot of speculation. It sounds like a love song. They have never explicitly described what happened behind the scenes. They have never denied it. There are a million interviews with both of them while they'll allude to not yes but not no. Yeah. This is really ambiguous middle ground. Do you know about this?

I mean, yeah. I mean, I've heard that about it. But it also too, I mean, what just strikes me, and I've heard that. story before, but this is the first time that it struck me about, I don't necessarily think that it, and that it, that, I don't think that what I'm going to say exists, or there's possibly it doesn't exist. And if it does exist, it could have been one of many things, but there is a Machiavellian genius to kissing off your boss with what has become, you know, a modern American classic standard.

You know? I love that. And if you're going to say goodbye, it's like, it's like breaking up with someone and saying, here's a hundred thousand dollars, you know, or, you know, like, here's a gold statue of you. Right. It's, I mean, I'm sure that. Or here's $100,000, but it's mine. Well, but, but I mean, but it's still, in terms of emotion, it's an emotional, like to say, to have,

like imagine Dolly Part and saying, I wrote, I will always love you about you. Yeah. And as sad as it is, yeah. It's also, and I can, I mean, when you look at the way Porter Wagner dresses, I think that's an ego-driven person. You think there's some confidence of ego there. Yeah, yeah. So I think that, like, appealing to his ego with a, with, you know, like, like, he broke psychologically. Yeah, yeah.

I think that appealing to his ego to say, bye. Yeah. Is a great, like, misdirection. That's really brilliant. I think you're right. Yeah. And saying, I will always love you and tying up the ambiguity of what their relationship is is perfect. Because from his ego, it's also clear when you listen to him hedge the question in interviews that he wants you to think that they're boning. Right, right. So that gives him a little bit of that juice as well, right? So just long story short, Porter wasn't letting Dolly play the guitar and Dolly goes, or Dolly tells the story, he wanted to impress the musicians with that lick. I remember him trying to teach it to the guitar players on the that session. It was not coming outright at all. I remember I was just getting more and more upset, and I remember just getting the guitar from Porter and saying, just let me show them the lick. So Dolly picks it up, shows Chip Young the lick, Chip Young plays it to perfection. And that's what you hear in the final version of the song. Wow. Let's play one more, a couple more sections from

the song that you may not have noticed before. That lick, actually, the finger picking really happens only at the beginning and a little bit towards the end. For most of the song, what you're hearing sounds more like this. And you're obviously hearing several guitars in there. There's at least three by my ears count. Some of the names that show up on the credits include Jimmy Colvard and Dave Kirby. And then there's also a note for Stu Bessor, I believe,

is it's either Stubesor or Wayne Moss on the steel string. And that's what this is coming in here. And by the way, I should say... That is sweet. That is plenty sweet. I'm just going to say, like, I'm pretty sure I'm hearing some banjo and some fiddle in there. It's a little difficult to pick out all the pieces.

But certainly in that moment with that rising, yeah, and the steel guitar almost sounds like strings too. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, there's a lot happening in that mix. But it's really beautiful, and that's the moment that kind of emotionally we're going to the next level with that rise. Luxury, are we ever going to get to the vocals?

All these instruments are great. I know, I'm sorry, Andy. But, you know, it's a Dolly Parton song, and so far we've barely heard any Dolly Parton. I have upset our guest, and I apologize. No, we should use you saying that every episode. Hey, are we ever going to get to the vocals? Let's get to the words.

Guys, I am so sorry it took so long to get to the meat and potatoes of the song, but here they are. Meat and potatoes by Dolly Parton. Oh, what, Jolene? Oh. It's a perfect. It's a straight box. It's a Dolly Parton song, for sure.

She's definitely written out. Except it would probably be Taters. Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, please don't take my man. So let's just start right there. I mean, haunting. Yeah. You have one word. I want a one word answer.

Yeah, haunting. And, you know, and there is something very, and her voice on many songs. It's, I mean, there's so much vibrato. Yeah. And it's so, like, kind of light and high and airy. But this has really. real guts to it. Like when she's singing that, it's not just kind of that tweedily, you know. It's got some richness to it. Yeah, yeah. And it's interesting you mentioned that because from my

understanding of her history, she had trouble breaking through in the industry until Porter Wagner because they thought her voice was too high. Yeah. There just weren't that many women, period, singing like that. But secondly, women singing high and her voice was not naturally, but unusually high. Yeah. But she's like, maybe she started to like work it in this new range. And, And I think you're right, she's found kind of like, it's sort of like a huskier zone in addition. Yeah. Can we hear some of the vocals from the verse, from the first verse? Let's do that.

Your smile is like a breath of spring. Your voice is soft like summer rain and I cannot compete with you, Jolene. That's pretty good songwriting too. I mean, that's a lot of information. There's a lot of simile, which, you know, is like the cheapest shit of song writing and simile. And it all, it's all, yeah, it's all not a wasted syllable. You're right.

It all hits and hits hard and gets out everything you need to see. And like that, just that rush description of her is like, oh, I, yeah. You can picture this person. Jolene is fucking hot, you know? She's hot and you know exactly what she looks like. And I cannot compete with you, Julian. Yeah. It's, it's, Cole, Cole Porter would be happy about this.

I think so. I think so. Yeah. Let's listen to that middle 10 section, the chill part, the ink spots portion. I had to have this talk with you. My happiness depends on you and whatever you decide to do, Jolie. Whatever you decide to do. That line always gets me, right? Yeah. I can't do anything. I'm at your mercy. Yeah. I mean, one thing we touched on earlier is the vulnerability in the song, Andy. Do you hear that in the role?

Oh my God, yeah, yeah. And this is also, and I know we're going to talk about the Beyonce version, which is not vulnerable. And it's coming. Yeah, but this, you know, but this is, this is also, this song is, and I mean, there are certainly vulnerable songs in country music. But, you know, surprise, surprise, it was a very sexist industry at that time, still pretty sexist. but you know but yet the sort of classic country woman song about a man is you ain't woman enough to take my man or you're going to fifth city right right yeah yeah loretta lynn songs about you know hands off he's mine i'm jumping to ska um huh yeah yeah um but that there there was an aggressive kind of

honky tonk, we'll mix it up. So that this is, there's not, I can't think of another, another country song. Yeah, that's like, that it's just like, please, you know, like I'm begging you. I'm begging, I'm pleading. Whatever you decide to do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And it, but, you know, it is like, again, at the center of this song that is all power and skill and talent is. you know, I'm scared to death that I'm going to be alone. Right. I'm going to lose my man. Yeah. And also, too, this is also, and this is a powerful woman.

This is like, even as you're listening to this song, Dolly Parton is a, she's a star, you know. Like there's not a lot of, three, she's a star. There's not a lot of stars who are saying, you know, I'm threatened by another woman. Please, for the, you know, just for the sake of my happy. leave them alone. You're right. That's pretty fearless of her to be doing that. Breaking some of the rules of the genre and of a woman singing in the genre.

Absolutely. Pioneering it. Well, I would not be able to close out this song without playing you my favorite part of the song. The most haunting part of the song. And it only happens briefly and then the song is over. But the final spooky Jolene. Yeah, yeah. Let's hear that isolated.

Jolene. That's fucking insane. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is a crazy choice. Yeah. What was going on in RCA Studios? I mean, just like the fact that it only happens once and it's the tail end and it's different. How is that a, is that a, is that a multi-track?

It's a multi-track. Yeah, yeah, I would think. There are some background vocalists that are credited in one version that I found. Yeah, there's three Herschel, Wingenton, June page, Dolores Edgin, and Joe Babcock could be in there. No, Babcock? It actually sounds like her voice, though, multi-track. I don't know that. I don't hear different voices in there.

Let's play it one more time and let's like really dig deep on the archaeology of this moment. That's Joe Babcock. I would love to. I totally heard him. That's classic Joe. Classic cock. I would love to know how that came about just that one moment, that decision. Those notes that it only happens at the end, it's so interesting.

You wonder if the engineer had been like listening to like pet sounds recently. It's like, hey, maybe we can do this one thing, and I've wanted to try so long. But it's a desperate plea, right? This is like, it's like you hear off in the distance, like fading away like, Jolie. Yeah. It's like falling over a cliff or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, it's very ghostly. I feel like, I'm not sure, look, I'm just going to say it as a songwriter. Go there. No, Dolly Parton. I don't think I need to tell anybody in this room or listen to the show. I am no Dolly Parton on any level. However, I was struck just now when we listened to the lyrics. I had to have this talk with you.

my happiness depends on you. Okay, that a little bit bothers me that the run. The you and you, yeah. I will say it. I'm gonna, hot take on the show. Hot take on the show. All right. You can never rhyme the same word with the same word?

I mean, it is a little cheap. It's a little bit cheap. It's a little bit cheap. Y'all could not have listened to those early Master P albums. You would have been very disappointed. Well, and also the fact is, anyway. No, you go ahead.

No, no, no. This is not the time nor the place for old Master P lyrics. Please continue. No, I mean, I've heard this song a gazillion times, and I never, that never struck me. And that kind of stuff strikes me all the time. And I'm like, as a writer, shame on you. Yeah. You're writing or your editing brain.

It's like when you just see it raw like that, you're like, should we try a little harder on this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You try to find a rhyme for the word you. There's a few options. I think it speaks to how wonderful her delivery was that you guys never really noticed. Yeah. That's true. That's what I'm saying.

There's so much else going. It's like maybe a little cheapy here. Yeah, she's earned it. Well, let's just close the loop on the Porter Wagner story. It ends kind of interestingly. So this is the moment where things go to hell. She writes the song, presents it to him, and then leaves. And then he sues her for a million dollars.

Very acrimonious split. And long story short, a million dollars. A million dollars in 1970s for Dolly Parton's a lot of money. She doesn't have it yet. So she, over time, pays him off, pays him back. And then Porter Wagner has a dark moment where his career, kind of ends, essentially. He's not in a good place. He owes the IRS a lot of money. Water is under the bridge. Many years have gone by. And Dolly Parton, in an act, a very beautiful act, literally Dolly Parton

buys his music publishing company as a gesture as a way of compensating, a way of giving him money and buying an asset, I suppose, not that he was a big hit songwriter. He didn't need to do it. But there, he goes on his deathbed, he comes, and they have kind of a moment of reconciliation. I was very moved reading all this stuff. She did not have to do that. She did not have to buy his publishing company, the value of which nowhere near exceeds, you know, matches her own. Right. Yeah. I mean, don't we all kind of won Dolly Parton by our side when the time comes? Dolly Parton by your bedside is goals, I think.

Like we said, this song, it connects with people. She's so human in it. And I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that this song starts getting covered by other artists almost immediately. Almost immediately. It is so ironic that we're all talking about the Beyonce cover because the very first cover that we could find of this song is actually not even a year has passed. This song was released in 1973.

Before 1973 is over, this song is covered by a soul singer Gloria Ann Taylor. So, you know, we're talking about the Beyonce cover. Yeah. You know, she's an R&B artist. Yeah. The first person that we can find, To cover Jolene is an R&B artist, a black woman, singer Gloria Ann Taylor, and her version of Jolene sounds like this.

No, wavy hair and golden skin. She changed the description of Jolene. I was curious if that was going to happen. So not only is R&B artist covering Jolene nothing new, changing the lyrics to suit the singer. Also nothing new. Then there was the Olivia Newton-John version from 177. Let's hear a little bit of... Oh, wow, I didn't know that.

Oh, NJ. Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. Can I say Olivia New John has such a distinct voice. Yeah, she does. Even when she's singing like Dolly, like she's got something that, you know, taps into the soul of people who were born in the 1970s. Yeah, yeah. It's when she hits the high notes.

You're like, oh, there she is. There she is. And I'm not a musician, but is that guitar lick dumb down for somebody that probably couldn't handle the original? Joeline lick. Well, it's, you know, fingerpicking is what's done in the original. Yeah, and that's its own, that's its own thing to master. Yeah, yeah.

And it's very possible that this guitar player either couldn't do it or didn't, it might have been a choice to make it more of a rock. Just simplify it. To simplify it to make it more of a rock thing. That's a live performance. So this guy doesn't have the, like, luxury of like sitting back, you know, and doing multiple takes. And it's just on an electric guitar.

It's not acoustic, too. Yeah, I was hearing that too. Yeah. I was hearing the simplification there too. This song has proved so popular. So it's released in 1973. we were able to find covers of it in every single decade, popular covers, covers that actually people listen to in every single decade since this release.

Yeah, and it's funny you should mention that because I literally first heard the song as a cover. There was a moment in the mid-80s, in fact, I felt like to cover Jolene as a goth rock band, like The Sisters of Mercy, which is where I first heard it. Oh, yeah. There was some significance to that. There was some irony because we talk a lot about how this moment in the 80s, you have all people on the show, we can actually go down a rabbit, hole about this, but there's this moment where, like, irony and referencing is becoming more of a

mainstream thing. It's not just for the cool kids who read Mad magazine. It's becoming more of a thing that Dave Letterman is bringing up, and later Conan, et cetera. So this is the Sisters of Mercy version. This is the first time I heard it. Sisters of Mercy, one of my favorite bands, and I'm so happy I get to play them on the show. This is Jolene with Andrew Eldridge on his dark, dusky, baritone. So that is goth. Wow. Wow. That is so funny. goth. Yeah. You didn't know.

Well, that's, I think that the, the thread that carries through is camp. Camp? Because, yes. That is, it is camp. You're nailing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. And that's consistent with the original.

Yeah. To be camp. There is some, the dolly campiness. She would, she calls herself Backwoods Barbie. Right, right, right. This is a Backwoods Barbie. The song has it in its DNA. So when you cover it, you can't help but do that.

Yeah, that's, that's meant to be, that's meant to be, that's meant to be kind of funny. And there's nothing else about to, about Sisters of Mercy. That's funny. I'm a big fan of this band, but on record, like they are funny behind the scenes

and interviews. They're not funny musically. Right. But that's funny. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. By the way, one more, this is not technically a cover.

This is more like a remix, but I actually start 98% of my DJ sets with this incredible. A lot of people know there's been a phenomenon for a few years, the meme of like slowing down Dolly Parton's Jolene to 33 from 45. On TikTok.

This is even slower. This is the Peter Vistee slow version. and it's 11 minutes long and it's one of my favorite ways to start a DJ set. See, this is like, I don't have any idea about this. I don't know about DJ stuff. Could you say with more?

This thing. Oh, wow. This is 81 BPM. This is a very slow... Did he replay it or is this? No, this is just slow down. But I will play... I'm going to fast forward a little bit in the mix

because a lot happens over 12 minutes. And then he's adding some synths on top. adding some drums and some claps. And it is so hypnotic. You want 12 minutes of this, right? Yeah, yeah. This is like 3 a.m. in the disco. The sun is coming up pretty soon.

You're like, oh, man, I got to come up with a good story. Right, right. Or in my case, it's like if I'm the opener and it's like my set starts at like, you know, 7 p.m. And there's not a lot of people yet. You put that on. And it vibes. Do you want to go first? Does it ever get to lyrics?

Yeah, I'll just find that. Very minimal, though. Yeah, yeah. The 10 minute mark. Oh, he just uses the spooky part. This is the trippy psych part of the remix. This is very much after the hero of our story has been beaten down and he arms himself to attack the drug lord's home base. And murder everyone.

It's a montage and it's long and bloody. Michael Man's the director, right? You get all 12 minutes. Yep. And of course, Beyonce covered Jolene on Cowboy Carter, and she totally reimagined the song. Let's play a little bit of Beyonce's Jolene. It takes more than beauty and seductive stairs to come between a family and a happy man. Okay, so let's talk about the Beyonce version.

We're not even talking from a musical standpoint. Let's talk about the lyrics, because I think that that's been the part that's been, you know, the most debated. Like there was a critical response to this song. Which irritates me so much. But go on. Yeah, yeah. I just want to put it out there. Like there was an article in Slake that wrote, why do Jolene, if you're going to remove the most unique and powerful element of the song that the narrator is bearing her vulnerability and asking the mercy of her rival?

Now, this is just my take on it real quick. And I want to get yours, Andy, and luxury. My take is actually that, believe it or not, even though, um, on. their face, the lyrics of the Beyonce version sound more like, you know, a threat like, hey, don't come from my man. Yes, that is literally what she's saying. But my take is that this actually is Beyonce being vulnerable. Yeah. Not everybody is going to react in the same. Different kind of vulnerability. There isn't just one vulnerability. This is a 2024 black woman being vulnerable. Right. You know, she's basically, you know, I feel threatened. That's

the vulnerability. They were like, yeah, you know, she reduces this song to brag about the greatness of her own marriage. Yes, in literal terms, yes, but I actually think that this is Beyonce sort of saying, like, you know, in her own way, you know, I am vulnerable. I'm not going to show my rival Jolene that I am vulnerable. Yeah. But I see vulnerability in these lyrics. I know that's a subtle sort of nuanced thing to say, but I'm feeling it.

How did you, how did you hear the Beyonce version? I mean, I think, well, and I do think it's interesting that Dolly does a spoken word intro Hey, Miss Honeybee, it's Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when, except she has flaming locks of Auburn hair. Bless your heart. Just a hair of a different color,

but hers just the same. It's not good hair. You know, there's been good hair and Auburn hair. Becky, yeah. But I just, I mean, I do think, yeah, there's a lack of, there's a lack of vulnerability. I see what you're saying that this is her version of vulnerability and that a woman saying,

don't you dare take my man, that that is a scared hurt person underneath that. But to me, what the main thing is, is that this version of Jolene is on Beyonce's country album. And Beyonce is going into hostile waters. She knows what she's doing by, here's my Beyonce's country album.

And she knows that the shit that's going to stir up. and she knows that the hostility she's going to be met with. So to go into that and just do a straight up, vulnerable version of Jolene, I just think it would be disingenuous. Yeah, I also felt like it would be a very unbionse thing to do. A very unbeiancy thing to do. She says, like, I loved country music coming up.

I used to go to the rodeos, and I would see, she was like, I saw black people and Latino, and of course white people at the rodeo and I wanted to do an album. She actually says, you know, we all call it a country album. I think the press release called it, but like if you read what Beyonce said,

she's like, this is actually more of a Beyonce album. Yeah. With these country and black folk influences more than it is just a straight up. She's on a horse. She's on a horse with a cowboy hat. But I mean, I just think also too, I'm sure that there's, you know,

part of doing this album, to is I can't imagine that she wasn't thinking, I'm going to introduce country music to people that have never heard country music. And I'm going to pick one of my favorite country songs. So she's going to introduce them to Jolene. One of the biggest country song, one of the most iconic ones. Yeah, and she's going to Beyonce it up. You know. You're making me think too, because when you do a cover, like I've done a couple of covers in my life, I did. And part of the process is like you're starting with there's sort of a tastemaking thing. Like what would be a cool thing to cover? It hasn't been done before. How can I make it different? How can I put my stamp on it? Right. Because otherwise it's karaoke and you're

going to lose to the original. And also something that I genuinely love. It has to be something I can get inside of and feel passion for. And she chose to not change, for example, basically the instrumentation is essentially the same song with the guitar riff and then we've got a little stomp on the bottom. But as we just heard together, there is already kind of a funk beat in the original too. She doesn't change that. She's a female vocal. Like with the Sisters of Mercy, sometimes if you get a guy singing it when it was a girl originally, that's where the twist can come in too. Yeah, yeah. She doesn't change that.

She's also a woman. Her changes are the subtle, the lyrical things we're talking about. She also adds a little bit later. She adds a bridge, like a second part to the song. So that's a change. That's a pretty substantial way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's interesting that literally it is a cover in the sense that the writing credits only show Dolly Parton.

So technically speaking, it could be an interpolation or interpulation. Yeah. That's what normally this would be. Because the cover is very. explicitly all of and only the original lyrics. But that isn't what's happening here. So it's very interesting the choices she makes, what to keep, what to discard. And I think you're right, they're all intentional. She intentionally said, I'm going to take a song that people know. I'm not going to change it sound. I'm also a woman singing it. The changes are going to be

these subtle areas here, the lyrical concept. And I'm not a, I'm not a Beyonce expert, but, because I'm not like super familiar with her entire catalog. But it seems to me that Beyonce does not play characters. When Beyonce sings, it's Beyonce. And I think that... That's a really good point. You know, I don't think that... Which, I imagine at times is probably confining.

It's probably... That's so interesting. You know, I think you're right. So I think that she can't sing Jolene as anybody but Beyonce who's been Beyonce and who's married to Jay-Z. That's a super astute comment, and I'm processing it.

There may be a handful of songs. I'm sure the Beehive will be on our case in the comments. They'll say this is her in character. But for the most part, you're right. And that is a big part of her. That is who she is as an artist. It's authentic.

You're hearing her tell her story of how much she loves her man. And we know this. It plays out in the culture too at large. All of her Instagram pictures and all of her. Whatever she's doing is all part of the narrative of her of her of Beyonce. And she can the only Beyonce you get is what she gives you to. So when she does a cover,

she doesn't do an interview. She doesn't do, you know, you don't read a lot of like, interviews, articles about. It's just what you get of Beyonce, she gives you. And this is, she's giving you her version of Jolene. And so it's, it's going to be

Beyonce singing Jolene. It's not Beyonce putting on a character. I think Beyonce, Taylor Swift, does a lot of this. Like, I think certain people are like, this is this is the part of me that I'm going to share in that. But I just, I've got to bring it back around to the issue that, like, this is Beyonce's version of

being vulnerable. And I think that that is, you know, I think that vulnerability is still there. I think that's true. What's made this song so popular that it's had as many covers as it's had, so many iterations. I love the fact, I'd actually never heard the Sisters of Mercy version. So, I mean, like, they took it and they made it theirs. And I think that it speaks to Dolly's songwriting that so many people's diverse as sisters of mercy and Beyonce can both come to this song, both make their changes, whether musical or lyric.

Yeah, yeah. and people still respond to it. It is an amazing song. Right. Yeah. That is a testament to the song. Yeah. That underlies all of it.

Yeah. To that one song. I have a question for you. This particular song has been sung and covered and reimagined for about 50 years now. Do you think in another 50 years, is there a chance that this will still be in the zeitgeist? I should think so. Yeah. I should think so.

I do think the robots might sing it. I mean, it's hard, you know, I mean, whatever any that kind of sooth saying means or. what, you know, but yeah, I should think so. I should think that if it's, we're talking about it. And we're not talking about it like, because it's on some niche label, you know, that like only the three of us know about it. We're talking about it, because it's out there. It's a big song.

Yeah, yeah. It's been covered hundreds of times across genres across decades. And concurrent with Dolly, you know, Dolly also being out there. She's a treasure. at the Super Bowl, singing at the Super Bowl, live at the Super Bowl, and a real, you know, doing a rock album. Which is her 49th. Yeah. Her 49th record.

Yeah. And it's pretty damn good, you know. And I mean, one gets the feeling that it's like kind of a last big burst, you know, because she is. It doesn't have to do it. But she kind of does have to do it. She is a songwriter, a storyteller to her core. Ever since her mama was telling her stories, those Welsh stories that came down from from the British Isles of hundreds of years ago.

It is so a part of her DNA to be a storyteller. Why would she ever stop? And also, one of her big things is to give out books. Is that true? Yeah, she's provided, I mean, like quietly provided literally millions of books to libraries, primarily in the South, but kind of everywhere. That's so moving. There's so much about her that I love as a human and as a role model.

As a human, as a vulnerable human, I think as long as we have this universal theme of vulnerability. And unshamableness. And unshame her. Yes. I think that, I think Jolene will continue to be covered. Andy, we want to play a quick game with you. And I want you to know you're going to be the very first guest to play this game. All right.

Okay. So if it goes horribly wrong, it's on you. It's my fault. It's my fault. We're going to let you go. We're going to retire it. It'll be one and done. It'll be known as getting richtered.

We might use that expression anyway. Okay. The premise of this game is really simple. We'll give you a scenario and you give us one song that you would play during this scenario. Okay. I hope that makes sense. It'll make sense. Trust me.

I'll ask you to answer these as quickly as possible. Okay. That's the only rule to the game. Okay. It's called, by the way, this game is called... What's the name of the game? What's the one song? Great title.

What's one song? Okay. Andy, let's start for the first time ever. What's one song? Okay. This is a lot of pressure. There's no wrong answer, though. It better be good, Andy.

Yeah, all right. Just has to be funny. Okay. All right, here we go. What's one song you love to sing in the shower? Goldfinger. What? From James Bond.

Gold finger. Do you change the lyrics? Everybody imagine. A man with the Midas touch. A spider's touch. A cold finger. All right. What's one song you know every word to?

Gosh, there's so many of them. I'm going to say. Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Oh, wonderful. What's one song that makes you want to twerk? Makes me want to twerk. Probably maybe Shoop. Okay.

Salt and Pemba. I love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, what's one song that makes you cry? Mother by John Lennon. I honestly almost cannot listen to it. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wow. Okay, here's the last question. What's one song that we have to do an episode of One Song On? Oh, wow. Oh, wow. I think somewhere over the rainbow, I bet you there's something pretty interesting

somewhere over the rainbow. I like that choice. Somewhere over the rainbow. Andy, I'm happy to say you didn't Richter it. You did a great job. Good job. Yeah.

Why doesn't it be negative? I think you did Richter it. Good job. Oh, thank you. We keep it positive here. Wonderful rectoring over there. We have to wrap it up here. But Andy, I just want to thank you so much

for coming on and tell our listeners where they can get your podcast. My podcast is everywhere you get podcasts. It's called the three questions. Yeah, it's called the three questions. But it also plays on the Conan Channel, the Conan O'Brien Radio channel here on Sirius XM.

And I will soon be starting up a weekly call-in show on the Conan channel. That sounds fun. We'll definitely call into your show. You got your first two callers right here. Excellent. We'll be your first two jerky boys. Okay. Oh, no.

Oh, no. Lectury help me in this thing. Well, I'm producer DJ songwriter. and musicologist Luxury. And I'm actor, writer, director, and sometimes DJ Diallo Riddle. And this has been one song. We will see you next week.

This episode is produced by our producer who does not have flaming locks of Arburn hair because he is bald. And his name is Matthew Nelson. Additional production support from a man who does have great hair. And that would be Casey Simonson. Engineering from Marcus Hom.

The show is executive produced by Kevin Hart, Mike Stein, Brian Smiley, Eric Eddings, Eric Wilde, and Leslie Guam.