After She Wrote “Jolene”, Dolly Parton Penned This 2008 Song From the Other Woman’s Perspective

Dolly Parton’s 2008 song “Cologne” revisits the infidelity at the heart of her famous “Jolene”, but tells the story from the other woman’s perspective. The contrast shows how Parton returned to a familiar subject decades later and explored a different character’s point of view.

“Jolene”, released in 1974, was inspired by Parton’s concern about a red-haired bank clerk flirting with her husband, Carl Dean. On her album *Backwoods Barbie*, “Cologne” follows a mistress whose lover asks her not to wear scent so his wife will not discover the affair; Parton described that premise in a 2021 interview.