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

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/after-she-wrote-jolene-dolly-parton-penned-this-2008-song-from-the-other-womans-perspective/
- Published: 2026-11-13T13:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T14:41:17+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/after-she-wrote-jolene-dolly-parton-penned-this-2008-song-from-the-other-womans-perspective/
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- “Cologne” tells an infidelity story from the mistress’s perspective.
- “Jolene” drew on Parton’s concern about a bank clerk.
- Both songs explore the same subject from opposite sides.

## Summary

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.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.