When Conan left Late Night for that long and illustrious Tonight Show gig, who reunited for a last-show performance of “We’re Going to Be Friends”? You guessed it. They performed “Seven Nation Army,” “The Hardest Button to Button,” “Jolene” (below), and “Let’s Build a Home/Going Back to Memphis.” Soon after they released a music video that twisted Conan’s late night world through a funhouse mirror. Fastforward to 2005, when O’Brien returned the honor by giving the Stripes a full week on his show. Their worlds first converged at a Detroit bowling alley, where the unknown pair approached the television star as fans. The White Stripes have a long history with Conan O’Brien. Jack and Meg have made it, along with Son House’s “Death Letter,” their signature cover. Even if they did know Dolly Parton performed it first, odds are pretty good they’ve never actually heard that version. Parton says that "Jolene" has been recorded more than any other song she's written - in styles that range from Olivia Newton John's 1976 disco version to the rollicking White Stripes version to the Goth rendition of the post-punk band The Sisters of Mercy.Ask anyone under thirty who sings “Jolene,” and you’re likely to get the same answer: the White Stripes. You're always threatened by other women, period." "So no matter how beautiful a woman might be, you're always threatened by certain. And had all that stuff that some little short, sawed-off honky like me don't have," Parton says. "She had everything I didn't, like legs - you know, she was about 6 feet tall. Parton says that Jolene is so popular because everyone can relate to her feelings of inadequacy- competing with that tall redhead in the bank who was after her husband. "I think the main character is really the person singing about Jolene," Smith says. Smith says she could relate to the vulnerability of the woman pleading with Jolene. "Jolene" launched country singer Mindy Smith's career five years ago, when Parton said that it was her favorite version of the song. And I guess later on, as a songwriter, I started to think about names starting with 'J,' like that could be used almost accusatory, like Jezebel. "I thought that was an interesting name when I started hearing that song as a teenager. White says that the character of Jolene has fascinated him for a long time. "Then, that would be what I could really get emotionally attached to." "I thought to take the character and change the context and make this red-headed woman my girlfriend, and that she's cheating on me with one of my friends," White says. Jack White's emotional rendition of "Jolene" has been a staple of The White Stripes' concerts for years. "Jolene" has been covered by more than 30 singers over the years, and in several languages around the world. And because it's just the same word over and over, even a first-grader or a baby can sing, 'Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.' It's like, how hard can that be?" "It's as much a part of the song almost as the song. "It's a great chord progression - people love that 'Jolene' lick," Parton says. But Parton says that that very simplicity, along with the song's haunting melody, is what makes the character of "Jolene" memorable. The song has only 200 words - and a lot of those are repeated. When Parton released "Jolene" in 1973, it became one of her first hit singles. I don't believe we've got that kind of money.' So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one." It was kinda like a running joke between us - when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. "And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. "She got this terrible crush on my husband," Parton says. Parton says that she got the story for her song from another redhead in her life at the time - a bank teller who was giving Parton's new husband a little more interest than he had coming.
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