There’s a thing about the song ‘Jolene’ that draws you in, and it’s not just about Dolly Parton’s vocal power, her ability to play complex guitar riffs with acrylic nails like an American Eagle’s talons. It’s also about how she can draw us in empathically, and get us to resonate with the emotion of the song. It’s because these abilities that she has mass appeal, from church going pensioner ladies to gay icons and everyone in between.
About a year or more ago I was listening to Dolly Parton’s America, a podcast that, wildly enough, looks at the enduring appeal of the lady herself. In one episode they talk about the song ‘Jolene’. Somewhere in the back of my brain this information has been percolating. There was something about it that I knew that somewhere along the line I would want to share with you.
So, join me now and let me catch you up.
The intro to Jolene is a looping riff. The song is written in a minor key (which your brain automatically recognises as emotive), but then has the twist of being in Dorian Mode, which for any geeks reading this, is one note different to a minor scale (the 6th in the scale). The riff sounds really modern, the way Dolly uses it means there’s almost a disco-ness to it (I know, I know, disco country is an oxymoron!) in as much as it sounds upbeat.
Okay, a quick note on Dorian Mode (and this is testament to the technical writing abilities of Dolly) commonly it’s down right medieval, it’s the key of Gregorian chant, and that stems from even further back in Byzantine culture (the name is appropriated from the Dorian Greeks, but is actually a different mode to the one they used). So, if you conjure up Gregorian chant in your brain you’ll hear that it has almost a sadness, a plaintiveness to it – that’s the quality it gives, cool huh!?
By using the riff with the Dorian Mode Dolly takes something that would feel upbeat and instead makes it feel restless, she’s introducing a pacing, anxiousness that otherwise wouldn’t be there. Right from the off we’re with her emotionally, we can feel that she’s in a fix and looking for a solution.
Incidentally, can you imagine how many baby girls have been named Jolene in her honour? Especially when you consider that it’s an ‘other woman’ song i.e. a song written to your lover’s other lover. But this is not your average ‘other woman’ song, there’s no tearing down of Jolene, it’s a plea from the heart instead, which as a listener tugs more on the ear and the heartstrings. That slight key shift gets you invested in the story, which is what makes it a classic.
Dorian mode is used more often than you would imagine (yep, I’ve been reading around), many songs by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Radiohead employ this cunning tool to bring you in emotionally. You’ll have heard it in Norwegian Wood & Karma Police. Michael Jackson uses it in Billie Jean, Jimi Hendrix in Purple Haze, you may even have heard Harry Styles using it in Watermelon Sugar.
Okay, so why am I telling you this?
Human brains are so wired for connection that even the shifting of one note in a scale can create an empathetic and emotional response. This is completely unconscious and yet we can see it in how we respond to music.
A song written in a major key will often feel brighter and more exciting (due to the number of sharp notes these scales use in comparison to the number of flat notes – even if you don’t know music well, you can FEEL that there would be a difference between a sharp and a flat note). Think of major key songs like Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, or One Day Like This by Elbow, they feel anthemic don’t they?
The minor key is often seen as more emotive, it’s often used in a way that feels sad or melancholic, this is mostly because there are more flat notes (as Ella Fitzgerald sings in the Cole Porter song ‘Ev’ry Time You Say Goodbye’ “There’s no love song finer, but how strange the change from Major to Minor”. The song itself switches from A flat major to A flat minor chords).
From here that one note tweak on the 6th which creates the Dorian Mode can take us into a whole new level of emotional connection.
Isn’t that fascinating? And possibly spurious (work with me here), but also fascinating!
Even though my Music Theory may be a little shaky, you can see what I’m driving at here:
A small tweak can make a big difference.
You can go major and mainstream and it can feel epic, but you can also go minor and tweaky and create something that’s legendary, like Jolene.
The whole Dorian Mode thing really caught my attention, so I carried on moseying around, and what I noticed is that people play the same songs without the tweak. There are tons of guitar tabs that take the same songs and put them in a non-doric key – it makes them easier, they then have more familiar patterns and progressions rather than having to search for the magic.
However, I suspect that you can hear the difference even if you can’t pinpoint it. Those copies will probably sound a little lifeless, a little dull. And how often in life do we find that if we settle for a replica rather than the ‘real thing’ we find it strangely lacking. It hasn’t got the original flair, it seems disingenuous somehow.
Of course,this is a metaphor for life, innit. We can choose to live our life as though it is music written in any key, y’know an anthemic Major key kind of life, or a soulful deep Minor key type,there’s enough musical notes for us all!
However, it did get me wondering about how we activate the Dorian Mode in our own lives. What’s the little tweak we can make so that things feel lively and aligned? Or more specifically, brings us the authentic experience we’re seeking rather than operating from a copycat place – where we’re in comparison and trying to measure up rather than doing our own sweet thing in our own sweet way.
I have a new course coming out, the doors open on Friday the 19th. It’s called Glorious and it’s about all of this (although I never thought that Dolly Parton would be a metaphor!). Y’know it’s about making small changes that bring forward the joy and fun you want to live. It’s about creating kind boundaries and letting go of old b.s that’s holding you back. It’s about singing the song of your life, in the key of your choosing, at the top of your lungs without giving a monkey’s if you get the words wrong.
If this already sounds like something you’d like to get on board with, lemme know and I can give you more info.
Big love,
Carrie