Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: Jolene (1973)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Dolly Parton sings about a woman with great hair, great eyes, a great smile and a great voice. OK, so Jolene has it all. Of these, which is your most attractive feature: your hair, your eyes, your smile or your voice? Well, I like my dimples so I'll say smile.

2) Dolly tells us her husband mentions in Jolene in his sleep. Do you talk in your sleep? Sometimes.

3) Dolly has said this song was inspired by a bank teller she caught flirting with her husband. That was in the 1970s. Today we can do our banking from our computers, our phones or a bank ATM. When is the last time you spoke to a banker? Today (Friday). I cashed two rolls of quarters from our laundry room.

4) Dolly had a crush on Johnny Cash. When she was just a teen she saw him perform at The Grand Ole Opry and called it "love at first sight." Are you crushing on anyone right now? Oh, I'm forever and always crushing on someone. Right now it's former manager Joe Maddon. When I listen to his Book of Joe podcast, I just love how manages to insert a Mark Twain or Winston Churchill quote, or maybe an old pop culture reference like Paul Lynde as the center square, into the conversation about baseball. 

5) Dolly is more than a singer/songwriter. She's an industry! Her Dollywood is a theme park, water park, hotel and spa. Looking back on the summer of '24, did you visit a theme park, water park, hotel or spa? This question makes me feel very dull. No, I didn't do any of those things this past summer. I went on vacation last spring and then at Christmas, I'm going to up to Michigan to see my niece, so I tried to be a bit more economical with summer.

6) A luxury stay at Dollywood can get expensive, unless you're the teacher who wins this year's Chasing Rainbows Award from Dolly. She treats a deserving teacher to a week at Dollywood. Tell us about a teacher who made a difference in your life. My third grade teacher was just so very warm. Learning felt like a safe and wonderful adventure in her classroom.

7) Dollywood is in Sevier County, TN. Her ties to the community are strong, and in 2007, Dolly raised the funds to build a new hospital that opened there in 2010. When you were last in a hospital, were you a patient or a visitor? Last month I had a bone density test.

8) In 1973, when "Jolene" was popular, Elvis' "Aloha from Hawaii" concert aired. "Aloha" is the native Hawaiian word used when greeting or parting. Can you say anything else in Hawaiian? Mahalo = Thank you.

9) Random question: Have you more recently eaten cold pizza or cold fried chicken? I'm going to take this opportunity to display my fortune-telling skills. There's pizza in my refrigerator right now. I predict that tomorrow I shall devour at least some of it cold.