Ok, so I kind of love Dolly Parton, and “Jolene” is probably my favorite song of hers, though I’ve never quite believed the story told in the lyrics, because how could any woman, even the mighty Jolene, steal a man from DOLLY FUCKING PARTON?
Anyway, it turns out if you play the 45 rpm single version of the song at 33 rpm it becomes … another song entirely. But, amazingly, it works. It’s actually sort of great. The video above isn’t new, but it’s new to me, and I can’t stop listening to it, so I thought I’d inflict it all on you.
Here’s Dolly singing the song at the correct speed.
What?
Preliminary conclusions:
The Corrs make a pretty neat boy-band with slightly thready tenors.
Ed Sheeran is a lousy alto, though.
Need to find slower tenor songs, I think, in order to get the right pitch without chipmunking.
Weird Al Yankovic’s “I lost on Jepordy” speeded up to just below chipmunking threshold sounds a lot like a slightly lower Pat Benatar.
Weird.
I should stop doing this now, and do something else, but it’s too fun!
Sure sounds fun. How does Eagle Eye Cherry: Death Defied By Will sound?
Fibi: He turns into a low, sultry alto. Think of a cross between Idina Menzel and O’riordan (Cranberries lead singer)
*He (as a alto) also starts sounding a bit nasally, but if you like the nasally/throaty stuff, it’s kind of upbeat and cheerful sounding! (You oughta know bettah!)
How are you doing this? Now I’m interested in messing about myself.
I like the faster version way better, but the slow version isn’t too bad.
Speaking of 70s music, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rainbow lately. They were an early heavy metal/progressive rock band headed by Ritchie Blackmore (one of the original members of Deep Purple), and for a while they had Ronnie James Dio (one of the former vocalists of Black Sabbath) as their lead vocalist. It’s too bad that almost no one knows about them these days, although I can’t blame them as even in their prime they weren’t very popular.
I have a (I remember it being free.. but that could have changed) program called MP3 Speed, which does pretty well.
For that program, you have to convert files to MP3 first (media.io –webpage!– does a pretty good job, and it’s free online! Unless you want to be supportive, and pay them)
Then, you open the files in MP3 Speed! Then click options (screwdriver/wrench icon) and set it to resampling mode, set the speed, save files to a new folder (so you don’t wipe the original) and set sampling frequency to 48000 Hertz.
For girls to guys, 73-78 seems to be the best range for speed, although with fast songs if you drop it down to 60 some-things get cool.
For guys, to get alto sounds, you almost have to go up to 125ish. For slow songs, chipmunk threshold seems to be about 140, but sometimes they start chipmunking in the 130’s.
Low tenors and bases tend to chipmunk before they hit alto, if the song’s too fast.
RE: Bina
(But Kenny Rogers’ “Lucille”…now there’s a switch. It’s her leaving him with the kids. Threw me for a loop the first time I heard it.)
Jimmy Rodgers pulled that in “Rock All Our Babies To Sleep,” and he was one of the ooooold country yodelers. So it’s a thing!
Alvin and the chipmunks sound kinda terrible when slowed down to normal speed… I wonder why they jump so quickly past the poor vowels? I guess maybe you wouldn’t hear the end consonants otherwise…
I love me some Dolly Parton, and Jolene is one of my favorites.
This is one of my favorite covers of it:
I also found this very amusing video today:
I think that’s relative. Deep Purple is probably the least famous of the three early heavy metal groups (LZ, BS, DP) but part of that is because Ozzie Osbourne is famous. Child in Time still ends up in the top five every year for “favorite song of all time” lists in the Netherlands. And when Dio died a few years ago it was widely reported. I think that Rainbow’s music is just slightly too cheesy to be timeless, and they lacked the one recognizable hit like Smoke on the Water to force people to remember them. (even though Man on the Silver Mountain could have easily been a big hit) Rainbow still forms the crux of Dio’s musical legend though, and they were probably the first (and last?) good fantasy metal band (Uriah Heep doesn’t count).
I love ‘Live in Germany’, Blackmore is a fantastic live guitar player.
@misery
Maybe another reason Rainbow weren’t well-known is that most of their songs were really long, especially in their second Dio album Rising. Oh well. Man on the Silver Mountain is one of my least favorite Rainbow songs, so I’m glad it wasn’t a big hit.
I admit they were cheesy as well, but I’m a sucker for cheesiness (to an extent). =P Besides, I’m such a Dio fangirl that it’s hard for me to find albums/songs featuring Dio that I don’t like (well, I guess his later stuff is bland).
RE: kirbywarp
Well, there’s something that’ll haunt my dreams forever.
@Ally S
Which Rainbow songs are your favorite?
Thanks for this, David. I love Dolly Parton, too, and especially “Jolene,” and you are right, there is something magical about this slowed-down version. It turns Dolly’s light soprano voice into a smoky contralto, and somehow emphasizes the pathos and longing in the words. Now I’m going to listen to it over and over again, too!
AAAAAAH! Creeper from Return of Kings is following me, some creepy erotic hypnosis dude spouting the same horseshit.
Eeeewwwwww ugh why nooooooo…
Since we at Mammoth Hunting Central love laughing at men’s pain, I bring you this video:
Ugh, Jolene is my middle name and people have been singing this song to me my entire life 🙁 Hubby thinks it’s hilarious though.
@misery
I’d say Stargazer, Tarot Woman, and Catch the Rainbow are my favorites.
Good heavens, an incel parrot!
@ Erica Bellar: I have a friend named Roxanne who gets really mad when people start singing the Police song of the same name at her. She feels your pain!
Here’s another famous song slowed down. This one turns out a bit creepy.
Well then, I need to add the classic Olson twins slow pizza song