Dolly Parton's "Jolene" Slowed Down Sounds Like A Different Song (and It's Awesome)

If you do not own a record player, it should be known that you are not hearing music right. Don't get me wrong, there are the over-hyped, celebrity, DJ headpones, and there are high quality digital recordings you can get. But people who grew up listening to a record player know, that is just the greatest way to listen to music. Maybe not technically,  but from a nostalgia stand point it wins, hands down.

The record player also has some really cool features, too. Like being able to slow down the music you listen to. While in most cases, slowed down music just sounds like, well, slowed down music, in the case of Dolly Parton's "Jolene," something extraordinary happens. It is like the song transforms and is suddenly sung perfectly, just  a bit more depressing and with a guy's voice instead.

Check it out yourself.

(YouTube Link)

A song about heartbreak suddenly takes on an even more somber tone. I will even go so far as to say I am not a fan of the original, but the slowed down de-make (seems a fitting word) really works for me. See, you can't do THAT on modern machinery.

Oh wait, you can? Man, I gotta leave the house more.


You can do this easily with software. Dolly sounds masculine because the male voice is about a third of an octave lower in pitch than the female. Conversely, Alvin and the chipmunks were just a male talker sped up by a factor of two, IIR.
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I first discovered this when it was used for excellent effect on "The Blacklist". Last season. Whoever choses the closing theme music for that show is a genius.
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