Beyoncé's rewriting of the lyrics of one of the great country classics has generated an interesting debate about the terms of sisterhood when there are horns involved. Beyoncé herself has explained that the decision to make a country album was born from an experience related to this sound universe in the that made her feel that she was not welcome.
Parton has said that the song is based on real events: she wrote the song after Carl Thomas Dean – to whom she has been married since 1964, although there are hardly any images of them together.