Dolly Parton’s final vocals are featured on U2’s new album, which was released on Friday.
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which → feature → Friday
Carnaval De Luz is the group’s first album in nine years, and the 12th and final track, “Torn,” was recorded mere weeks before the late country music icon passed away in August at the age of 80.
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icon → record → 80
-written by U2, Parton and Irish singer-songwriter and Snow Patrol member Johnny McDaid, “Torn” is described as a “tender country song detailing broken family ties that hold wider resonances,” according to a press release.
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that → write → release
The track was produced by Jacknife Lee and also features Daniel Lanois playing pedal steel.
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track → produce → steel
The “Jolene” crooner recorded the song in Nashville in June this year, making it her final recorded vocal performance.
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it → record → June
Parton’s team shared a note Dolly wrote to Bono, 66, dated June 2, in a Friday Instagram post promoting their collaboration.
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Dolly → share → collaboration
“Hey Bono, Hope you like what I did.
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I → hope → what
I did quite a few things,” she wrote.
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she → do → things
“Take from it what you want and what you need, but I love the song, and I think it could be something really special.”
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it → take → song
The 9 to 5 star added: “Thanks for including me in your life.
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star → add → life
I’ve always loved you and always will.”
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I → love → you
Bono ‘can’t even listen to it’
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Bono → listen → it
Bono told Rolling Stone in September that he initially asked Parton to sing on another song, which she called “a little too Irish,” before she sent him a song of her own.
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she → tell → own
The U2 frontman and McDaid rewrote some parts, namely the lyrics around a mother watching her family split apart, and Parton agreed to the updated version.
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Parton → rewrite → version
“She sang her heart out,” said Bono, “and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”
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that → sing → heart
Bono admitted to the outlet that he struggled to listen to the song after her death.
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he → admit → death
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song.
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she → get → song
And you can hear that,” he told the outlet.
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he → hear → outlet
“And I can’t even listen to it now.”
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I → listen → it
The heartbreaking lyrics
Parton kicks off the song softly, singing:
“I can’t deny this passion and desire /
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I → kick → passion
I know it has to burn me / Standing this close to the fire / What am I supposed to do? /
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I → know → fire
And how am I supposed to choose? /
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I → suppose → ?
I love ‘em both and I just feel so torn /
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I → love → em
I love ‘em both and I just feel so torn.”
Bono then comes in before they both unite to sing:
“Torn apart these loving hearts / That beat and break the same /
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That → love → hearts
We share a house divided / And the blood that fills our veins /
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that → share → veins
Brothers turn to strangers / And sons deny their name / Somebody loses either way / And every heart is torn,” the stars later sing.
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stars → turn → name
Another posthumous song
A country version titled “Torn” (Kent Wells Version) was aired all day on Thursday on all major radio broadcast media companies, including iHeart, Cumulus, Audacy, Beasley, Summit, Townsquare, and SiriusXM The Highway, Prime Country, and Y2Country, as well as the Music Choice platform.
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version → title → iHeart
“Torn” comes after Parton was featured on “Bound to Ride,” a tribute song for The Stanley Brothers, which was released two weeks after her death.
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which → come → death
Parton died after a “brief battle with cancer” on Aug. 25, surrounded by her loved ones.
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Parton → die → ones
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,” her reps said in a statement to People at the time.
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reps → spend → time
“Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand.”
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she → reach → hand
The Aporia
