A “traditional country version” of Torn, Dolly Parton’s duet with U2, is set to be released.
The Jolene hitmaker’s final recorded vocal performance before she died of cancer in August was the collaboration for the Irish band’s new album, Carnaval De Luz, and while she liked the version of the song the group produced, frontman Bono revealed a different take on the track was also recorded.
Bono told The Sun newspaper: “We did something similar with Johnny Cash. If you think about Larry’s drum part, it’s more of a sci-fi country landscape.
“I think he did her a favour by not doing the obvious but it was risky. If she didn’t run with it — and she’d have no problem telling you — then we’d have lost her.
“But she liked the direction we took it and her camp has a more traditional country version, which they’re going to put out.
“Hearing her voice in the context of Carnaval De Luz is a bit of a shock and a welcome one.”
Bono admitted he can “hardly listen” to the song now because of the emotion he feels over Dolly’s death.
He said: “What a gift she gave us and what a blessing it felt like… I can hardly listen to that voice now.”
U2 had offered “loads” of songs to Dolly before she came back with Torn, which originally followed a woman caught between two lovers, but it was changed to be about a family divided by opposing political views, a theme familiar to the 9 to 5 hitmaker.
Bono said: “We wrote loads of songs that we tried to sell her. But she said, ‘Well, I have a song I started that you may want to take in a different direction and it’s called Torn.’
“Dolly stayed away from politics but she had two brothers that don’t speak to each other.
“They’re fighting about politics — and that doesn’t just happen in the red and blue states of America. It happens in the UK, it happens in Ireland, it happens all over the world, where families are at each other’s throats about the right way to go.”
The One hitmaker thinks it is important to give people with differing views “a bit of slack” and to listen to what they have to say, and he plans to take inspiration from Dolly’s outlook on life.
He said: “She always wanted anyone to be welcome at her show, whatever condition they arrived in. And that’s the way it has to be for us on next year’s tour.”