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Emily Miller
Lisa Cook
English 1201.B55
28th June 2020
Analysis of “I Will Always Love You”
Whitney Houston gives a new take to the song “I Will Always Love You” originally
written by Dolly Parton. While keeping the same lyrics and a similar theme, Whitney Houston
was able to change the audience, and revamp the old song to reflect a different type of love.
Whitney Houston’s version reflects about the man she loves who she cannot be with while Dolly
Parton wrote the song for a close friend of hers who she was separating from professionally.
Both songs come from a similar background but they both tell a slightly different story.
Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” as a country music song in 1973 for her
mentor and close friend Porter Wagoner who she is separating from professionally. The lyrics “If
I should stay, I would only be in your way” have the meaning that they would hold each other
back in their careers. Dolly Parton’s music video was very simple just like most music videos
were during this time. The entire video is her sitting on a stool in the middle of the stage, singing
goodbye to her close friend. It’s a live performance of when she was on “The Porter Wagoner
Show” and it’s how she was telling him she was leaving the show to pursue better opportunities,
“Bittersweet memories
That is all I’m taking with me
So, goodbye
Please, don’t cry
We both know I’m not what you, you need.”
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Whitney Huston sang her version of “I Will Always Love You” as a pop song in 1992
when she was portraying in the movie “The Bodyguard”. In the movie Whitney plays a singer
who is falling in love with her bodyguard even though they know it will never work out. “We
both know I’m not what you, you need” refer to how they know they will not work out. The
music video starts by showing her leaving on a plane, it also shows scenes from the movie along
with scenes of her on stage singing with no one in the audience. Throughout the video you can
see her bodyguard saving her multiple times. At the end of the video it shows her running off the
plane that was shown at the beginning of the video. She embraces him one last time to say their
final goodbye while the lyrics playing in the background are “Ooh, I’ll always, I’ll always love
you” provoking an emotional moment in the video.
The largest difference between Whitney Houston’s revamp of “I Will Always Love You”
that came out almost 20 years after Dolly Parton wrote and performed the song is the style of
music. Dolly Parton’s take on “I Will Always Love You” was a simple country song. Just like
most love songs during this time It was also on the slower side. The main audience for Dolly
Parton’s version is people who like country music, and it is not commonly listened to by younger
generations. While Whitney Houston took more of a pop route when it came to the song. She
gave the song more of an oomph and it became a hit for many people. Whitney Houston’s
version is listened to more by people who listen to pop music. Which is why it is the more
known version of the song these days. With changing the genre of the song, it allow the audience
who listen to “I Will Always Love You” to grow more from just a country-based fan group to
fans of pop music.
The songs have many similarities with the first one being the songs theme throughout
both songs. Dolly Parton’s song is based off a real-life relationship, compared to Whitney
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Houston’s version which was based off love from a movie. Even though they are not the same
situation, they are very similar. “So, goodbye, please, don’t cry” is referring to how goodbye are
not easy whether it being friendships or romantic loves. They both share the same heart
throbbing lyrics that just make you want the happy ending that neither can fully have. Both songs
also were on the Billboard Hot 100.
With both videos having a similar background they also have similar rhetorical appeals.
Both videos use ethos to get the viewer to relate. Both songs have the lyrics “I wish to you joy
and happiness / But above all this / I wish you love” which help us relate to the song by us
wanting joy and happiness to people around us whether it be friends or the people we love. These
videos are also using pathos, to help get an emotional reaction out of the viewer. They want us to
feel the same way they are feeling throughout the video.
Whitney Houston was able to revamp “I Will Always Love You” originally written and
sang by Dolly Parton from a country hit to a pop music hit. Whitney Houston changed the
audience and reflected a different type of love than Dolly Parton’s version. Both songs have
similar backgrounds but tell a different story, and they both were major hits for both genres that
make the viewer react emotionally.
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Works Cited
Houston, Whitney. “I Will Always Love You.” YouTube, 27th Sept 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU Accessed on 25th June 2020
Parton, Dolly. “I Will Always Love You.” YouTube, uploaded by Snowman1793, 27th July 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDqqm_gTPjc Accessed on 25th June 2020
