"Jane Says" is a song by American rock band

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

, released in 1988 as a promotional single from their debut studio album ''

Nothing's Shocking ''Nothing's Shocking'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band Jane's Addiction, released on August 23, 1988 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was preceded by the band's eponymous live debut album. ''Nothing's Shocking'' w ...

''. It became the band's first chart entry on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart, peaking at #6. It is one of Jane's Addiction's most famous songs and frequently ends their concerts.

Background

The song was first released in 1987 in semi-live format on the band's self-titled album, but was re-recorded in the studio for their debut album, ''

'' (1988). This version is the most well known and was released as a promotional single, featuring steel drums not present in the original. A true live version was included in 1997 on the compilation album '' Kettle Whistle''.

Composition

"Jane Says" uses only two

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

for most of the song. The original recording from ''Jane's Addiction'' features

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

and is sung in a lower register than later versions. The version that appears on ''Nothing's Shocking'' makes extensive use of

steel drums The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared Trinidad and Tobago’s national in ...

played by Stephen Perkins in place of the original's bongos. The live version from ''Kettle Whistle'' interpolates the two versions, opening with an extended bongo introduction, over Perry Ferrell's

scat vocals Scat or SCAT may refer to: Education * School and College Ability Test also known as SCAT * Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology was previously referred to as SCAT * Somerset College of Arts and Technology is referred to as SCAT Games * Skat ...

, before abruptly shifting to steel drum one measure before starting the verse. The song format does not follow standard

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as "Oh! Susanna", " The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the T ...

, instead featuring three verses and a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

section, following a traditional

AABA form The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

. Each verse ends with a short refrain ("I'm gonna kick tomorrow...") repeated twice. The song concludes on a coda consisting of a repeat of the bridge.

Jane Bainter

The title refers to lead singer

Perry Farrell Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein; March 29, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician referred to as the " Godfather of Alternative Music". Farrell began his career with Psi Com in the early 1980s, before becoming the frontman ...

's ex-housemate, Jane Bainter, who was the muse, inspiration, and the namesake of the band. In a 2001 interview with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Bainter confirmed and clarified many things about the song; she was dating an abusive man named Sergio and she did wear wigs, but stated she never sold her body for sex. In the same interview, Bainter said she had been clean for eight years and did eventually get to go to Spain.

Track listing

Charts

;''Nothing's Shocking'' version ;''Kettle Whistle'' version

References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1988 debut singles 1997 singles Jane's Addiction songs Songs about drugs Songs written by Eric Avery Songs written by Perry Farrell Warner Records singles