"Jane Says" is a song by

American rock American rock has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music, and also drew on folk music, jazz, blues, and classical music. American rock music was further influenced by the British Invasion of the American pop ...

band

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...

. It was released as a promotional single in 1988, becoming the band's first chart entry on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, peaking at #6. It was first released in semi-live format on the group's 1987 debut album, ''

''. It was re-recorded in the studio for the follow-up album, ''

Nothing's Shocking ''Nothing's Shocking'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released on August 23, 1988 through Warner Bros. Records. ''Nothing's Shocking'' was well received by critics and peaked at number 103 on the ' ...

''. The ''Nothing's Shocking'' version is the most widely known version of the song, featuring steel drums that are not present on the cut from the self-titled album. A true live version appears on the band's 1997 new/live/out-take compilation ''

Kettle Whistle ''Kettle Whistle'' is a compilation album by alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released November 4, 1997 on Warner Bros. Issued to coincide with the 1997 "Relapse" tour, the album – originally titled ''It's My Party'' – includes new, alte ...

''. It is one of Jane's Addiction's most famous songs and frequently ends their concerts.

Jane Bainter

The title refers to lead singer Perry Farrell'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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Bainter confirmed and clarified many things about the song; she was dating an abusive man named Sergio and that 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.

Composition

"Jane Says" uses only two

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

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

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

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, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

played by

Stephen Perkins Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellride. Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play w ...

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 In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

, 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 a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

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. A ...

. 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.

Track listing

Charts

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

In popular culture

*The song was made available to download on November 29, 2011 for use in the '' Rock Band'' music video game series.

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