"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

. It is the opening track of the band's debut album, ''

Hot Fuss ''Hot Fuss'' is the debut studio album by American rock band the Killers, released on June 7, 2004, in the United Kingdom and on June 15, 2004, in the United States by Island Records. The album is mostly influenced by new wave music and post-p ...

'' (2004). It was written by

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his w ...

and

Mark Stoermer Mark August Stoermer (born June 28, 1977) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist for the rock band the Killers, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. In addition to his work with the Killers, Stoermer has ...

. Despite not being a single, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is one of the Killers' most popular and critically acclaimed songs. It is particularly praised for Stoermer's powerful and melodic bassline.

Writing and composition

The song, which is written in the key of

E-flat minor E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature consists of six flats. Its relative key is G-flat major (or enharmonically F-sharp major) and its parallel key is E-flat major. I ...

, is told from the point of view of a boy who has been taken in for questioning about the murder of a girl named Jenny. After explaining the incident from his perspective, the boy (voiced by Flowers) says, "There ain't no motive for this crime, Jenny was a friend of mine." The song provides no resolution to the crime and it is never clarified if the boy was guilty. The song was inspired by the videotaped confession to police that Robert Chambers made the morning after the death of Jennifer Levin. It is a part of the Killers' alleged "Murder Trilogy", three songs detailing the murder of a girl named Jenny, the other two being "Midnight Show" and "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf". In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Flowers revealed that it was

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

's song " Sister I'm a Poet" that inspired him to write songs about murder.

Release and reception

The song was positively received by critics. In her review of ''Hot Fuss'',

Jenny Eliscu Jenny Eliscu is a radio host for Sirius XM and a contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. She also had a recurring presence on the TV program ''I'm from Rolling Stone'' and has been on other music programs, including ''Behind the Music' ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' highlighted "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" as sounding like "classic

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

, all snaking bass lines and Flowers' elegantly wasted vocals — part ironic detachment, part fake-British-accent, part throat-shredding wail." Adrian Begrand, writing for

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, called the song a "spot-on, wonderfully shameless

Cure A cure is a substance or procedure that ends a medical condition, such as a medication, a surgical operation, a change in lifestyle or even a philosophical mindset that helps end a person's sufferings; or the state of being healed, or cured. The ...

imitation", and praised Flowers for his "charmingly overwrought depiction of a lover's spat “on a promenade in the rain.”" In her "Ask Hadley" column in ''The Guardian'',

Hadley Freeman Hadley Clare Freeman (born 15 May 1978) is an American British journalist based in London. She writes for ''The Sunday Times'', having previously written for ''The Guardian''. Early life Freeman was born in New York City to a Jewish family. ...

noted the similarity of the song's storyline to that of

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American adult contemporary music, adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's Richard Marx (album), self-titled debut album went tri ...

's 1991 hit single "

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm Harm is a moral and legal concept. Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following: * pain * death * disability * mortality * loss of abil ity or freedom * loss of pleasure. Joel Feinberg giv ...

" and accused the Killers of "blatantly rip

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off" the latter. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said the song was like "Duran Duran with better basslines and dirtier hair". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wildly praised the song, saying "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine rejoices in a helicopter sound effect last heard when

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

were going through their pompous phase, a bassline that New Order's

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

would be proud of and a stupidly catchy melody that would fit primetime Duran Duran." The song was on a CD included with the June 16, 2004, issue of NME. The CD, called ''Songs to Save Your Life'', was compiled by

, "from his own record collection". "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is track #2 on the CD. It is also used as the opening theme music in ''The

Damon Bruce Damon Matthew Bruce (born March 25, 1975) is an American sports radio host who currently hosts ''Damon and Ratto'' (with Ray Ratto) on KGMZ-FM "95.7 the Game" in San Francisco, California. An Indiana University Bloomington graduate, Bruce began hi ...

Show'',

bumper music Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature songs or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements, typically lasting no longer than fifteen seconds. It is ...

on CBS Sports's coverage of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and as a rejoiner bumper on the SiriusXM satellite radio hot talk show "

The Opie & Anthony Show ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part i ...

Live performances

When the song is performed live, the line "she couldn't scream while I held her close", is often replaced by "she couldn't scream while I held her throat", or "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat", giving a more sinister feel to the song. This was more common during

Day & Age World Tour The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in thei ...

performances of the song.

Certifications

References

{{Authority control The Killers songs 2004 songs Murder ballads Songs about crime Songs written by Brandon Flowers Songs written by Mark Stoermer