'Jane Says' C/D

our stoner friends have weighed in here

this is the worst song in the history of ever, but i don't want to prejudice the results, so

can't believe lester bangs posted to ilx

yeah, this song is pretty bad

You had to be there.

it is the sort of song that makes me vehemently wish the radio station had played the red hot chili peppers instead

i don't like them either, but i think it would check the appropriate box

to paraphrase eric on that 90s show:

oh, ned, no

Can you talk about what you don't like about it please?

well i won't listen to it to give you a play-by-play but it can probably be boiled down to

its boringness
the vocals
its ubiquity

i don't like the rest of their songs either, but fucking 'been caught stealing' or almost anything else would have more flavor

what do you like about it?

Yeah I agree with you, it's too long, definitely wears out it's welcome into minutes 4-5-6(?)...

It's not horrible though, there are far worse JA songs (eg, Been Caught Stealing).

Pretty lame.

No wonder, as a 20-year-old living in Seattle the "year grunge broke," I was listening to Chet Baker.

My least favorite song on one of my favorite albums.

I dug it when it came out, but yeah, Ned is totally right: it really only works in context. As part of that album, in 1988, against everything else on the radio -- awesome. Now, 'Nothing's Shocking' is still a fantastic album, but this particular song wears out its welcome. Most importantly: Simply because it goes on *way* too long. It would be great as a two minute ditty on the album, but hearing it now -- my god, it feels like it goes on for 5 minutes with that unwavering 4 chord sequence.

I saw Jane's Addiction at Lolla two years ago and it was great and all, and then they left and came back out for the *encore*. Which was with Joe Perry from Aerosmith (yay!!) and all they did was sit there and do stupid "Jane Says" for five interminable minutes. I was seriously trying to imagine myself in Perry's (Joe's, not Ferrell) shoes, thinking, 'What the hell am I doing up here, this is the most ridiculous song ever.'

but whatever, it was still ok. real waste of Joe Perry. other than making fanboys like me go 'wow'

song is still so overplayed that when it comes on the radio i usually change the station but otherwise i have no problem with it

Aw, I still like it.

It still gets in my head often.

the secret reason why this song is lame is the shitty Lou Reed pastiche lyrics. if you fixed those you'd still be saddled with one of the most annoying vocal melodies ever but you can justify an annoying melody with a decent lyric and the monotonous music could just be an inoffensive backing groove. but when you have an irritating vocal performance that's like a master class in how to be a poseur right up front like that, you're kinda doomed

you talk a lot about the generation gap between you and the younger posters here, but honestly dude nothing has ever demonstrated it more perfectly than the fact that you still say "poseur" with a straight face

My company at its annual retreat hands out an award to the employee who got the drunkest at the after-hours party. This year's recipient was videotaped singing "Jane Says" after a dozen jello shots before passing out in front of her hotel room door.

We all saw the video the next morning, presented by our CEO.

sick of it, and, like 'blister in the sun', in my head all the time for some reason despite not being a song I liked that much to begin with. so classic I guess.

really like this song. something sad and resigned about it -- a nice glimpse into a complex, unfulfilled life and a search for deeper meaning.

Good song, you naysayers clearly weren't there.

you talk a lot about the generation gap between you and the younger posters here, but honestly dude nothing has ever demonstrated it more perfectly than the fact that you still say "poseur" with a straight face

lol

I actually reintroduced "poseur" to my vocabulary about four years ago when a fellow decibel dude started using it really regularly and I thought fuck that was a totally hilarious word, I'm bringin that shit back if only in my own language use

it's best in other uses i.e. "did you come to my show last night or did you pose?" "I'm old and couldn't find a babysitter so I posed"

I remember a dude playing this on an acoustic guitar in 2001 in my high school seminary class. No one was really paying attention to him. He ended by saying, "Guys, this is our generation's 'Stairway to Heaven'!"

Hate it.

At first I read this and thought "Sweet Jane" and I was gonna be like hell yeah cause "Sweet Jane" is awesome but just, no. Awful. Mookie otm.

this is the worst song in the history of ever, but i don't want to prejudice the results, so

― mookieproof, Saturday, May 14, 2011 12:40 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

holy fuck I can't believe you

this was one of my very first ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SONGS, and I didn't know who it was for years and then I found out around age 12 or 13 and ran out and bought the album and it's still an all-time favorite. Can't really quantify why I adore it so much ("Jane Says"), I just do. Probably more the vocals?

The vocals are so annoying and I'm now mad at Mookie because I'm going to have this in my head all afternoon.

DUD
liked the chord progression for about a week when i was 16 then quickly got bored with it.

this song is one of the reasons why i can never listen to modern rock radio again.

Speaking of language, and this song:

When I was in high school, for a while I genuinely thought "I'm gonna kick tomorrow" was about really taking advantage of tomorrow, so much so that you are literally KICKing tomorrow, you are whacking it with your foot forcefully. I'm gonna kick tomorrow!

Then when I learned better, I was pretty sure it was a double entendre about kicking drugs and kicking tomorrow.

This is one of the things I try to remember when I think about how clueless high school kids can be even when they are verifiably smart.

D btw. This song is boring.

loooool kicking tomorrow is so streets ahead

Hate it. If I were being honest, it's the number one reason I've never liked Jane's Addiction. It completely overshadows anything else I intermittently like about the band.

great song, you guys are weird.

this song is fucking awesome fuiud

only like 3 of about 41 ppl itt are otm

i definitely liked it when it came out, i think i was in 8th grade? i don't think i've heard it in a decade, maybe? If it got stuck in my head, i wouldn't mind it. But then, I don't think it really sticks that much. I will sometimes sing the first few lines when i hear some band with an annoying whiny singer, as shorthand for "this band has an annoying whiny singer." So I guess it's classic in that it's functional in that way.

sometimes I don't understand why people listen to the radio. it seems to ruin a lot of things for people.

Holds up better than most poppy rock from 1988.

I wonder if the same proportion of steel drum beginners have this as a go-to, compared to the proportion of acoustic guitar players.

I like it. always have.

sometimes I don't understand why people listen to the radio. it seems to ruin a lot of things for people.

― american thinker (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, May 14, 2011 11:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

there are a lot of radio staples i never get sick of, so the ones i do it's not that big a deal.

i just wish i heard "Stop" or "Mountain Song" on the radio as much as "Jane Says" or "Been Caught Stealin'" really.

i heard Stop and Mountain Song about in equal proportions as the other two out here...

this song isn't as bad as many ppl are saying but i agree it'd be stronger as a 2-3 min quickie

Boy if I had a nickle for everytime I heard that...

y'know what really sucks, though? the re-recorded 1997 version by the reunited lineup with the prominent kick/snare drumbeat.

never heard that & certainly not gonna seek it out now that i'm aware...

1997: trip-hop version or Chem Bros remix?

did in fact like this song

This song was and is still great.

When I was 18, "Jane Says" was a lot of fun, but for me, it was ruined in the early 00s when I used to voicetrack shifts for an alternative radio station.

When you pre-record your shift, you get this screen presenting the last 30 seconds of what's on the log (usually the last song of the set) and the first 30 second of the next event (usually a commercial.) In between, you record your voicetrack, trying to sound as live as possible without mentioning the time or weather.

And for some reason, "Jane Says" - maybe because it was a "recurrent hit" - would always show up as the last song of a set/block. And I would have to sit there for 30 seconds and listen to those goddamm kettle drums for the 123th time and then say, "…And that was 'JANE SAYS' from JANE'S ADDICTION here on THE BUZZ." I exhausted whatever love I had for this song during those two years.

Seriously. Kettle drums have no business being in rock songs and that goes for "Fool In the Rain" too.

1997: trip-hop version or Chem Bros remix?

― tubular balls (Pillbox), Sunday, May 15, 2011 12:49 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

i was referring to the live recording on Kettle Whistle that was released as a single/video off the album (i was wrong about it being by the reunion lineup, though, apparently it was recorded at Lollapalooza in '91)

I still like the 1987 live version best.

"This song was and is still great"

Feel the same - Perry Farrell as a Californian Lou Reed probably is less convincing though.

This is the only great Jane's Addiction song.

lol really? Maybe revisit a few before saying that...?

I tried to a few years back and this was the only one I could still stand.

I will always rep for the second half of Ritual..., as well as "Summertime Rolls" and "The Mountain Song". (I also really really really love "Slow Divers" off of Kettle Whistle but I'm not going to spend time trying to convince others about that one.)

"will always rep for the second half of Ritual..., as well as "Summertime Rolls" and "The Mountain Song". (I also really really really love "Slow Divers" off of Kettle Whistle but I'm not going to spend time trying to convince others about that one.)"

Again OTM - Slow Divers is great too, just like all their summery psychedelic songs.

I don't know if I can defend "only great song" but I think for me this is the one that has aged the best. The songs where they try to rock out sound really dated to me now. It sounds absurd to say this about a song with a cliched 1988 strummy acoustic guitar and fucking steel drums, but I feel like Jane Says will prove to be their only timeless song in the long run.

it's a decent song it's just so played

I think my favorite Jane's Addiction song is Obvious; mookie OTM about Janes Says imo.

so played for a good reason. Just a tad more ubiquitous in my 1994 KROQ memories than "Why Can't I Be You" and "Dead Man's Party".

Nothing's Shocking used to be one of my favorite albums but it does drag on a bit.

aw this song is great

I need to replace my copy of Nothing's Shocking

is it on cassette? mine is.

Sure is!

wau i don't remember starting this thread

relieved to see that i was otm

john says / i don't remember starting this thread / i'm glad i'm otm here

lololol

yo is it true that mookieproof got treated like a ragdoll by sergio after a ilx beef?

gahhhhhh I love this song! bums me out to even have to defend it. it is definitely a time/place song for me, like nostalgia timemachine song x 100, which kind of makes it unfuckwithable regardless of ubiquity or songcraft or whatever.

And Ned otm, the live 87 version is my favorite. Always felt a little weird hearing the polished version on Shocking.

If you all start hating on Summertime Rolls there will be blood :)

wk otm; this is the best song on Nothing's Shocking.

SB