Welcome to the Jane's Addiction Song Index. The idea was to gather as
much info as possible about every Jane's Addiction song and make a separate
page for each song.
I've been working on this for a long time, but... there's still a lot of stuff
to add. Believe it or not, it took me over a year from the day I started
working on it (1/17/98) to the day I finally got around to begin uploading it
to SDW (1/23/99)!
Updates will be noted at the bottom of the index page.
While I try not to ignore the recent incarnations of the band, I'm mainly concerned
with the 1986-1991 line-up, and will focus mostly on that period of Jane's Addiction.
Here's a breakdown of the Song Index features...
"Background"
Just a bit of basic information regarding the song.
"Written"
Who wrote the song.. when the song was written. This is to the best of my knowledge, of course... it would be very difficult to determine exactly.
Also, the majority of Jane's Addiction's songs were originally conceived by Perry and Eric in late 1985. But it wasn't until Steve and Dave joined in early 1986 when the songs became complete.
**Who wrote what...**
Perry Farrell wrote the lyrics. He also came up with some of the bass lines and basic song structures. Many times, he had an entire new song completely mapped out in his head, then he'd teach it to the rest of the guys. ("Obvious" is an example of this.)
"We do different kinds of collaborations all the time," Perry said in late 1988. "A lot of the time I'll come in with something I've worked out on a guitar and I'll give it to Dave. And he'll take that and do something that a real guitarist would do to it. I frame it out and then the guys will come in and work on it. Sometimes it'll change, sometimes it won't. It's never cut and dry like, 'Here's the song. This is how you play it.'"
In '96, Dave told Phil Hayes, "...We would jam a lot in Jane's Addiction, and Perry would have the mike and be going for it the whole time, makin' shit up off of the top of his head, screaming, yelling, singing his heart out, writing poetry on the spot during rehearsals. That was another element to inspire all of us."
Eric once said, "The songs on the first two records were written by jamming, and many of the tunes started from a bass line. But Ritual was written mostly by Perry--it just came down that way, because we've been spending a lot less time in the same room together. He'd come in with a basic chord progression, humming the riffs. Then we'd get a bass line, then David would work the guitar over it. A song may be going in a certain direction, but a mistake can happen, and we'll say, 'Wait--that works better.'"
Eric Avery wrote most of the bass lines and
some of the chord progressions ("Jane Says"). Perry has said that Eric was a main
contributor to the song writing process during the band's very early period (late
'85, early '86), but soon he and Perry stopped getting along, so Perry took over
as the main writing force and Eric didn't really get involved. However, by then
the majority of Jane's songs were already written. (Perry actually considered
getting rid of Eric but much of the music had been molded between the two of them
and it was too late to start over.)
From BAM magazine, 11/21/97...
Avery and Farrell started Jane's together, so I ask Perry if it was difficult
to move on [Relapse] and play the songs without one of the key songwriters. Perry
corrects me: "Well, he was at the very, very, very beginning,
and then he wasn't, so it didn't bother me that much to go on. The songs Eric
wrote were good songs; they were very simple. They were basic grooves. I never
felt like, 'Oh my God, we lost our songwriter.'"
And from Guitar World, 11/97...
Dave: Most of those bass lines came out of jams. Eric would
lock into something and then just stay there. And me and Steve and Perry would
do a zillion things around it. Most of those songs were written for the bass lines.
Dave Navarro. Although most of the basic chord
progressions were already written before Dave even joined, his involvement was
a huge factor in the end result of many a Jane's Addiction song. Dave totally
reinvented the songs with his guitar playing. Perry said songs such as "Mountain
Song" had been sorely missing something, but when Dave put his own personal touch
on it, the song was transformed into something great. Dave also came up with some
of the songs ("Stop").
Quote from Dave from Guitar World, 2/94...
"All the music I've ever written with anyone has been very collaborative; a lot of it has always come from just jamming. I'm not the kind of guy who goes home, writes a song and then comes in the next day and says, "Here it is." And none of the guys I've ever worked with have been that way--except for Perry Farrell."
Stephen Perkins wrote the drums and percussion to the songs. As with Dave, most of the songs had already been written prior to his joining the group. But Steve's creative drumming made the songs into the classics they are.
Additional contributors...
Dave and Stephen were not the first band members at their respective positions.
Even so, they had such an impact on how the songs were played, that the original
members' contributions are seen as insignificant.
Here's a run down of other people who've been involved with the songs...
Matt Chaikin - Jane's first drummer. From
an L.A. band called Kommunity FK. He played with the Jane's for at least one show
(1/10/86 Black Radio club) before Stephen joined. Stephen claims to have been
in the audience at this show, so perhaps he was influenced by Matt's drumming
when it came his turn at the songs, but it's not likely that Matt had any crucial
impact on any Jane's songs.
Chris Brinkman - Jane's first guitarist. He
was in the band for about a month (circa late December '85 / early January '86).
Though technically the first guitarist to play Jane's songs, he's not believed
to have given much creative input. (Although an argument could be made that he
played a hand in writting "Idiots Rule".. you'll know what I'm talking about when
you get to that page..) But he pretty much just played what Perry and Eric told
him to.
Here's a quote from Eric from Jane's Xine in '96...
We were reminiscing about a little party we played, with a band called Government Issue, in Chris' moms living room when she asked me if I thought we would have
achieved the same amount of success if we had kept him on guitar.
The answer was absolutely not.
If the question were instead "Would we have made more interesting music" the answer might be different.
Anyway, I went on to say that I had been thinking about how greatness always has a hand from luck or fate. That no one ever achieves anything with their will alone. The
luck or fate that helped us, amongst many others, was that my sister happened to know these two heavy metal kids David Navarro and Stephen Perkins.
At the time we began to emerge, if you remember, the top of the charts were being held hostage by bands like Motley Crue. I think Perry and I would have made music too art damaged to be accessible to anyone if it hadn't been for Dave and Steve. Because they were into metal, as was America at the time,they mixed with Perry and I to create an alternative to metal. I remember it always threw me to be called metal or zeppelin-like because that was not the music I ever listened to.
Sadly, Chris passed away in 1997.
Ed (last name is top secret, sorry.) Jane's
second guitarist. He joined soon after Chris was asked to leave. They played at
least 2 or 3 shows with him. Then they went into the studio to record a demo tape
around late January '86. Perry became very frustrated with Ed's performance and
apparently ran the guy out of the studio! Ed's drug problem was also a factor
in his dismissal. It was after this that Stephen suggested they try out his pal,
Dave, who had been in a band called Dizastre with him months earlier. So again,
Ed is not believed to have had much lasting input on any songs.
Casey Niccoli "Such a classic girl, gives her man a great idea." She and Perry were a couple throughout the years of Jane's existance. She would often bounce back feedback and thoughts to Perry. So it's clear that a number of Jane's songs were likely effected by her, not to mention that she was the inspiration for much of Perry's lyrics... but, as she says herself, "I did not write any of the janes lyrics, i wish, but perry's a pretty great lyricist with out my two cents."
"In Their Own Words"
This is a section for quotes from Perry and the boys regarding a particular
song. (Quotes from the four band members appear in blue.)
They're taken from interviews, articles, live shows, and any other situation where
somebody might make a comment. As always: Don't believe everything you read...
that is to say: journalists often misquote people in interviews.
Also, keep in mind that Perry had/has a love for screwing with the media and often made up stuff just to amuse himself. And he also liked to keep some mystery with the meaning of his lyrics. So just because there's a quote from Perry saying a song is about something doesn't always mean that's necessarily the full truth.
From an interview in late '88...
Q: "What about the people who are attracted to the music and then go to look for an underlying message? What would you like them to come away with?"
Perry: "I tell you what... I don't care. Because I've met people that've been so far from it and they come up to me and they ask me, 'oh, didn't you mean this, didn't you mean this?' And it's like, you know... First of all, I don't like being completely pristine clear about what I'm saying. That takes away half the fun, number one. And number two, I'm as obvious as I want to be in the lyrics. I give you what I want to give you. And that's as obvious as I'm gonna be. Much more obvious than that I'm not gonna go into. If I wanted to be more obvious, I would've been more obvious when I wrote it. But like I say, half the fun is feeling like you figured it out. You know, I mean... that to me is a lot-- it's just part of it."
I want this section to be insightful, but at the same time I don't want to ruin
anybody's fun with figuring out meanings for themselves... or what a song means
to them personally. So if you don't wish to be influenced in your personal opinion
of a song, don't read the "In Their Own Words" quotes.
Although often the quotes aren't about meanings, but rather things like the recording
of the song, or how it was played, when it was written, etc.
"Live"
This section is for when, and how often, the song was played.
Here's a guideline...
"seldomly/rarely played live..." = played at about 10% of the time or less.
"occasionally played live..." = played about 10% to 50% of the time.
"commonly/frequently played live..." = played about 50% to 90% of the time.
"played at nearly every show..." = played about 90% to 99% of the time.
I also mention if Porno For Pyros or the Relapse has played the song.
To clarify for people who may not know, if I say "the Relapse" or "Jane's Relapse,"
I'm referring to the Jane's Addiction semi-reunion that happened in late 1997.
The line-up was Perry, Dave, Steve, and Flea on bass. Eric declined to be involved.
They did a US tour called the "I-Itz M'My Party" Tour which lasted from late
October to early December of 1997.
UPDATE:::::::: I've now made note of songs played live in 2001 or 2002.
In 2001, Jane's played several North American shows with Martyn LeNoble on bass.
It was similar to the '97 tour, but slightly different song selection, plus
most shows featured a song from both Perry and Dave's respective solo albums.
Then in 2002, they played a few more shows, including many international dates.
Martyn left the band after a few shows and was replaced on bass by Chris Channey
for the remaining shows.
"Additional Info"
This is a section for random stuff, rumors, and "Did you know?"-type tidbits.
"Audio"
Some songs have audio files available for downloading. They're in MP3 format.
Please don't throw the tracks on a cdr and sell it on eBay as "Kettle
Whistle part 8" or whatever. Come on, that's a bunch of shit!
"Lyrics"
Yep, that's right: the words to the songs. Most of them are from the album booklets, where sometimes the lyrics were a bit different that what Perry actually sings. In these cases, sometimes I "fixed" them, and sometimes I just left them as they appear.
The lyrics to the cover songs were mostly gotten on the internet. If Perry changed
it around a lot, I sometimes typed out the "Jane's version lyrics" as well as
including the original artist's version.
"Fan Interpretations"
Perry's often obscure lyrics have given Jane's fans everywhere lots of questions as to "what's this song about?"
This feature of the Song Index is for fans to share ideas about song meanings. You can read others opinions and submit your own interpretations of Perry's lyrics. Not to say what is right and what is wrong, but just to share ideas. You could even just write about what the song means to you personally if you want.
And please remember:
The views and opinions expressed in the 'fan interpretations' are not necessarily
that of Some Divers Whistle. :)
Pictures
I've also included lots of pictures to make it a little more pleasing to
the eye. Some are "never before seen on the web" and others are very common. I
tried to somewhat match the picture with a relevant song when possible.
Help is always wanted!
This 'Song Index' will never really be finished. I'll always be adding in new
stuff when I can.
If you can contribute, please do. If you have some 'inside info,' or an interview
with a good quote regarding a song, or anything else you think should be mentioned
on here, please ...
I would like to thank the following people for nicely contributing info, pictures,
etc. used here...
Phil Hayes, Barton Saunders, Erik Selke, Trevor Tassey Ayer, John McCarrick,
Veronica Calderon, Gaby, Chase A., as well as everyone else who's contributed
anything.
Also, thanks to these sites...
Not For Nothing, Jane's
Xine, Jane Said, 1%/janesaddiction.org, Dave
Navarro is God
As for the rest of my sources: lots of various interviews, articles, bootlegs,
and a few kind individuals who wish to remain anonymous.
As I said, I spent a lot of time putting this thing together, so if you have
a Jane's webpage and use something you got from here, please be nice enough
to mention where you got it from (link to
sdw).
I'd really appreciate it.
And please excuse me if I come off a little pretentious at times... it's hard
to do an information-type thing like this without seeming a little know-it-all-y.
Sorry! It pisses me off at times, too.
By the way, I'm just a fan... I'm not close pals with the band or anything,
so I don't guarantee that all the info here is 100% accurate.
But I think it's pretty good. Hope you like it.
The songs are listed by album, in order of appearence. If you're interested
in a particular song, just scroll down and click on it. If not, might as well
start at the beginning (that'd be "Trip Away") and work
your way through using the links on the bottom.
to the Song Index