That certain word in 'Jane'

[greendaze5]

Hmm, lots of negativity towards 'Jane'. But if Stevie used a different word than the awkward sounding 'chimpanzee', would you like the song more?

What other word(s) would you use? I just can’t think of a synonym for 'chimpanzee'. 'Primate'? That’s just 2 syllables.

Personally the 'chimpanzee' thing doesn’t bug me. Face it, the song is about chimps, so a chimp is a chimp is a chimp.

However, Stevie singing about laundromats does make my skin crawl, one would think she’d at least go to a dry cleaner instead.

Roland

[Jondalar]

She made a fool of herself with that lyric, but she won't listen to anyone. That's why people are doubtful about her and won't put her in the Rock n Roll Hall of fame by herself.

[AgeOldDesire]

Originally Posted by greendaze5

Hmm, lots of negativity towards 'Jane'. But if Stevie used a different word than the awkward sounding 'chimpanzee', would you like the song more?

What other word(s) would you use? I just can’t think of a synonym for 'chimpanzee'. 'Primate'? That’s just 2 syllables.

Personally the 'chimpanzee' thing doesn’t bug me. Face it, the song is about chimps, so a chimp is a chimp is a chimp.

However, Stevie singing about laundromats does make my skin crawl, one would think she’d at least go to a dry cleaner instead.

Roland

When I first heard Stevie was doing a song about Jane Goodall, I thought that would be a perfect opportunity for her to work in the word Monchichi. It has a certain exotic tone to it. Almost classy, if you will. But noooooooooo. Stevie had to take the easy way out and chimp it up. You blew it, Stevie. Lame.

"The children of the world...
the forgotten Monchichi"

See? Sounds much better.

[David]

Originally Posted by greendaze5

Hmm, lots of negativity towards 'Jane'. But if Stevie used a different word than the awkward sounding 'chimpanzee', would you like the song more?

What other word(s) would you use? I just can’t think of a synonym for 'chimpanzee'. 'Primate'? That’s just 2 syllables.

Personally the 'chimpanzee' thing doesn’t bug me. Face it, the song is about chimps, so a chimp is a chimp is a chimp.

However, Stevie singing about laundromats does make my skin crawl, one would think she’d at least go to a dry cleaner instead.

Roland

I love DOCKLANDS.

But JANE is a lame song because it's such a childish & banal description of its subject. Stevie doesn't grip the emotions. She's a rotten songwriter in JANE. She takes her hero & gushes about her like a 6-year-old: Jane is an "angel," she is "sent from God," she is "a little girl" who has had a "hard life" but who nonetheless looks a challenge "straight between the eyes." How stupid it all is. It's mawkish. It's banal. It's like a child writing about her mommy & daddy & how she loves her doggie & she had fun over her summer vacation because she got to swim & ride horsies every day.

The music craps too.

[Jondalar]

I don't think Stevie even wrote Docklands. I really liked that song, too, just for the lyrics, but her vocals are horrible on it. They are also horrible on Cry Wolf, which is a good song.

[Nikolaj]

I love her 'Cry Wolf'- especially 'if you start to crumble, if you start to crack, if you're feeling humble' which I think is exceptionally well-sung. I also like how emotional her vocal is on it, by the end of it she sounds nearly hysterical, to me. I know a lot of people don't like her 'Cry Wolf' so I accept that I am in the minority opinion on it. But 20 years later, the track still gets me, whenever I spin 'Mirror' it's one track I never skip.
Maybe you had to sort of have had that experience to relate to the song and her performance? Because to me it resonates, big time.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

I love her 'Cry Wolf'- especially 'if you start to crumble, if you start to crack, if you're feeling humble' which I think is exceptionally well-sung. I also like how emotional her vocal is on it, by the end of it she sounds nearly hysterical, to me. I know a lot of people don't like her 'Cry Wolf' so I accept that I am in the minority opinion on it. But 20 years later, the track still gets me, whenever I spin 'Mirror' it's one track I never skip.
Maybe you had to sort of have had that experience to relate to the song and her performance? Because to me it resonates, big time.

You're not alone, I too love "Cry Wolf" ... and "Jane" for that matter. The demo of "Jane" that surfaced a few years ago (which was more piano driven) is beautiful. Sometimes Stevie comes across trite in some of her lyrics but that is nothing new - I think only Stevie can pull it off with such heartfelt emotion.

[darklinensuit]

Yeah, I'm more bothered by the keyboards than by the word "chimpanzee." The piano on the demo is much better, but I prefer her vocal on the album.

- Jake

[michelej1]

I don't think the song has to be that literal. You can talk about fighting for life, for freedom, for preservation of the oppressed and you can talk about living life caged, trapped for the entertainment of others, without talking about monkeys specifically. By titling the song Jane, you say who it is for and what it is about, but the lyrics themselves can go beyond that one subject matter and have universal import, so that the song would apply to a monkey or an exploited person.

Tell it through the monkey's eyes, but don't identify him as a monkey at all.

Exalt Jane Goodall in the title, but have the lyrics describe her and anyone else who perseveres against a callous world and overwhelming odds.

I'd rather have Think About It than "Don't leave and go back to England, you forgotten piano player."

Michele

[mike_nh]

Try this new word in the lyric..

So her nights became nightmares...
As she fought for their souls
And the days became worse...
For the ones she had lost
Children of the world...
the forgotten REFUGEE
In the eyes of the world...
you have done so much for me

i'm no songwriter but for me it works....

[jrpjr]

she does so much "ooo's and ahhhh's" in her songs..."ooo ooo ahh ahh" would have worked somewhere after the mention of the chimp....just a little humor there.. i actually like the song and did since the first time i heard it...it is in fact about chimpanze's so the word itself in the song works fine for me

[Musicman408]

Not only are the lyrics kind of doodie, but she is flat through most of the song.

"there are angels herreee"- way under!

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

She made a fool of herself with that lyric, but she won't listen to anyone. That's why people are doubtful about her and won't put her in the Rock n Roll Hall of fame by herself.

well look at it this way, Bob Dylan managed to get "tax-deductible charity organisations" into Ballad of a Thin Man and it didn't seem to do him any harm!