Written by: Beck Hansen
Versions:
- Me And Jane Doe (3:21)
Available on IRM.
CreditsJoey Waronker: Drums, Percussion
Beck Hansen: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Marimba, Percussion, Producer, Recorder, Vocals (Background)
Brian Lebarton: Marimba, Percussion
Charlotte Gainsbourg: Vocals
Lyrics:
Me And Jane Doe [Version (a)]:
If I had my way
I'd cross the desert to the sea
Learn to speak in tongues
Something that makes sense
To you and to me
I'd like to unplug the phone
Sending messages with a mirror
Stand on the old plateau
With a satellite dish
And Geronimo's ghost
Down in the Rio Del Sol
I sunk my suitcase alone
Filled up the Amazon
With snakes and vines
And ropes for my clothes
Me and Jane Doe and Rousseau
We've got nowhere to go
Walking through cactus and stones
With our bare hands
Mining for gold
Down in the city so cold
Shining like razors in the sun
You can go there anytime that you like
Try to find happiness
From a gun
If I had my way
I'd cross the desert to the sea
Learn to speak in tongues
Something that makes sense
To you and to me
I'd like to unplug the phone
Sending messages with a mirror
Stand on the old plateau
With a satellite dish
And Geronimo's ghost
Down in the Rio Del Sol
I sunk my suitcase alone
Filled up the Amazon
With snakes and vines
And ropes for my clothes
Me and Jane Doe and Rousseau
We've got nowhere to go
Walking through cactus and stones
With our bare hands
Mining for gold
Down in the city so cold
Shining like razors in the sun
You can go there anytime that you like
Try to find happiness
From a gun
The Song:
"Me and Jane Doe" is a song on Charlotte Gainsbourg's 2010 album, IRM. Beck wrote and produced the entire album.
The song is built around a clever fingerpicked guitar, and some tense percussion.
The first verse sets up that life is both a journey ("crossing the desert"), and a constant search for someone to connect with. The second verse is trying to make that connection, even while wanting to "unplug the phone."
The third verse refers to the Rio Del Sol (translation: Sun River) but in googling it, I'm not sure if it's a specific real place or what. There's a lot of inns and restaurants and things with that name in the Southwest United States, but seem pretty minor for Beck to be referencing in song. Perhaps this constant journey/search has taken her to some pretty far corners (including the Amazon).
The fourth verse refers to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and philosophy is certainly one other place that life's search for answers would take you. Rousseau also conveniently rhymes with "Jane Doe" and Geronimo and Rio Del Sol (and how Charlotte sings 'Amazon').
Finally, the song ends on what could be read as a fairly bleak note, finding happiness from a gun (suicide). Did all the other searches fail, leaving the searcher hopeless?
"Me and Jane Doe" is a song on Charlotte Gainsbourg's 2010 album, IRM. Beck wrote and produced the entire album.
The song is built around a clever fingerpicked guitar, and some tense percussion.
The first verse sets up that life is both a journey ("crossing the desert"), and a constant search for someone to connect with. The second verse is trying to make that connection, even while wanting to "unplug the phone."
The third verse refers to the Rio Del Sol (translation: Sun River) but in googling it, I'm not sure if it's a specific real place or what. There's a lot of inns and restaurants and things with that name in the Southwest United States, but seem pretty minor for Beck to be referencing in song. Perhaps this constant journey/search has taken her to some pretty far corners (including the Amazon).
The fourth verse refers to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and philosophy is certainly one other place that life's search for answers would take you. Rousseau also conveniently rhymes with "Jane Doe" and Geronimo and Rio Del Sol (and how Charlotte sings 'Amazon').
Finally, the song ends on what could be read as a fairly bleak note, finding happiness from a gun (suicide). Did all the other searches fail, leaving the searcher hopeless?