Jessie

[annwfyn]

I was listening to this song earlier. It's by Joshua Kaddison and is sort of the sequel to his awesome and unmatchable Jessie.

I'm undecided whether I like this song or not. I mean, as a song it obviously isn't nearly as good as 'Jessie', but my ambivalence is about more than that.

Part of what makes Jessie so amazing as a song, I think, is that it is ambiguous. It's about a guy talking about the girl he's not quite over, the girl he wants back, but knows the odds are against it, after all they've been through. And yet there's still that hope. The song ends on that hope - 'and who knows, maybe this time things will turn out just the way you planned'.

And we've all been there, right? God knows I have. I've had that moment of knowing that the odds are really freaking well not in my favour, but damnit, I want to believe. I've had the ex I'm not over, the hopes and dreams still lingering. And when I hear 'Jessie', I get that feeling again which says that logically there is no chance in hell that they will make it to Mexico, but you keep listening because there's still the hope.

Now, the follow up song in some ways makes me happy. It gives the listening a happy ending. It's the story of the singer of 'Jessie' lying in bed with Jessie. And yeah, they never made it to Mexico, but they did make it together. They beat those odds.

That's lovely, but I don't know that I think it's nearly as powerful as the ambiguity of the original, and I kinda feel that it almost detracts from it. A song about a crazy hope is far more potent than a song about a guy deciding to rebuild his relationship, especially once you know, as a listener, that things will work out in the end.

It's not about the moment, the hope, the leap into the dark.

It gives 'Jessie' a road map, and that isn't nearly as artistically effective.

What do you guys think?

Comments

[blane-firewing.livejournal.com]

I love Jessie, it's a song I don't actually have and should really, really get myself a copy of.

I know what you mean, I have definitely been there and had that hope, the desperate belief that maybe tis time things would be different. Sometimes it can work out, but it never has for me.

I like to believe in the hope though, that things can get better and be put back together, even though I doubt it would work out for me.

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

I find a different type of, equally useful hope in both of those versions of the tale.

[pmp.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing these, I agree that Jessie is the much more interesting song for it's message of hope and might have beens. Wouldn't say the sequal detracts from the original though, but completes it. You hear the message of hope this works out, and then get the happy ending.

---

If you like that sort of message in your music, have you heard Lips of an Angel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSfTyrvJlg) ? This one is my relationship song because at the time I first heard it, I was trapped in an unhappy relationship and at the same time falling hard for another woman. It still brings back the thoughts of maybe when I listen to it.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

On of the things that gives me general hope and comfort in life is that for every single relationship rule I have ever made, or heard, or seen, there is always a couple out there who break it totally and are amazingly happy despite everyone refusing to believe they could be. And I am totally sure there are people who break up, and get back together, and break up, and somehow make it all work in the end.

I think what I like about Jessie is that it isn't necessarily about those couples tho - it could be about any one of us, and that moment where we are still hoping, for better or ill, and you can't tell at the end if it is a hopeful song about a fresh start, or a sad song about a dream that's dying, because it could be either.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

That is also fair. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8nypWKa_aU

This is another song I think you will like, if you don't already know it. It's a sadder version of Jessie in some ways - singing about a relationship you can't give up on, no matter what everyone says.

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that before, thanks.

[blane-firewing.livejournal.com]

I've generally taken the more positive approach to it, except when I am struggling to be positive about anything to do with love but I guess how you are feeling always reflects on such things! Whatever way you look at it, it's still a gorgeous and wonderful song.