"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine"
Song by the Killers
from the album Hot Fuss
ReleasedJune 7, 2004 (2004-06-07)
StudioCornerstone (Berkeley, California)
GenreRock[1]
Length4:04
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Jeff Saltzman
  • The Killers

"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is a song by American rock band the Killers. It is the opening track of the band's debut album, Hot Fuss (2004). It was written by Brandon Flowers and Mark Stoermer. Despite not being a single, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is one of the Killers' most popular and critically acclaimed songs. It is particularly praised for Stoermer's powerful and melodic bassline.

Writing and composition

The song, which is written in the key of E-flat minor, is told from the point of view of a boy who has been taken in for questioning about the murder of a girl named Jenny. After explaining the incident from his perspective, the boy (voiced by Flowers) says, "There ain't no motive for this crime, Jenny was a friend of mine." The song provides no resolution to the crime and it is never clarified if the boy was guilty. The song was inspired by the videotaped confession to police that Robert Chambers made the morning after the death of Jennifer Levin.[2]

It is a part of the Killers' alleged "Murder Trilogy", three songs detailing the murder of a girl named Jenny,[3] the other two being "Midnight Show" and "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf".[4][5] In an interview with The Guardian, Flowers revealed that it was Morrissey's song "Sister I'm a Poet" that inspired him to write songs about murder.[6]

Release and reception

The song was positively received by critics. In her review of Hot Fuss, Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone highlighted "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" as sounding like "classic Duran Duran, all snaking bass lines and Flowers' elegantly wasted vocals — part ironic detachment, part fake-British-accent, part throat-shredding wail."[7] Adrian Begrand, writing for PopMatters, called the song a "spot-on, wonderfully shameless Cure imitation", and praised Flowers for his "charmingly overwrought depiction of a lover's spat “on a promenade in the rain.”"[8] In her "Ask Hadley" column in The Guardian, Hadley Freeman noted the similarity of the song's storyline to that of Richard Marx's 1991 hit single "Hazard" and accused the Killers of "blatantly rip[ping] off" the latter.[9] NME said the song was like "Duran Duran with better basslines and dirtier hair".[10] The Times wildly praised the song, saying "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine rejoices in a helicopter sound effect last heard when Oasis were going through their pompous phase, a bassline that New Order's Peter Hook would be proud of and a stupidly catchy melody that would fit primetime Duran Duran."

The song was on a CD included with the June 16, 2004, issue of NME. The CD, called Songs to Save Your Life, was compiled by Morrissey, "from his own record collection".[11] "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" is track #2 on the CD.[12] It is also used as the opening theme music in The Damon Bruce Show, bumper music on CBS Sports's coverage of the PGA Tour and as a rejoiner bumper on the SiriusXM satellite radio hot talk show "The Opie & Anthony Show".

Live performances

When the song is performed live, the line "she couldn't scream while I held her close", is often replaced by "she couldn't scream while I held her throat", or "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat", giving a more sinister feel to the song. This was more common during Day & Age World Tour performances of the song.[13]

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[14] Gold 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Marotta O'Connor, Michael (June 5, 2014). "New Ordered: Ranking the tracks off the Killers' 'Hot Fuss' on its 10th anniversary". Vanyaland. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2023. The answer came within the first 20 seconds of "Jenny", the best coked-out rock song intro since Oasis' "Morning Glory".
  2. ↑ Gunderman, Dan (August 26, 2016). "A look at pop culture references to the 'Preppy Murder' tragedy that rocked New York 30 years ago". Daily News. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  3. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (2004). "Slant Magazine Music Review :The Killers: Hot Fuss". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  4. ↑ Costa, James (July 2, 2008). "'Sawdust' leftovers hold off hunger pangs". The Observer. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Missing part of The Killers' 'murder trilogy' appears online". NME. October 17, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  6. ↑ McLean, Craig (September 24, 2006). "Craig McLean talks to the Killers' singer Brandon Flowers". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  7. ↑ Eliscu, Jenny (July 8, 2004). "Hot Fuss : The Killers : Review : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 28, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  8. ↑ Begrand, Adrian (June 15, 2004). "The Killers: Hot Fuss". PopMatters. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  9. ↑ Freeman, Hadley (October 27, 2008). "Ask Hadley: Hadley Freeman on retro cool T-shirts and fashion storylines". The Guardian. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  10. ↑ "NME Album Reviews - The Killers : Hot Fuss". NME. July 1, 2004. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Moz meltdown gets underway!". NME. June 11, 2004. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Various : Songs To Save Your Life". Shazam. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  13. ↑ "THE KILLERS - JENNY WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (V FESTIVAL 2009) HQ". YouTube. November 8, 2009. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Killers – Jenny Was a Friend of Mine". Music Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ "British single certifications – Killers – Jenny Was a Friend of Mine". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
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