Roll of the Dice: Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart

Bruce’s catalog is filled with songs that contain dense imagery and layered metaphor, that demand attention and considered interpretation.

“Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” is most certainly not one of those songs.

It is, however, one of the finest, loveliest pop confections the man has ever written or recorded, and it easily ranks among my all-time favorite Springsteen originals.

No deep analysis today; it’s all there on the surface. And besides: this song’s magic isn’t in the lyrics–it’s in the vocals. Take a listen below, and you’ll see what I mean.

From “Drive All Night” to “Queen of the Supermarket,” Bruce delivers most of his love songs with an intense earnestness that straddles (and sometimes leap over) the line between intense devotion and obsession.

Not so here. If I had to sum up Bruce’s vocal in “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” with one word, it would be compassion.

We don’t really learn much about Janey, but we can sense that she’s been having a rough go of it. Whatever punches life has landed on her, Bruce is steadfast in his reassurance that she can roll with them and in his promise to stand by her side.

You got your book baby with all your fears
Oh let me, honey, and I’ll catch your tears, ah no no no no
I’ll take your sorrow if you want me to, no no no no no
Yeah come tomorrow that’s what I’ll do
Listen to me

Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart

It’s all in the “no no no no no” — specifically, the way Bruce uses a descending progression of notes to de-escalate Janey’s tension, to bring her emotional state back down to earth.

In fact, if we look and listen carefully, “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” is replete with such calming devices, from compassionate “ohs” and “ahs” to gentle “listen to me” directives:

Well you say you got no new dreams to touch
Ah, you feel like a stranger, babe, who knows too much, oh no no no no
When you come home late and get undressed, oh no no no no
You lie in bed and feel this emptiness
Well, listen to me: 

Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart, no no no no
Janey don’t you lose heart

And of course there’s a sax solo, because in the Springsteen universe, there’s no truer declaration of love than a sax solo.

But go back and listen again, and this time notice how the onset of Clarence’s solo overlaps with Bruce’s “alright!” and how the end of it overlaps with the beginning of the final verse. That’s a deliberate device that serves to maintain the connection and continuity of Bruce’s unbreakable belief in Janey–it isn’t a distraction or a breather from the song’s message, it’s an underlining of it, which Bruce makes overt in he final verse:

Yeah, ’til every river baby it runs dry
Until the sun, honey, is torn from the sky, no no no no no
‘Til every fear you’ve felt burst free, no no no no no
Is gone tumbling down into the sea
Listen to me

That’s an unshakable friend right there. In fact, by the end of the song we notice that not once during the entire song has Bruce offered to solve Janey’s problems for her. He’s offered to share her emotional burden, but he’s made it clear that he believes in her own power to lift herself up. In that regard, “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” is like a more intimate, more selfless “Two Hearts.”

As the final chorus returns, Bruce employs one final device, and it’s a joke on us: Bruce has the E Street Band hold the chorus and build on the chord, a time-tested tactic that almost always signals the band is about to take it up a notch for a powerful ending.

Instead, Bruce brings the song back down to earth again, resuming the chorus in its original key and letting it fade out naturally.

There’s one final curiosity before the song fades out: Nils sings the last line of the song solo. His backing vocals on “Janey” are actually his first studio contribution to Bruce’s catalog.

But it doesn’t seem to have been the original plan, because an early outtake exists with Little Steven on backing vocals instead of Nils:

Although the mix in this recording is a bit harsh with the synth, it’s clear that the recording is the same as the one that Bruce released on Tracks, which begs the question: why did Bruce replace Steve’s vocals? And with Nils, no less–Steve’s replacement in the E Street Band.

Perhaps it was a way of welcoming Nils to the band (Nils joined just prior to the start of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour); that seems to be how Nils remembers it, at least. But we also know that Bruce was rocked by Steve’s departure. By all accounts their friendship never wavered, but we still can’t help but wonder how much of the overdub decision was artistic and how much was therapeutic.

(That ethereal synthy coda, though… ditching that was clearly an artistic decision, and a good one.)

Bruce recorded “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” in 1983 during the recording sessions for what would become Born in the U.S.A. Although it obviously didn’t make the final album, it very nearly did–in fact, at one point it was slated to be the last song on the album, which would have ended the album on a much more uplifting note.

Bruce couldn’t lock her completely away, though–he actually released “Janey” as the B-side to “I’m Goin’ Down” in the summer of 1985, and he surprised fans a live performance shortly thereafter.

Janey made her stage debut during the final stand of the Born in the USA Tour, introduced without ceremony as the penultimate encore of the night. It was a strange place in the setlist to introduce a new song, but it wouldn’t be the only time Janey would show up at the end of a show. Thankfully, that debut performance was filmed (and was just yesterday released on an official archive series release), so we can watch it all these decades later. Bruce chose to give Roy the solo spotlight that night instead of Clarence, but otherwise it’s a faithful first outing.

Janey’s only other pre-Tracks appearance was at a 1993 benefit/tour warm-up–this time in an acoustic guitar/harmonica arrangement but once again as an encore (and this time the final one).

Janey’s inclusion in a 1993 setlist isn’t a surprise–Bruce’s shows that year were filled with lighter, more optimistic songs. The only mystery here is why it was a one-off–because Janey wouldn’t be heard from again until summer of ’99, when she made a few appearances with the reunited E Street Band.

She returned for the tail end of the Rising Tour, too–and we’re fortunate to have a soundboard recording from the Giants Stadium soundcheck the night she came back. It’s a rehearsal, to be sure, but it’s a joy to hear Janey’s eighties-synth replaced by Roy’s uplifting piano, along with a gorgeous ending:

In fact, one of the most delightful things about a Janey appearance at a Bruce show is that she almost always seems to be wearing a different arrangement. She might be played on electric piano…

…or acoustic guitar and whistle(!), accompanied by one of Bruce’s warmest vocals.

Whatever form she takes, a setlist appearance by “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” is an unpredictable rarity, and always a highlight for fans lucky enough to witness it.

Bonus: Bruce was working his way towards “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” for years before he recorded it. Take a listen to Bruce working out a familiar melody in this 1979 home demo:

…and some very familiar lyrics and melody in a song called “True Love Is Hard to Come By” from early 1982.

Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart
Recorded: June 16, 1983
Released: I’m Goin’ Down (single, 1985),Tracks (1998), 18 Tracks (1999)
First performed: September 27, 1985 (Los Angeles, CA)
Last performed: February 14, 2017 (Brisbane, Australia)

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