Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Opening track from the Killers' debut album Hot Fuss.
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The song is told from the perspective of a boy questioned about the murder of a girl named Jenny.[1] The song was positively received by critics.[2] The videotaped confession Robert Chambers gave to police after Jennifer Levin's death served as the song's inspiration.[1]
Geography and history
The song is written in the key of E-flat minor.[1] It is part of the Killers' "Murder Trilogy" about a girl named Jenny, alongside "Midnight Show" and "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf"[3] The song provides no resolution to the crime and never clarifies if the boy was guilty.[1] It was included on a CD called Songs to Save Your Life compiled by Morrissey for the June 16, 2004 issue of NME.[4]
The song is used as opening theme music for The Damon Bruce Show and as bumper music on CBS Sports's PGA Tour coverage.[4] It also serves as a rejoiner bumper on SiriusXM's The Opie & Anthony Show.[4] When performed live, the line "she couldn't scream while I held her close" is often replaced with more sinister lyrics.[5] During the Day & Age World Tour, the altered lyric was employed more frequently.[5]
What the cited sources add
In a Guardian interview, Flowers stated that "Jenny was a Friend of Mine" and "Midnight Show" were about the murder of a girl.[6] The same interview notes that on tour in Scotland, the Killers heard the story of Jodi Jones, a 14-year-old murdered by her boyfriend.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunderman, "A look at pop culture references to the 'Preppy Murder' tragedy that rocked New York 30 years ago", Daily News, August 26, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eliscu, "Hot Fuss : The Killers : Review : Rolling Stone", July 8, 2004; Begrand, "The Killers: Hot Fuss", June 15, 2004; Freeman, "Ask Hadley: Hadley Freeman on retro cool T-shirts and fashion storylines", The Guardian, 2008-10-27; "NME Album Reviews - The Killers : Hot Fuss", July 1, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cinquemani, "Slant Magazine Music Review :The Killers: Hot Fuss", 2004; Costa, "'Sawdust' leftovers hold off hunger pangs", The Observer, April 2017; "Missing part of The Killers' 'murder trilogy' appears online", October 17, 2007; McLean, "Craig McLean talks to the Killers' singer Brandon Flowers", The Guardian, September 24, 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Moz meltdown gets underway!", June 11, 2004; "Various : Songs To Save Your Life", Shazam (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "THE KILLERS - JENNY WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (V FESTIVAL 2009) HQ", YouTube, November 8, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- McLean, "Craig McLean talks to the Killers' singer Brandon Flowers", The Guardian, September 24, 2006. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jenny Was a Friend of Mine (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jenny Was a Friend of Mine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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