Janet, Johnny + James
Lyrics
What if the world crashed down
Refolding behind your eyelids
Cracked your mind
Cracked your mind
Janet and Johnny and James
Crash your mind
Behind your eyelids
The people behind you
With nepotism
Explodes
All that rubbish you create
In the lock
Suddenly cranking (2)
Nepotism
Janet and Johnny and James
Janet and Johnny and James
Dearest Lord, hear me now
Janet and Johnny
Coming over the mountain
From New Guinea
They see the star
From you, our creator
A startling vision of a future that didn't happen
Ian and Eric
The stars trace
Over Janet and Judy
And James
And Susan and Johnny
The skies reflect
Dear Lord, help them in their abject search
From the Guineas and the bearded man
From the hills
Never seen again
Janet and Johnny and James
Reflect on your life
Janet vs. Johnny (The Fall vs. 2003 EP):
What if all the world
Carroted and mashed
Into your eyelids?
Nepotism??
It's me and Him
Through your collar
Janet and Johnny?
And James?
Crash your mind
Crash your mind
Eager, smug and positive?
With appointment?
You never make it??
Janet and Johnny?
And James?
Crash your mind
Crash your mind
I, weak man?
With too much power?
Droop out the door?
A weakened person?
The discarded columns?
Form a circle?
On your rubbish throwout?
What if all the world
Carroted and mashed
It happens all the time??
Janet and Johnny?And James?
Crash your mind
Crash your mind
Notes
1. The riff, written by Ben Pritchard, is influenced by Mason Williams' hit "Classical Gas." Jim Watts ("sdOK") from the Fall online forum (this is not all entirely relevant, but I put his whole post here as it's worth reading):
"That is correct from what I remember.
Ben was learning Classical Gas around that time and Mark had him play it a bit and it influenced JJ+J. I think Ben was just learning finger picking technique and Classical Gas is an excellent song for that.
The original song was by Mason Williams I think but I prefer the clapton version. The original is a bit cheese.
I am pretty good with the old finger picking nowadays. Keep thinking of doing a solo acoustic set. But most times you start playing instrumental music, no matter how amazing it is people tend to just start talking and waiting for some singing.
And I refuse to do all that banging and tapping stuff that seems to be in vogue in acoustic circles at the moment. It is just slap bass on acoustic guitar. And just as irritating to me.
Also Steve the bass player was a very proficient finger picker. He made me jealous by playing Cavatina one time. I am petty like that."
From Pritchard on Twitter, 14 September 2019:
the J,J & J riff was kind of inspired by classical gas, I was trying to learn it at the time. I pinched one of the chord transitions and changed the tempo and just repeated it.
My first impression of this song was that it seems to me to be about an apocalyptic event where disaster is almost, but not quite, avoided. It is possible that JJ and J (and Ian and Eric) are indeed survivors, but it seems equally likely that the song describes their last moments. It is either a dumbfounded moment before disaster envelops them, or a shocked and traumatized limp away from a smoking crater toward an uncertain future (one that is no longer the one they expected). I hear "a startling vision of a future that didn't happen" as quite possibly suggesting that the song is describing a sort of flashing-before-one's-eyes moment before death, however.
At the same time, it's possible that all the action takes place "behind" the "eyelids," and that the track is about a conversion, inner vision, or drastic shift in consciousness undergone by one or more of the title charcters. At this point, they either passively wake up to the petty and crass nature of their usual reality, or perhaps even undertake some drastic action. All of this seems possible, and it's also possible there's an interpretation I'm missing that would prove to be a better one.
Oblique submits: " 'This is a religious number' (before "Janet, Johnny & James," 9 April 04 Knitting Factory, New York City)." And, even more obliquely, "'The stars implode. I've got to turn this face now cos there's three Catholics in the group. It's a lot of old rubbish' (20 May 05 The Forum, London)."
And Dan suggests the lyrics may have something to do with Cargo cults, which are religious groups dating from the Second World War that sprang up New Guinea and other islands in the area. The most famous, however, is the one in Vanuatu. There, an American serviceman named John Frum is thought to be the Messiah, although that seems a culturally insensitive way to phrase it. American soldiers were based on these islands, and they brought with them food, technology, and medical infrastructure. The locals decided that this was the work of the gods. The cult awaits the return of the Americans, or some of them anyway--although many of them involve rituals where the celebrants dress like American soldiers and drill in squads, often with wooden guns, theologically the phenomenon is actually usually rather anti-Western. John Frum is considered, however, to be a god, and he is thought to be returning some day with a pile of loot.
The first cargo cult, however, is thought to be the "Vailala Madness" in New Guinea, which began some time in 1919. This involved a series of ecstasies undergone by people waiting for their "white ancestors" to return in a "ghost steamer" full of cargo.
The talk of a crash, and the "rubbish you create," could relate to the cargo theme...if there is one.
Harley points out that there is a UK children's book series from the 50s called "Janet and John."
According to Wikipedia, "Janet and John were portrayed as average English children, living a typical middle-class life that reflected many of the stereotypes of the time, and the books consisted of stories that progressively incorporated key words needed in the development of reading skills."
PJ Harvey performed this song 12 times in the Fall of 2004. Zack comments that "when PJ Harvey covered this song, former Fall member Simon 'Ding' Archer was the bass player in her band. Internet evidence of this is hard to come by, but I believe Ben Pritchard joined Polly and Ding for at least one live performance of this song."
2. Some listeners hear a critique of the BBC here, an interpretation which admittedly burns on a relative paucity of fuel in the lyrics; "nepotism" and "the rubbish you create" are what seem to be inspiring this interpretation.
Paul G. says: "Rather than 'cranking' I hear 'kranken' - a german word which means to suffer from or sick.
The lock could be a water lock rather than one opened with a key - there is no need for it to crank."
According to Tim: "There's a canal that runs through Manchester; I'm not sure how close to the BBC building it goes, but canals have locks and you crank them open / closed."
Comments (32)
1) Most of the song takes place outdoors - a cranking lock, a mountain, the stars, the skies, the hills
2) Janet v Johnny: as in the Janet and John series of children's books? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_and_John. Janet and John have grown up, and are now at odds with each other.
The lock could be a water lock rather than one opened with a key - there is no need for it to crank.
Smith was often scathing of BBC employees and of their output which he often considered sub-par. How does this theory fit with "Janet, Johnny and James"?
It's not the first time linked watching TV with the lasting effects of TV behind the eyeball. Think "A Lot of Wind" - an anti-tv tract from 'Shiftwork' where Smith writes about having "Octagonals in my eye lids from watching lot of wind..." Here, on this track he re-uses this image but it has taken on more profound and even spiritual proportions.
The reference to Janet and James is an indirect reference to the type of middle-class, nice but dull, personalities the BBC uses and will always draw upon to host tv and radio. The BBC, according to Smith, will 'crack your mind' due to their banality, or even worse, subversion of existence which leads us from the vast mystery of being.
The title works alliteratively but also as a snide comment on the club you have to be in to work at the BBC. In interviews Smith alluded to the nepotistic nature of the organisation and was deeply amused that the BBC re-located to Salford Lock, in Manchester to save money.
The prayer section of the song relates to the idea that these middle-class types are out of their comfort zone in the post industrial North of England hence the 'Guinea' metaphor.
The second section is a little more difficult to square with my theory but the ultimate message is that these media types pervert human communication with profound and spiritual, constantly feeding perception from their own P.O.V. and ultimately are not to be trusted in their interpretations of reality.
The people behind you
With nepotism
Explodes
All that rubbish you create
and whether it is actually the BBC or something else, I think it's something specific. Do you have a citation for the "nepotism" thing? I'd like to track something like that down before making any more specific suggestions.
On the Fall Online Forum, user "from" stated:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thefall/janet-johnny-james-t5515-s92.html
Jim Watts, the Fall bassist who posted to the FOF as user sdOK, replied:
Cracked your mind
And cracked your minds
From the Guineas and the bearded man
Could it be:
From 'ginnings and the bearded man?
As in beginnings of their "abject search"
OK, crashing down, rubbish you create..I can see a cargo cult. Highly speculative, though. I'm going to do something with it, so no one will probably ever see what's up there now:
And Dan suggests the lyrics may have something to do with Cargo cults...next time I see this note and notice how crappy it is, I'll put in a brief explanation of what cargo cults are.
https://twitter.com/Benpritchard6/status/1172868362696896515
Lala lala lalalalala...