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Jessie's Girl

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"Jessie's Girl"
Song
B-side"Carry Me Away"

"Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album Working Class Dog. The song is about unrequited love, and centers on a young man in love with his best friend's girlfriend.

Upon its release in the United States in 1981, the song was slow to break out. It debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart on 28 March[2] but took 19 weeks to hit No. 1[3] reaching that position on 1 August,[4] one of the slowest climbs to number one at that time.[3] It remained at No. 1 for two weeks and would be Springfield's only No. 1 hit.[2] The song was at No. 1 when MTV launched on 1 August 1981.[5] Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for all of 1981.[6]

The song also peaked at No. 1 in Springfield's native Australia and later won Springfield a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

The song was released in the United Kingdom in March 1984 and peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1984.[7]

Springfield recorded an acoustic version of the song for his 1999 album, Karma.

Background

Springfield was taking a stained glass class along with his friend Gary and Gary's girlfriend. He initially wanted to use the actual name of the friend he was singing about, but instead decided to go with a different name — "Jessie". He was wearing a T-shirt with the name of football player Ron Jessie on it and changed the name from Gary to Jessie, then recorded the song.[8]

Springfield says that he does not remember the name of the girlfriend, and believes that the real woman who inspired the song has no idea that she was "Jessie's Girl", telling Oprah Winfrey, "I was never really introduced to her. It was always just, like, panting from afar."[9] Springfield told Songfacts that Oprah's people tried to find her, and they got as far back as finding out that the teacher of the class had died two years previously and that his class records were thrown out one year after his death.[5] In 2006, it was named No. 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s".[10]

Chart performance

Music video

The music video depicts Springfield watching a young couple with envy for the girl's love. It opens with Jessie (played by Steve Antin) spray painting "Jessie's Girl" onto a brick wall, then leaving with his girlfriend, as Springfield watches and gives a monologue in the form of the song's first verse. Springfield runs into the couple one more time on the sidewalk, and he just stares as they walk away from him. Later, he goes home and looks in the mirror and mourns over why Jessie's girlfriend doesn't like him, and angrily smashes the mirror after he sees an illusion of Jessie's girlfriend in the mirror.

In regards to the song's use in films such as Boogie Nights and 13 Going on 30 over 20 years after its original release, Springfield said, "I'm thrilled by it. As a writer, all you can ask is that a song has legs. It has an appeal that keeps coming back."[24]

The song was covered on Glee in the episode "Laryngitis". Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) sings this song to Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) to express his opinions on her relationship with her then-boyfriend, Jesse (Jonathan Groff). This version was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association in 2010.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ Huey, Steve. "Rick Springfield – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 4 May 2014. After a solid decade's worth of work in the '70s, Rick Springfield turned into an international star in the early '80s thanks to the power pop classic "Jessie's Girl."
  2. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1991). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 545.
  3. ^ a b Grein, Paul (8 May 1982). "Chartbeat". Billboard. 94 (18): 6. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 93 (30): 68. 1 August 1981. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. ^ a b "Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield". Songfacts. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Top 100 Hits for 1981". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ ""Jessie's Girl" cracks the Top 40". Entertainment Weekly. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  9. ^ Is Rick Springfield Jessie's Girl a Real Person? at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 July 2008). The Oprah Winfrey Show.
  10. ^ 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's: #1 –100 at the Wayback Machine (archived 22 July 2009). VH1 Classic. MTV Networks.
  11. ^ "Australia No. 1 hits -- 1980's". World Charts. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  12. ^ CHART NUMBER 1277 – Saturday, July 04, 1981 at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 November 2006). CHUM.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0363." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  14. ^ "Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  15. ^ a b "Rick Springfield – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  16. ^ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 25, 1981 at the Wayback Machine (archived 17 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  17. ^ RECORD WORLD 1981 at the Wayback Machine (archived 15 July 2004). Record World. Geocities.com.
  18. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jessie's Girl". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  19. ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Top Singles – Volume 35, No. 22, December 26, 1981". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  21. ^ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1981 at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  22. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl". Music Canada.
  23. ^ "American single certifications – Rick Springfield – Jessie_s Girl". Recording Industry Association of America.
  24. ^ Murtagh, Heather (18 June 2010). "Are you ready to rock?: '80s legend Rick Springfield to perform at county fair". The Daily Journal. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  25. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
Preceded by
Devo Live EP by Devo
 Australian Kent Music Report number-one single
31 August 1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
1 August 1981 – 8 August 1981 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
US Cash Box number-one single
25 July 1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
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