Murder Ballad Monday--Jenny was a Friend of Mine (The Killers)

Hello and welcome to the penultimate Murder Ballad Monday. These last weeks will deal with ambiguous songs—did they or didn’t they? First person songs where the protagonist swears they are innocent.

But are they?

                            

The song I want to examine this week is Jenny Was a Friend of Mine by The Killers from their 2004 album Hot Fuss. It is a part of The Killers' alleged "Murder Trilogy", which consists of three songs detailing the murder of a girl named Jenny. The other two being Midnight Show (also off of Hot Fuss) and Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf  (released in 2007.)

I was first introduced to this song (and the band The Killers) by my friend Iain back when we lived in England. The first thing that struck me was how it reminded me of Richard Marx’s Hazard (which I will be looking at next week.) Hazard was written two years before Jenny Was a Friend of Mine and we’ll explore more about it next week.

What really got me about this song was the Did he/Didn’t he aspect of it. The protagonist has been arrested. He has been grilled repeatedly about his whereabouts and what happened when he saw Jenny last. Exhaustedly, he proclaims:

I know my rights, I’ve been here all day and it’s time
For me to go, so let me know if it’s all right
I just can’t take this, I swear I told you the truth

He admits to a fight on the promenade out in the rain, but said he said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go. He doesn’t know what happened. He says over and over:

There ain’t no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine.

So, did he do it or is he a convenient scapegoat?

There is another line that the protagonist often repeats that is a bit more worrisome. Twice he says the creepy words

           

           She couldn’t scream while I held her close. I swore I’d never let her go.

That sounds rather suspicious. Perhaps there is a good reason to detain him. According to Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers there is. 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, which is considerably more blatant. His intentions are clear. I think I prefer the sinister quality of the ambiguous words, personally.  

I have also read several accounts online that this song was inspired by the Preppie Murder in 1986 where the murderer Robert Chambers was known to the victim Jennifer Levin and used the defence “Why would I do this? Jennifer was a friend of mine” after her body was found raped and mutilated in Central Park.

Here is Jenny was a Friend of Mine. I have included the lyrics below if you want to follow along.

We took a walk that night, but it wasn’t the same
We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain
She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go
She couldn’t scream while I held her close
I swore I’d never let her go

Tell me what you wanna know
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on
There ain’t no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine

So come on, oh come on, oh come on

I know my rights, I’ve been here all day and it’s time
For me to go, so let me know if it’s all right
I just can’t take this, I swear I told you the truth
She couldn’t scream while I held her close
I swore I’d never let her go

Tell me what you wanna know
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on

And then you whisper in my ear
I know what you’re doing here
So come on, oh come on, oh come on
There ain’t no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on

That’s all for this week. Stay tuned next week for the very last Murder Ballad Monday.