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October 1, 2014 7:24 PM

Standin' on a corner
Suitcase in my hand
Jack's in his corset, Jane is in her vest
And me, I'm in a rock 'n roll band.
Huh.

Riding in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim
You know, those were different times
All the poets studied rules of verse
And those ladies, they rolled their eyes
Sweet Jane oh oh
Sweet Jane

posted by Going To Maine (29 comments total)

Like, I know all claims about this or that is the soul of rock, that one single song, or single chord, or single note is the center around which it all turns, they're all bullshit, but that "Huh", that tossed off, single yawp, that I don't know what words to say but I have to say something so I'll say "Huh" sound, that's probably about as near to it's heart as we need to get and it's good enough for me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that for a very short sound it matters an awful lot to me. Thanks for putting these together, Going to Maine.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:36 PM on October 1, 2014 [5 favorites]

There's the fucking afternoon gone...

Thank you!
posted by maupuia at 8:14 PM on October 1, 2014

Oh, also. "Sweet Jane" mashed up with "Love and Affection"? Hell yes!
posted by maupuia at 8:25 PM on October 1, 2014 [4 favorites]

Noice. Thanks.
posted by NedKoppel at 8:30 PM on October 1, 2014

Holy crap, Gang of Four, I had no idea!
posted by unknowncommand at 8:33 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Great post.
I say this as a proud Torontonian: Cowboy Junkies simultaneously introduced this song to and fucking wrecked it for a generation.
The original is supreme. So warm and groovy. Sublime.
posted by chococat at 9:37 PM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

I guess I could go for something hipper or more obscure, but I really love the Cowboy Junkies cover.
posted by Dr Dracator at 9:38 PM on October 1, 2014 [3 favorites]

No Mott the Hoople?
posted by ogooglebar at 9:41 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Rules of verse." God damn, I never had any idea what that line was. "Stutz bearcat" either.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:44 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

No Mott the Hoople?

I first heard the song on All the Young Dudes myself, and it's still my favorite rendition. You can make out "rules of verse" and all the other lyrics without a problem; Ian Hunter's glam noblesse suits the theme; and the guitar coda is aces.
posted by Iridic at 10:26 PM on October 1, 2014

In sorta-related news there's going to be a boxed set reissue of the 3rd Velvets album, with a bunch of unreleased stuff including recordings for what would have been their 4th album, most of which ended up on Loaded or Transformer. And (on topic!) there'll be a live version of Sweet Jane on one of the discs.
posted by Pink Frost at 10:48 PM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

The closet mix of the 3rd album is on Peel Slowly and See. The other stuff is on VU and Another VU. Still, interesting to see it all together.
posted by marienbad at 12:42 AM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

> "Oh, also. "Sweet Jane" mashed up with "Love and Affection"? Hell yes!"

I have been in love with that version for years. Two Nice Girls were the Beatles of the early 90's Austin Texas lesbian rock scene.
posted by kyrademon at 3:55 AM on October 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

Looks like we missed Jim Carroll and Brownsville Station. Man people really loved covering this song in the 70s huh?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:16 AM on October 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

More? More.

Eater
Steve Forbert
Lone Justice
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:25 AM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Jim Carroll's in there; check out the corset.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:27 AM on October 2, 2014

Aha! Album version is pretty solid tho too ;p

Great post my Maine man.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:32 AM on October 2, 2014

This is such a fun game to play on Spotify with the right song. I did this with whiter shade of pale a few months back and it revealed a lot of awesome soul versions.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:33 AM on October 2, 2014

I wish I could remember what line I sang in my high school band because I couldn't make out the Stutz Bearcat one. I'm sure it was epically stupid.
posted by lumpenprole at 7:32 AM on October 2, 2014

Listening to the Gang of Four one now—thanks for this great post!
posted by languagehat at 8:52 AM on October 2, 2014

Oh man, that version on the "Huh" link--from the Schnabel film--is just so beautiful, and Lou's delivery is drop-dead perfect.

I always feel ambivalent, these days, about "Rock'n'Roll Animal" and "Lou Reed Live." I loved them as a teenager but they do seem kinda bombastic now. There is some amazing playing on them, though.
posted by yoink at 9:09 AM on October 2, 2014

The intro on this version has one of the coolest bass grooves ever. It is played on the mighty Rickenbacker 4001 too, since someone had stolen Prakash John's Fender.
posted by thelonius at 9:28 AM on October 2, 2014

Hmm. I always heard it as "studied looser verse". That's something I could see causing eye rolls.
posted by jetsetsc at 9:33 AM on October 2, 2014

Another 90's queer girl cheering for the inclusion of the Two Nice Girls version. Thanks, maupuia!
posted by matildaben at 10:01 AM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

So uh which ones are which? This is what alt text is for, people.
posted by kenko at 11:22 AM on October 2, 2014

I should probably use alt-text, but I do like the sort of random aspect. That said, the bands are in order of the tags, so if you do some counting you can find your way around...
posted by Going To Maine at 11:39 AM on October 2, 2014

I wish I could remember what line I sang in my high school band because I couldn't make out the Stutz Bearcat one. I'm sure it was epically stupid.

My brother sang "riding in a Studebaker, Jim" and "Jack's in his coat" not "his corset". Which at least makes sense. Unlike our version of Blitzkrieg Bop which was just ridiculous. Though I'm glad to see that at least someone else heard it as 'the kitchen is a landmine'.
posted by Pink Frost at 3:31 PM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I just set the Cowboy Junkies version as my "ThisIsMyJam" for the week like 2 days ago. Are you stalking me, Maine?
posted by DigDoug at 9:05 AM on October 3, 2014

Blue Peter?!!!
posted by stevil at 10:40 PM on October 5, 2014