She wields the latter to excellent effect in the frequently downloaded “Unstable,” a not-so-thinly veiled recollection of her days playing keytar in the dance-rock outfit Cobra Starship, with whom she toured extensively. (That track is so beloved by Jordana’s legion of online fans that a handful have gone so far as to create YouTube videos to accompany it.)
Not that Jordana is a one-note gal. “Sweet Rosalyn” is a contemporary “I lied on the stand for you, baby” torch song, and “Young Love” is a balls-out alt-rock classic in the making. Equally at home performing pop, new wave, hip-hop, rock, disco and various combinations thereof, she’s also skilled in piano, guitar, the aforementioned keytar and a host of electronic music-making tools.
And she knows how to pick collaborators. She’s recorded with up-and-comer Secondhand Serenade and written with Colby Odonis (“What You Got”), currently signed to Akon’s Konvict Music, as well as *NSYNC’s JC Chasez and The Summer Obsession’s Lucien “Luke Skywalker” Walker. Skywalker is a particularly apt partner, as evidenced by his rhyming on “Nymphomaniac” and “Unstable.” “Madonna was my idol growing up,” Jordana volunteers, “partly because she always collaborated with such great people.”
Another influence, The Beatles, inspired Jordana to add guitar to her repertoire. “I started taking piano lessons when I was four,” she says. “But then I fell in love with the Beatles. I went from singing their songs to wanting to play their songs – on guitar. I thought guitar was the cooler instrument.” She remembers seeing and being “all over” Sade, Whitney Houston and New Kids on the Block, but it was Debbie Gibson who really inspired her. “I was drawn to her,” she confirms. “I thought I was just like her because she sang pop music and she wrote her own material, and I was writing songs just like hers.”
Jordana’s first composition, written when she was seven, was about a lost dog named Chessie who was wondering around the ranch where she and her family vacationed. She recalls, tongue firmly in cheek: “It had two chords, D minor and A. It was sad but still poppy, with a monster hook. And it had that great chorus lyric: ‘I love Chessie.’”
Come middle school, Jordana tried to put together a band. “But I was the only one who took it seriously, so I was forced to become a solo artist,” she says. Her efforts paid off in high school when she was asked repeatedly to write songs for the school musical. “That was my reason to live,” she insists.
Raised in Old Bridge, N.J., Jordana lit out for New York City at 17. She fell in with Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit crowd, and eventually found herself in a studio with Wyclef Jean, who encouraged her musical ambitions, and, of all people, Tom Jones. During these vagabond days, she occasionally found herself homeless, which she’d remedy by spending the night at Penn Station or couch-surfing, i.e. “meeting people at clubs and staying with them for as long as they’d have me.”
Clubs were also fertile ground for performing, employment and gathering ideas. A stint as a go-go dancer was particularly instructive. “I loved the music,” she says. “I’d hear it in my head after I left the club and it would inspire all these melodies. By the time I got home, songs would be pouring out of me.”
It was also at a club that she met Cobra Starship frontman Gabriel Saporta, whom she’d seen perform years before. She marched up to him and, after very little preamble, said, “I should sing in your band.” “Of course he said, ‘I’m singing,’” she relates. “So I said, ‘I can play any instrument in that band; what do you want me to play?’ And that’s how I ended up in Cobra Starship playing keytar.”
Her tenure in the band saw her sharing stages with Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, 30 Seconds to Mars and Jack’s Mannequin, among others. She also appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” playing “Bring It,” Cobra Starship’s contribution to the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack.
In 2007 her membership in the group was revoked, about which Jordana remains philosophical. “Gabe gave me a huge break,” she says, “and he really inspired me. Being in that band was an important experience for me. I’d watch Gabe onstage every night, and it just made me want to write and sing and do my own thing.”
Her own thing took a giant leap forward after an afternoon of playing Guitar Hero with a seven-year-old. He subsequently turned her on to the recording program GarageBand. “I bought a Mac that day,” she says, “and started playing around on GarageBand. I recorded a bunch of songs” – some of which feature her dog barking in the background – “and put them up on MySpace, and all of a sudden people were contacting me and telling me how much they liked my music.” Music-industry types began sniffing around not long afterward.
Jordana, meanwhile, is well on her way to amassing enough material for an album, with “Nymphomaniac” likely its first single. This would surely please the commentator who recently opined on the music site www.threeimaginarygirls.com: “If you … have spent the last several years lamenting the dearth of upper-middle-class suburban wink-wink hip-hop song recasting, you will dance the dance of joy when your ears are massaged by the songs ‘Nymphomaniac’ and ‘Barbados.’”
Speaking of the dance of joy, Jordana declares: “A lot of people complain about where music’s going these days, but I like it. I love progressive, innovative, crazy dance music and I hear interesting stuff like that all the time. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither do I.”
Unstable
Elisa Jordana Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What?
I'm unstable
Damn
I'm sorry that I lost your keys
I'm sorry that I left your ice on the beach
I'm sorry that I left your heat on the seat
See I got mixed feelings, you're unpredictable
I caught you stealing my shrooms - that's despicable
I bought you a poodle, you exchange it for a pitbull
Where's my head at now? Regretful.
I didn't mean to hold you down babe
I just need all your attention, I just wanna be around
I'm unstable
You left my keys on the table?
I'm unstable
You drank on my black label
I'm unstable
And got with the dude who installed our cable?
I'm unstable
What?
I'm unstable
Damn
I'm sorry that I lost your keys
I'm sorry that I left your ice on the beach
I'm sorry that I left your heat on the seat
I lost your weed, but don't you still want me?
You lent my phone to your diva?
I'm sorry
You spent twenty G's on a holistic healer?
I'm sorry!
Another blackberry upgrade?
Yeah, baby I'm sorry!
Damn
I'm unstable
Why you acting so hateful?
I'm unstable
I cant believe how ungrateful
I'm unstable
You drank how many redbulls?
I'm unstable
What?
I'm unstable
Damn
I'm sorry that I lost your keys
I'm sorry that I left your ice on the beach
I'm sorry that I left your heat on the seat
I lost your weed, but don't you still want me?
You drank my dong(????), and I aint even getting none
I'm unstable
You let that bong into my candy apple sixty one? (?)
I'm unstable
You got so drunk that you couldn't even stand up?
I'm unstable
What?
I'm unstable
Damn
The song Unstable by Elisa Jordana seems to be about a person with a tumultuous relationship, who recognizes their own unstable behavior that may have contributed to the overall instability. The chorus features the repeated refrain of "I'm unstable," emphasizing the singer's own recognition of their problematic behavior. The singer apologizes for losing keys and weed, leaving items in inconvenient places, and generally being inconsistent. They also bring up examples of their partner's own erratic behavior, such as drinking their black label, upgrading their blackberry, and getting with the cable installer. However, the singer still seems to want their partner's attention and affection, despite acknowledging their own instability.
The verse seems to delve deeper into the complexities of the relationship, with the singer experiencing "mixed feelings" about their partner's unpredictability. They mention catching their partner stealing their shrooms and exchanging a poodle for a pitbull, implying that the partner is also contributing to the instability. The line "I didn't mean to hold you down babe" suggests that the singer may feel guilty about their own actions and how they may be affecting their partner. Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of tumult and confusion, with both parties contributing to the instability of the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm unstable
I am mentally and emotionally unstable.
What?
Expressing confusion or disbelief.
Damn
Expressing frustration or annoyance.
I'm sorry that I lost your keys
I apologize for losing your keys.
I'm sorry that I left your ice on the beach
I apologize for leaving your ice on the beach.
I'm sorry that I left your heat on the seat
I apologize for leaving your heat on the seat.
I lost your weed, but don't you still want me?
I lost your marijuana, but do you still love me?
See I got mixed feelings, you're unpredictable
I have conflicting emotions about you because you are unpredictable.
I caught you stealing my shrooms - that's despicable
I saw you stealing my mushrooms, and that is disgusting and condemnable behavior.
I bought you a poodle, you exchange it for a pitbull
I purchased a poodle for you, but you exchanged it for a pitbull.
Where's my head at now? Regretful.
I am filled with regret and confusion.
I didn't mean to hold you down babe
I did not intend to limit or control you, my darling.
I just need all your attention, I just wanna be around
I crave your undivided attention. I just want to be close to you.
You left my keys on the table?
Did you leave my keys on the table?
You drank on my black label
Did you drink my expensive black label liquor?
And got with the dude who installed our cable?
Did you sleep with the man who installed our cable?
You lent my phone to your diva?
Did you lend my phone to your high-maintenance friend?
You spent twenty G's on a holistic healer?
Did you spend twenty thousand dollars on a holistic healer?
Another blackberry upgrade?
Did you upgrade to another blackberry phone?
Why you acting so hateful?
Why are you behaving in a cruel and spiteful manner?
I cant believe how ungrateful
I am shocked by your lack of gratitude.
You drank how many redbulls?
How many Redbull energy drinks did you consume?
You drank my dong(????), and I aint even getting none
You drank my (unclear) and I did not even get any for myself.
You let that bong into my candy apple sixty one? (?)
Did you allow that bong in my candy apple colored sixty-one car?
You got so drunk that you couldn't even stand up?
Did you become so intoxicated that you could not even stand up?
Contributed by Nora S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Melissa Blair
I love this song!
krasaee
This is hilarious man !!
Tim T
There's another 3 minutes I can never get back. Thanks BenjElisa Schwartzski
Eric Joel
This song makes me jealous of the def.
JayDuke
I kinda like it
Luke Harbison
I thought ke$ha was bad.
chasepryor
she is really bad, Benji must know she can't sing, it's gotta be a joke
Siva Ones
Wow this is terrible.
Xrdragon8d
Terrible song