Shortly after that, with Kenny's assistance, Joan formed the backing group "The Blackhearts" with three obscure New York area musicians: Gary Ryan on bass, Eric Ambel (replaced shortly thereafter by Rick Byrd) on guitar and Lee Crystal on drums. After almost a year of touring, Joan's first album with The Blackhearts, entitled I Love Rock'N'Roll came out in December of 1981. The album included a version of "Little Drummer Boy" on the pre-Christmas editions. The album's impact on the music scene was immediate with the LP reaching the Top Five, while the single "I Love Rock'n'Roll" hit the very top of the Billboard's Charts on March 20, 1982 and stayed #1 for 7 weeks. Joan Jett had come back from nowhere.
A string of Top 40 hits followed, as well as sellout tours with The Police, Queen, and Aerosmith, among others. Jett was the second American act of any kind to perform behind the Iron Curtain, the first one being Blood, Sweat & Tears in Romania in 1969. She was among the first English-speaking rock acts to appear in Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Forced label changes in the 80's led to a decline in popularity. Despite the follow-up albums "Album" and "Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth" being praised by her devout fans, neither got the attention or radio play the first two albums received.
After receiving her own MTV New Year's Eve special, Jett beat out a number of contenders to appear in the movie Light of Day with Michael J. Fox. It was about this time that Ryan and Crystal left the Blackhearts. They were soon replaced by the powerful rhythm section of Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton. Later that year, Jett released "Good Music", which featured appearances by The Beach Boys, The Sugarhill Gang and singer Darlene Love. The album only spawned two minor singles which received little airplay. This label decided the band had to either take in outside help or they would lose their contract.
And so they did. Her next release, Up Your Alley, went multi-platinum and was followed by "The Hit List", which was an international hit. Popular songwriter/producer Desmond Child was brought in, resulting in the release of album "Up Your Alley". This album brought the band a resurgence in popularity, with top 10 singles "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and "Little Liar".
This return to the spotlight would be short-lived, however. Follow-up album "The Hit List", an all-cover songs release, spawned only a minor hit with Jett's version of AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds".
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts became the first rock band to perform a series of shows at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway, breaking the record at the time for the fastest ticket sell-out ever.
1991 and 1994 had two more releases, "Notorious" and "Pure & Simple". But radio had started looking to grunge by this time, and neither album got the attention they deserved.
In the 1990s, Jett and Laguna released "Flashback", a compilation of her career so far on their own Blackheart Records. Her next release, "Notorious" (which featured The Replacements' Paul Westerberg) was the last with Sony/CBS as Jett switched to Warner Brothers.
In 1994, the Blackhearts released the well received Pure and Simple, which featured tracks written with Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland), Donita Sparks (L7) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill).
While a slew of hits packages, some with an occasional new or previously unreleased track were released following this, it would be 10 years before a new studio album would appear.
This would be 2004's "Naked", and thus far has been a Japan-only release. The album sees Jett returning to a more raw and experimental sound, closer to that of her first 4 releases than the polished material that began with "Good Music".
Failing to get "Naked" released in other markets, Jett released on a more international level "Sinner" in June 2006, on Blackheart Records, her own label.. This album featured many remixed tracks from "Naked", and a complete rewrite of "Stuck in the Middle" to new version "Riddles". Lead-off single and video was a cover of "A.C.D.C." by Sweet.
To support the album, the band appeared on the 2006 Warped Tour, and embarked on a Fall 2006 tour with Eagles of Death Metal.
After a long break from recording, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts released a 6-song EP of new material, "Mindsets," in June 2023.
Wynnewood
03. Love Is Pain
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or you will bleed
You know I need to get my way
So now you listen up
You are my pup
I beat you up in every way
An' when I speak to you
You answer true
I love to make you wait
You take the bait
I know you hate and love me too
We are not to blame
For seeing love is pain
An' we are not ashamed
To say that love is pain
An' we'll do it again
I know you're not afraid
'Cause when you stayed
You knew you made the final show
So now you must submit
I'll never quit till you admit
You'll never go
We are not to blame
For seeing love is pain
We are not ashamed
To say that love is pain
We are not ashamed, we are not ashamed
We are not ashamed, we are not ashamed
To say that love is pain
And we'll do it again
"Love Is Pain" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is a song that talks about the power dynamic in a relationship, specifically one in which the woman is in control. The first few lines are quite direct: "Hey you must obey / Or you will bleed / You know I need to get my way / So now you listen up / You are my pup / I beat you up in every way". Here, the singer uses violent language to convey the dominance she has in the relationship. She expects her partner to obey her without question, and threatens violence if he does not comply. This kind of language sets up an unhealthy power dynamic, where one person has control over the other.
However, the chorus complicates things: "We are not to blame / For seeing love is pain / And we are not ashamed / To say that love is pain / And we'll do it again". Here, the singer seems to be acknowledging that the relationship is not healthy, but also sees it as inevitable. She is not ashamed of the pain that comes with love because she knows that it is a part of the process. The last line of the chorus ("And we'll do it again") suggests that despite the pain and manipulation, the couple will continue their relationship.
The song presents a problematic view of relationships, one in which control and dominance are valued over mutual respect and trust. However, it also speaks to a certain kind of power dynamic that can exist in relationships and the complicated emotions that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey you must obey
I demand obedience from you
Or you will bleed
You will face consequences if you don't obey me
You know I need to get my way
I am a controlling person who always needs to get what I want
So now you listen up
Pay attention to what I say
You are my pup
You are under my control and I treat you like a dog
I beat you up in every way
I hurt you emotionally and/or physically
An' when I speak to you
When I talk to you
You answer true
You better answer truthfully to me
Or I will make you black and blue
Or I will physically harm you
I love to make you wait
I enjoy making you wait for me
You take the bait
You fall for my manipulative tactics
I know you hate and love me too
You have conflicting feelings towards me
We are not to blame
We are not responsible
For seeing love is pain
For acknowledging that love can hurt
An' we are not ashamed
And we are not embarrassed
To say that love is pain
To admit that love can be painful
An' we'll do it again
And we will continue to put ourselves through the pain of love
I know you're not afraid
I know you are not scared
'Cause when you stayed
Because you chose to stick around
You knew you made the final show
You knew it was the end and you still stayed
So now you must submit
So now you have to give in to me
I'll never quit till you admit
I won't stop until you confess to something
You'll never go
You will never leave me
We are not ashamed, we are not ashamed
We are unashamed of our love
To say that love is pain
To admit that love can be painful
And we'll do it again
And we will continue to put ourselves through the pain of love
Lyrics ยฉ BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JOAN JETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mark Russell
Joan jett and the blackheart what legends in the music ๐ถ ๐ต business what can you say about Joan jett a icon and a legendary singer with amazing vocals and fantastic lyrics ๐ค๐ป ๐ ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐คJOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEART ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค
Beniii
Esto si es mรบsica ๐ค
Mark Ciale
Skull crushing music!! ๐๐ฅ
Darrion Stark
Yo just found this band and I love the sound and lyrics pretty Damm good
Redsoxfan
Canโt wait to see Joan in Jacksonville next weekโฆ She is a true legend.
RedGoldGreen-Dub1975
Great song ๐ค๐ค๐ป๐
John ะ.
Love her.
Gonzalo Nieto
Joan Jett - My favorite ROCK Artist !!
Descubriment !!! ๐ฅ๐คโค๏ธ๐!! โฎ๏ธ๐ธ!
๐! ๐๐! ๐ซ๐๐ซ๐บ Man, is a Wolf, for a Man !!! Hard as a ROCK !!! โก๐ฅ
Russell Lamb
Doubt That The Stars Are Fire; Doubt That The Sun Doesn't Move, Doubt Truth To Be A Liar, But Never Doubt My Love For You Is Boundless Eternal And True ๐น๐นโค๏ธโค๏ธ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
Alessandro Sabino
Very beautiful ๐๐๐