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
Bad Time
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you're walking away
You're moving your lips
But i can't hear a word that you say
My eyes are all filled
From the tears
That i spilled over you
All of these years
Chorus:
I don't know how
You could do this now
It comes at a bad time
You know me so well
So why can't you tell
That this is a bad time now
Hey don't even start
I'll tear you apart
This comes at a bad time
I don't wanna fight
This doesn't feel right
It comes at a bad ad time
Once you are out
You are out and
You're out there alone
You'll never get back
What you had
And you can't go back home
There's things that we said
In our head
That we don't have to say
Keep your thoughts
To yourself
Cuz it's better that way
Chorus
I don't know how
You could do this now
It comes at a bad time
You know me so well
So why can't you tell
That this is a bad time now
Hey don't even start
I'll tear you apart
This comes at a bad time
I don't wanna fight
This doesn't feel right
It comes at a bad ad time
Chorus
The lyrics of "Bad Time" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts speak about a person who is facing a difficult situation as their partner is walking away. The singer is trying to reach out to the departing partner, but they are acting indifferent and not listening to anything the singer has to say. The singer is devastated and can hardly hold back their tears. They are in a state of denial and refuse to accept the fact that their relationship is over. The lyrics describe the feeling of being left alone, without hope of reconciliation or even an effort at saving the relationship. The singer is angry and hurt, and they do not want to fight, but they cannot help lashing out at their partner for leaving at such a bad time.
The chorus of the song insists that the partner's departure is coming at a very inopportune time. The singer believes that their partner knows them well, and they cannot understand why their partner has chosen this particular moment to walk away. The singer feels that they are not in the right mindset to deal with the breakup, and they are likely to react negatively if provoked.
Overall, "Bad Time" is a song about a breakup. The lyrics express the pain of someone who is struggling to come to terms with losing their partner. The singer's emotions are heightened by the inopportune timing of the breakup.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm holding my hand out to you
I'm offering my love and support to you.
And you're walking away
You're turning your back on me and rejecting my help.
You're moving your lips
You're speaking, but I can't understand what you're saying or I don't believe you.
But I can't hear a word that you say
Your words aren't making sense to me or they don't resonate with me.
My eyes are all filled
I'm crying and my vision is blurred by my tears.
From the tears that I spilled over you
I'm crying because of how you've hurt me or let me down.
All of these years
This has been a long-standing issue or I've been carrying this burden for a while.
I just covered my ears from the truth
I'm resisting or denying the truth because it's painful or difficult to accept.
Chorus: I don't know how
I'm at a loss for understanding or explaining how you could do what you've done.
You could do this now
You're acting in a hurtful or disappointing way at a particularly inconvenient or difficult time.
It comes at a bad time
Your actions or words are making a difficult situation even worse, or you're making things harder for me at a bad time.
You know me so well
You understand me deeply or we have a long history together.
So why can't you tell
If you know me so well, why aren't you aware of how much this hurts me or how much I need your support?
That this is a bad time now
I'm going through a tough time or experiencing a crisis, and your actions or words are making it worse.
Hey don't even start
Don't begin to argue or justify yourself, because I won't listen.
I'll tear you apart
I'll attack you verbally or emotionally if you try to argue with me.
This comes at a bad time
You're making a difficult or painful situation even worse by acting in the way you are.
I don't wanna fight
I don't want to argue or engage in conflict with you.
This doesn't feel right
Something about this situation or your actions is not sitting well with me or feels off.
It comes at a bad time
Your actions or words are making a difficult situation even worse, or you're making things harder for me at a bad time.
Once you are out
Once you've left or cut ties with me, there's no going back.
You are out and
Your absence or rejection is final and permanent.
You're out there alone
You're dealing with the consequences of your actions on your own or without my support.
You'll never get back
You won't be able to regain what you've lost or what you've destroyed by your actions.
What you had
The good things or positive aspects of our relationship that you've lost or damaged.
And you can't go back home
There's no going back to the way things were before or undoing the harm that's been done.
There's things that we said
There are things we thought or expressed that we don't need to repeat or revisit now.
In our head
These things only exist as thoughts or memories, and don't need to be brought up again now.
That we don't have to say
We don't need to rehash the past or bring up old issues now, because they won't help us move forward.
Keep your thoughts
Don't express your negative or hurtful opinions or criticisms, because they won't be helpful in this moment.
To yourself
Keep these thoughts or feelings to yourself, because they won't benefit me or the situation.
Cuz it's better that way
It's better for us to keep things peaceful and avoid conflict, rather than stirring up negative emotions or memories.
Contributed by Colin N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.