Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are an American rock band led by artist Joan … Read Full Bio ↴Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are an American rock band led by artist Joan Jett. After The Runaways split in 1979, Jett pursued a solo career to explore the same aggressive punk style and met Kenny Laguna. Jett soon released her self-titled debut.

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

Oh Woe Is Me
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

What happened to my heroes
They seemed to disappear
The idols keep on singin'
But they don't sound sincere
Oh woe is me, oh woe is me
I don't got no money
All I got's a name
The future's lookin' hazy

But who can I blame

Oh woe is me, oh woe is me
Woe is me, woe is me
Is me me me me me
What happened to the parties
I thought they'd never end
I lost my only lover
Proves you can't trust a friend

Oh woe is me, oh woe is me
Oh woe is me, oh woe is me, yeah

Overall Meaning

In the song "Oh Woe Is Me" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the lyrics explore the feelings of disillusionment and despair that the singer is experiencing. The opening lines express the singer's sadness about the loss of their heroes, who were once their inspiration and idols, but now seem to have disappeared. The next lines question the sincerity of the new idols who are still singing. The singer laments their lack of money and how their future prospects seem uncertain, but they don't know who to blame for their situation. The chorus then repeats the phrase "woe is me"' emphasizing their sorrow and misfortune.

Further in the song, the lyrics describe the singer's nostalgia and longing for the good times that have passed. They miss the parties that they thought would never end and feel betrayed by the loss of their only lover, which has shattered their trust in friendship. The song title adds to the overall tone of melancholy and self-pity, and the harsh repetition of "me me me me me" adds a layer of self-indulgence to the lyrics. Overall, the lyrics paint a picture of someone who is struggling with a sense of loss and isolation, and is unable to find solace or hope.

Line by Line Meaning

What happened to my heroes
I am disappointed in the people I looked up to who are now nowhere to be found.

They seemed to disappear
I can't seem to find any trace of them.

The idols keep on singin'
Famous people are still making music.

But they don't sound sincere
Their music lacks authenticity.

Oh woe is me, oh woe is me
I am feeling hopeless and sad.

I don't got no money
I am broke.

All I got's a name
My reputation is my only asset.

The future's lookin' hazy
What will become of me is uncertain.

But who can I blame
I have no one to hold responsible for my misfortunes.

What happened to the parties
The fun social gatherings from the past are gone.

I thought they'd never end
I believed they would go on forever.