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
Why Can't We Be Happy
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But there are things
I can't explain
Like havin' dreams come true
While all the world
Is sad and cold
Look at me and you
Why don't I feel happy, baby?
I love you so much
Why can't we be happy?
Every time we have a fight
It hurts me through and through
And all at once I'm so unsure
What I'm supposed to do
Even so I always know I'll spend my life with you
We have so much
Why don't I feel happy, baby?
I love you so much
Why can't we be happy?
No one can satisfy
The needs in me but you
I try to speak my mind to you
But you don't hear me
I gotta get off by myself
An' have a drink or two
'cause lately I been so uptight from
What we're goin' through
To live without you
Would hurt no doubt
I never wanted to
We have so much
Why don't I feel happy, baby?
I love you so much
Why can't we be happy?
The song "Can't Control Myself" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is a raw and emotional love song that explores the complexity of relationships. The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song, as Jett sings about losing control and taking her emotions out on her partner. She acknowledges that there are things she can't explain, like having dreams come true while the rest of the world is sad and cold.
The chorus is a plea for happiness, despite the fact that Jett and her partner have so much love for each other. She questions why she can't feel happy and wonders what they can do to change their current situation. The verses continue to explore the ups and downs of their relationship, with Jett admitting that every time they have a fight, it hurts her deeply, but she knows she wants to spend her life with this person.
The bridge of the song is particularly powerful, as Jett sings about her difficulty in communicating her needs to her partner. She feels like only they can satisfy the needs she has, but she struggles to get through to them. She admits that she often needs to take some space and have a drink to relieve the tension in their relationship.
Overall, "Can't Control Myself" is a vulnerable and honest look at the complexities of love and relationships. It shows that even when two people love each other deeply, it's not always easy to make it work.
Line by Line Meaning
I didn't mean to lose control and take it out on you
I'm sorry I got angry and upset with you, I didn't mean to take it out on you.
But there are things I can't explain
There are certain things that I can't put into words or describe adequately.
Like havin' dreams come true
One of those things I can't explain is how amazing it feels to have my dreams come true.
While all the world is sad and cold
Even though the world can be a hard and depressing place sometimes.
Look at me and you
But when I look at you and me together, I know we have something special.
We have so much
We have each other, love, and many good things in our lives.
Why don't I feel happy, baby?
But even with all we have, I can't help feeling unhappy sometimes.
I love you so much
I want you to know that my love for you is real and deep.
Why can't we be happy?
I wonder why we can't be happy all the time, despite all the good things in our lives.
Every time we have a fight
When we argue and fight with each other.
It hurts me through and through
It pains me deeply and affects me in many ways.
And all at once I'm so unsure
At times like these, I feel lost and uncertain.
What I'm supposed to do
I don't know what I should do to make things right.
Even so I always know I'll spend my life with you
But no matter what happens, I still believe that we're meant to be together forever.
No one can satisfy
There's no one else who can fill the needs I have.
The needs in me but you
Only you can satisfy those needs.
I try to speak my mind to you
I attempt to express my thoughts and feelings to you.
But you don't hear me
But I feel like you're not really listening to me.
I gotta get off by myself
Sometimes I need to be alone for a while.
An' have a drink or two
To calm my nerves and relax a little.
'cause lately I been so uptight from what we're goin' through
Because lately, I've been feeling stressed and anxious about what we're dealing with.
To live without you would hurt no doubt
I know that life without you would be painful and difficult for me.
I never wanted to
I've never even considered living without you.
We have so much
Again, we have a lot of good things in our lives.
Why don't I feel happy, baby?
But again, despite all that, I still can't shake this feeling of unhappiness.
I love you so much
And again, I want you to know that I do love you deeply and truly.
Why can't we be happy?
I just wish that we could be happy all the time.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOAN JETT, KENNETH BENJAMIN LAGUNA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind