"The Ballad of Jane Doe" is a song featured in Ride the Cyclone, it is Jane Doe's song expressing her not knowing who she is or was in the living world.
Lyrics[]
Jane:
Some might say
We're released
Pushing daisies, deceased
But we all know the worms must be fed
There's just one lingering fear
Oh my soul, is it here?
Or is it rotting somewhere with my head?
Jane:
Oh my soul
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Oh my soul
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Oh my soul
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Oh my soul
Jane/Choir:
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ahh. . .
Jane:
Ahh. . . ahh
Jane:
Oh no soul, and no name
And no story, what a shame
Cruel existence was only a sham
Oh Saint Peter, let me in!
You must know where I've been
Won't you tell me at last who I am?
Jane:
Who I am
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Who I am
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Who I am
Choir:
Ah, ah, ah
Jane:
Who I am
Jane/Choir:
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ooh. . .
Ahh. . .
Jane:
Ahh. . . ahh
And from the ground
Beneath my feet
I hear the anguish of the street
'Choir:
A choir never complete
Jane:
And like an old
Forgotten tune
A song that no one knows. . .
Forgot how it goes
Just John and me
Forever eternally, Jane Doe
And I'm asking
Jane/Choir:
"Why, Lord?"
Jane:
If this is how I
Jane/Choir:
Die, Lord
Jane:
Why be left with no family And no friends?
Choir:
Ooh
Jane:
I've got no
Jane/Choir:
Celebration
Jane:
Just this
Jane/Choir:
Consolation
Jane:
Time eats all his children in the end
Ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah ahhhhhhhh
A melody floats through the air
When silence falls, does no one care?
Choir:
Does anyone care?
Jane:
Another sad, forgotten tune
Another song that no one knows
So that's how it goes!
Just John and me
Forever eternally, Jane Doe
Choir:
And she's asking "Why, Lord?"
Jane:
Why, oh why, oh why, oh why?
Choir:
This is no way to die, Lord!
Jane:
No one to sing, no one to sigh
Now that all is said and done
Isn’t there anyone
To tell me who I am?
Choir:
No singing songs of celebration
Jane:
Ah ah ah ah
Choir:
Just this sorry speculation
Jane:
Ah, ahh
Like John I’ll be
Eternally
A forgotten name, some lost refrain
Just "Jane". . .
Jane
Doe!
Choir:
A melody floats through the air
When silence falls, does no one care?
Jane
Doe
Trivia[]
- "The Ballad of Jane Doe" is not actually a ballad, but a lament. Contrary to this, "Noel's Lament" is actually a ballad, and not a lament.
- St. Peter is the patron saint of popes, net-makers, shipbuilders, fisherman, and locksmiths.
- In the song, it is possible that Jane Doe may have been asking St. Peter to let her into Heaven because he is the one to hold the keys of Heaven.[1]
- The lyric "Time eats all his children in the end" is referencing the Greek God of Time, Cronos, who had eaten his children (Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia) in one of his myths. He was later dethroned by Zeus, who was born without his father knowing.
- In addition, the beginning of the song references the way her body was found; without a head. This might be the only song in the entire that references a death.