Mary Jane

Album: Come Get It! (1978)
Charted: 41
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is Rick James' thinly veiled ode to marijuana, which is known as "mary jane" (Juana is the Spanish name for Jane, thus "mari-juana" is "mary jane"). There are no obvert drug references in the song, but James made it very obvious what it's about; he openly discussed his love for weed and would spark one up on stage when he could get away with it. Also, he called his band "The Stone City Band."
  • "Mary Jane" was Rick James' second single, following "You And I." Both songs are from his debut album, Come Get It!, released in 1978. "You And I" was a #1 R&B hit and went to #13 on the Hot 100. Radio stations shied away from "Mary Jane," but it still went to #41.

    James was 34 when the album was released but had been in bands since he was a teenager, including one with Neil Young in the '60s called The Mynah Birds. He signed with Motown Records in 1977 and led the post-disco charge into funk. His most popular songs came in the early '80s with "Super Freak" and "Cold Blooded."
  • In the '80s, Rick James put together a girl group he called the Mary Jane Girls, again employing his favorite term for marijuana. They had a hit in 1985 with "In My House."
  • Many musicians smoked pot in the '70s but most of them wouldn't admit it because it was illegal and would tarnish their images if word got out that they indulged. But Rick James didn't care. In fact, he was very open about it. In a 1979 interview with Blues & Soul, he said: "I love marijuana - Mary Jane - and you can print that! I smoke it every day and it's the greatest thing since ice cream and I'm not afraid to say it."
  • The name Mary Jane has showed up in other songs, notably "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, which may or may not be about the drug. The Vines released a song called "Mary Jane" in 2002 that most certainly is. Another famous song that could plausibly be about a girl but is really about pot is "Brown Sugar," a 1995 hit for D'Angelo.
  • When hip-hop emerged in the '80s and '90s, "Mary Jane" became a popular sample for songs about smoking pot, a common topic for many rappers. Examples include "Smoke Buddah" by Redman (1996) and "(I'm in Love With) Mary Jane" by Coolio.

Comments: 3

  • Billy Nunn from Las Vegas Nv.To Kitrik from Edmonton AB "Mary Jane" was the second single, "You & I" was the first. There was never a song called "Come Get It" just the LP ...
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 22, 1978, Rick James performed "Mary Jane" on the Dick Clark ABC-TV network Saturday-afternoon program 'American Bandstand'...
    Three months later on October 29th the song entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at #83; just under nine weeks later it would peak at #41 {for 1 week} and it spent 12 weeks on the Top 100...
    Between 1978 and 1985 he had eleven records on the Hot Top 100 chart;
    He had more success on the Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart; between 1978 and 2006 he charted twenty-eight times, twelve made the Top 10 with four reaching #1, "You and I' for 2 weeks in 1978, "Give It To Me Baby" for 5 weeks in 1981, "Cold Blooded" for 6 weeks in 1983, and "Loosey's Rap" {featuring Roxanne Shanté) for 1 week in 1988...
    Rick James, born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr., passed away at the young age of 56 on August 6th, 2004...
    May he R.I.P.
  • Kitrik from Edmonton, Aba comment to the commentor, You said Mary Jane " was his second single as a solo artist, his first being the album's title track " The album was titled " Come get it " and I dont recall a song called " Come get It" but I do remember his first release being a song called " You and I" ..... no?
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