“The Stoic tells himself that although the situation may appear frightening, the truly important thing in life is how he chooses to respond.”
“The Diary of Jane” was the lead single from Breaking Benjamin’s 2006 album, Phobia. It’s one of those tracks… one that defined the band. The single was a massive success, widely played on radio and TV, being added to over a hundred stations in no time at all. This made it the fastest-added song in the history of the label, Hollywood Records. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. and rock charts everywhere. It was certified 4x platinum for four-million copies sold.
The song has the band’s requisite mix of clean verses and huge, soaring choruses. It carries that alternative metal weight of thick, often palm-muted guitar riffs. But above all, it was slightly more polished and melodic than previous singles had been. The opening guitar, full of delay and reverb. The chorus:
“Something’s getting in the way,
Something’s just about to break,
I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane,
So tell me how it should be.”
Such a chorus seems made to loop in your head, and is just massive-sounding, considering its otherwise radio-friendly structure.
And the meaning of the lyrics?
“It all started because I was watching a lot of Forensic Files stuff where there were a bunch of unsolved mysteries,” frontman Benjamin Burnley said in a 2019 interview with Artist Waves. “There was a Jane Doe that washed up on shore and she just got buried with no story. It was like a meaningless person. Nobody knew who she was to the point where whatever she did was all gone. So, Jane references Jane Doe but then making a story up for her because she had nothing. That’s what started it and then once I started writing, it turned into more than that. … This person Jane was just gone because they were unidentified for so long and lived this entire life for nothing.”
The accompanying music video goes even darker. The narrative has to do with a woman — the band’s “Jane” — trapped in a house full of mirrors that show no reflections. Identity and existence are fluid concepts, and there is no resolution. She is unreachable, already lost. At the video’s end, Burnley places a flower and a book on her tombstone. “Jane Doe” is a term used by law enforcement to label female victims that cannot be identified after death, and this is what’s being explored in the song and video.
So, what was this Jane to Burnley? Or the listener? Longing, loss, or some unresolved emotion? I generally have little idea what Breaking Benjamin songs are about. They’re kept vague enough that you can ascribe your own meaning to them, which is cool. I would interpret a “Jane Doe” as the idea of someone who passes unknown, but had a life full of experiences, uniquely hers. Nobody knew who she was, but her story still matters. That’s what “The Diary of Jane” is to me.
Horrible, yes. But like so many things, this is not something we can control. Seneca once cautioned that we should “not trust ourselves to fall into a state that is disordered, uncontrolled, powerless, enslaved to another, contemptible, worthless to oneself and to itself.”
Maybe there’s something to that. Not to deny the emotion, but feel it completely, then pick yourself up and decide what to do next. Loss is nothing if not a heavy blow. If only it were otherwise, but it isn’t. We can accept what is in our control and what isn’t, and that can help, even if it doesn’t feel that way in the moment.
And the song’s instrumentation, which is heavy and polished all at the same time. The guitar tone and structure might not have been earth-shattering, but they were somewhat unique. It’s not a raw, bludgeoning, wall-of-sound with the volume and gain at max, but something tighter and more controlled. Burnley and then-lead guitarist Aaron Fink were known for playing six-string baritone guitars — instruments that had a longer scale length than the average electric. This meant they could tune nice and low without needing to switch to a seven-string. And they sounded huge because of that precision, not just because of the level of distortion. They use many tunings, but “The Diary of Jane” is in Drop A#. For the aspiring guitarist, a used PRS SE 277 or a used Mike Mushok Baritone would be ideal if you’re looking to play in this style. Or any good baritone from any of the big brands, really.
“The Diary of Jane” hit a real sweet spot for many, and it’s the band’s most popular track. Very catchy verses and chorus, and great tone. Something that was geared for heavy radio play while still pleasing fans of alternative metal. Lyrically, it’s not as in-your-face as Korn or Slipknot, but relies on images and storytelling, which sets them apart from the modern metal herd, something more comparable to the Deftones, if I had to compare them to another band.
Huge rock radio single, but I don’t think it’s overrated. Not even a little bit. It’s one of those tracks that’s popular for a good reason, and I would recommend it and Phobia to anyone into anything hard rock-related.
Lawrence Deveney 