"Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album Working Class Dog, which was released in 30 January 1981. The song is about unrequited love of a young man for his good friend's girlfriend.

Upon its release in the United States in 1981, "Jessie's Girl" was slow to break out. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 28 March but took 19 weeks to hit No. 1 reaching that position on 1 August, one of the slowest climbs to No. 1 at that time. The song ultimately spent 32 weeks on the chart. Billboard ranked it as No. 5 for all of 1981.

Springfield recorded an acoustic version of the song for his 1999 album, Karma.

Background

In the late 1970s, Rick Springfield took a stained glass class in Pasadena. Also in the class was a man named Gary as well as Gary's girlfriend. Springfield became friends with both, while developing feelings for the girlfriend. He wrote the song based on the negative feelings he had about the situation. Springfield initially wanted to use the actual name of his friend, but decided to go with a different name as "Gary" didn't sound good when being sung. He chose "Jessie" because he was wearing a T-shirt with the name of football player Ron Jessie on it. Springfield told Songfacts that Winfrey's people had tried to find her, and they got as far back as finding out that the teacher of the class had died two years previously and that his class records were thrown out one year after his death.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Mix

  • Rick Springfield – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitars
  • Neil Giraldo – lead guitars, bass guitar
  • Gabriel Katona – synthesizers
  • Mike Baird – drums

Chart performance

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1981)

!Peak<br>position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report)

|1

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|US Cash Box

|1

|-

!scope="row"|US Record World

|1

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1984)

!Peak<br>position

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1981)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report)

|15

|-

!scope="row"|Canada (RPM Top 100 Singles)

|55

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

|5

|-

!scope="row"|US Cash Box

|3

|}

All-time charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1958–2018)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

|186

|}

Certifications

Coheed and Cambria sequel

On 21 August 2020, the American progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria released a music video entitled "Jessie's Girl 2" to their official YouTube channel. The video depicts Springfield, who supplies some of the song's vocals, working in a bar while the titular "Jessie's Girl" wreaks havoc. The lyrics state that the protagonist from the original song was successful in stealing the Girl away from Jessie, but realizes that she is mentally unstable. The protagonist muses that he was likely set up by Jessie, in order for him to be rid of the woman, and that he (the protagonist) is now trapped in a loveless marriage with children and a future he did not want. The video ends with the Girl stealing the barkeeper's keys and escaping. The song also references Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny" via lyrics that mention the protagonist changing his number. Sanchez had originally come up with the idea of a sequel during a 2019 studio session and later approached Springfield to pitch the idea via an Instagram Live session. Springfield liked the draft prepared by Coheed and Cambria and agreed to participate.

Coheed and Cambria released the single digitally and as a 7-inch single in September 2020.

In 2010, Jessie's Girl was covered on Glee in the episode Laryngitis. In the same year, the cover was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

See also

  • List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981
  • List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1981
  • List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s

References

  • Rick Springfield discusses "Jessie's Girl" – RetroRewind interview