I love Joshua Kadison and “Jessie” which was a hit in 1993. He wrote it for his ex-girlfriend Sarah Jessica Parker who wasn’t anywhere near as popular as she is today. It’s a beautiful song even without all this interesting subtext. It truly captures the essence of being a slave to your own heart and be willing to forgive them over and over again. Ultimately, most of us learn that some people never change, no matter how much we love them.
Sarah Jessica Parker married fellow actor Matthew Broderick in 1997 and went on to super stardom in movies such as “Honeymoon in Vegas” and of course her smash TV series, Sex and the City.
Joshua actually had a followup song on his debut album called The Georgia Rain which addressed whatever happened to him and his Jessie. Here’s an excerpt:
There’s a trailer by the sea down in Mexico.
We dreamt a lot about it but we never did go.
Some dreams are better from afar, that’s just how things are.
And everything’s alright ’cause Jessie’s singing me to sleep tonight.
Here’s the video
Jessie
From a phone booth in Vegas, Jessie calls at 5 A.M.
To tell me how she’s tired of all of them.
She says, “Baby, I been thinking ’bout a trailer by the sea.
We could go to Mexico… you, the cat and me.
We’ll drink tequila and look for sea shells.
Now, doesn’t that sound sweet?”
Oh, Jessie, you always do this every time I get back on my feet.
Jessie paint your pictures ’bout how it’s gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea;
Jessie you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
She asks me how the cat’s been. I say, “Moses he’s just fine
But he used to think about you all the time.
We finally took your pictures down off the wall.
Oh, Jessie, how do you always seem to know just when to call?”
She says, “Get your stuff together. Bring Moses and drive real fast.”
And I listen to her promise, “I swear to God this time it’s gonna last.”
Jessie paint your pictures ’bout how it’s gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea;
Jessie you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
I’ll love you in the sunshine, lay you down in the warm white sand.
And who knows, maybe this time things’ll turn out just the way you planned.
Jessie paint your pictures ’bout how it’s gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea;
Jessie you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
Here are the words to the follow-up song
Georgia Rain
When all my dreams are fallin’ on stony ground
and I start wonderin’ why I’m even around,
can’t find the sunshine anywhere,
Jessie puts her arms around me and runs her fingers throgh me hair.
And Jessie sings soft as the Georgia rain
comin’ down easy o
n a windowpane.
And Jessie sings warm as the late night summer breeze
hummin’ some faraway tune to the willow trees.
And life is everything God meant it to be
when Jessie’s singing soft as the Georgia rain to me.
She call me angel and says, “Let me dry your eyes.
You mean by now you still don’t realize
that everything I want is what I got.
so angel stop your thinkin’ ’bout all the things your not.”
And Jessie sings soft as the Georgia rain
comin’ down easy on a windowpane.
And Jessie sings warm as
the late night summer breeze
hummin’ some far away tune to the willow trees.
And life is everything God meant it to be
when Jessie’s singing soft as the Georgia rain to me.
There’s a trailer by the sea down in Mexico.
We dreamt a lot about it but we never did go.
Some dreams are better from afar, that’s just how things are.
And everything’s alright ’cause Jessie’s singing me to sleep tonight.
Jessie’s singing me to sleep tonight.
And Jessie sings soft as the Georgia rain
comin’ down easy on a window
pane.
And Jessie sings warm as the late night summer breeze
hummin’ some far away tune to the willow trees.
And life if everything God meant it to be
when Jessie’s singing soft as the Georgia rain to me
when Jessie’s singing soft as the Georgia rain t
o me.