R.I.P. Jani Lane

As I'm sure most of you heard, former Warrant singer Jani Lane was found dead yesterday, aged only 47. Whilst no cause of death is known at this time, connections have to be made to his personal problems he's had for the last several years. It always seems that as far away you get from your addictions, they always come back to haunt you, and this is the latest example of a talented musician leaving us far too soon.

Like a lot of people, my first 'taste' of Warrant was the song Cherry Pie, a song Jani Lane wrote in 15 minutes flat, and ended up hating from interviews I saw with him. It can always be the bane of a songwriters existence if they write a song that becomes so big that it is all they are associated with. And imagine if you hate it.

But there was so much more to Warrant, and Lane wrote some brilliant songs for the hair metal genre. And I'm just going to list them all, because, for me, they will be his legacy.

Uncle Tom's Cabin
I Saw Red
Blind Faith
The Power
32 Pennies
Down Boys
Sometimes She Cries
Heaven
Machine Gun
Bonfire
The Bitter Pill

That is just scratching the surface. In fact, The Bitter Pill is my favourite Warrant song, and contains (still to this day) one of my favourite lyrics ever in "Sometimes I'm as right as rain, but when it rains it pours", I just love that kind of wordplay he used (I Saw Red is similar for that too.)

As for Cherry Pie? Yeah its big, cheesy and overblown but it never has failed to bring a massive smile to my face, and I hope Jani got some satisfaction out of that. And I hope he is in a better place now, away from the problems that plagued his personal life.

R.I.P Jani, and thanks for the music.