Then She Did…

Then She Did… is a Jane’s Addiction song written in 1987, shortly after the death of Xiola Blue.  According to Stephen Perkins, the song was originally titled Then She Died.  It is a song about Perry Farrell’s mother’s suicide and the accidental overdose of his friend and former lover Xiola Blue.  In the final verse of the song, Perry is asking Xiola to visit his mother in heaven.

Lyrics

Now her paints are dry…
And I looked outside…
At the corner boys, yeah…
Ayh, oh, where did you go?
I don’t know.

I went to see your pictures…
I spread them across the floor…
So this is where they are shown…
Now they’re probably saying to you,
“If you keep it up you’ll be born”
But you won’t ever listen,
I’ll bet…

Burnt out grass
Scorched by the sun
The buildings remain
We will beat them all to dust,
I’ll bet…

Pulled from a headless shell
That blinked on and off, “Hotel”
Now the nameless dwell
They hold your key and turn your knob,
I’ll bet…

Will you say hello to my ma?
Will you pay a visit to her?
She was an artist, just as you were
I’d have introduced you to her
She would take me out on Sundays
We’d go laughing through the garbage
She repaired legs like a doctor
On the kitchen chairs we sat on
She was unhappy, just as you were
Unhappy, just as you were
Unhappy, just as you were
Unhappy, just as you were…

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