In spite of releasing three albums between 2003 and 2009, supporting the Rolling Stones and Green Day on tour and having their music synced on numerous TV shows and video games, Jet are best remembered for one reason and one song: Are You Gonna Be My Girl. Frontman Nic Cester was once heard to proclaim that Jet were “up there with the greatests [sic], with… Lennon and the Stones”, but it seems that the history books already tell a different story.
The first single from their 2003 major label debut Get Born, ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ remains their longest-charting song and has become their signature anthem. Over a decade after its release this tune still has a tendency to appear on set lists from time to time, particularly if you’re playing in a rock covers band that gets booked by venues with sticky floors (which is most of them). (https://www.leankitchenco.com/)
The tambourine and bass intro of ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ betrays the rhythmic influence of Motown hit ‘Can’t Hurry Love’ by The Supremes (which was also the source of inspiration for Iggy Pop and David Bowie when they wrote ‘Lust For Life’) but Mark Wilson’s bass line expands the melodic content beyond the one-note limits of the original.
The riff is a great example of balancing repetition and variation to create a memorable hook – each version of the two bar phrase begins with the same ‘Can’t Hurry Love’ rhythm on the root note before a melodic variation using the notes of A minor pentatonic. The fourth version of the riff (bars 10-11 of the transcription) breaks the rhythmic pattern, offering a new idea that uses a string bend to hint at the flattened 5th (from D to Eb) giving the line a bluesy flavour.
The verse revisits the intro riff, albeit interspersed with rests to allow the vocals to take the spotlight. The chorus shows Mark Wilson taking the ‘Can’t Hurry Love’ rhythm and adding melodic lines that connect the harmony – these lines don’t vary between choruses and the repeated melodies become additional ‘sub-hooks’ in what is already a relentlessly catchy song.
One trouble spot when this tune gets called on gigs once a year sans rehearsal is the ending – the bass doesn’t resolve to the tonic, in spite of what your instincts and memory might tell you.