The Diary of Jane is one of my favourite rock songs and it is definitely one of the greatest songs ever produced in rock history. In this article, we will talk about the possible story and meaning behind the song.
MUSIC VIDEO
The music video starts off with Ben Burnley staring at the grave of someone he loved. That someone turns out to be the girl lying on the bath tub. She probably drowned in the bath tub and died. In the video she wakes up and runs around the house. She realizes that there are no mirrors in any of the rooms.
At last, she reaches a room where all the mirrors have been placed. When she looks in one of the mirror, she is not able to see her reflection signifying probably that she is a ghost. Later, Ben places a rose next to her photo on the diary. He closes the diary which is placed on her gravestone and walks away.
Jane Bryan
The name on the grave stone is Jane Bryan. Jane Bryan was an actress whose career lasted only for 4 years from 1936 -1940. Jane’s role was played by Season 4 American Idol contestant Sarah Mather in the song’s music video. I don’t really know if Jane has any connection to any member of Breaking Benjamin considering she never acted in movies after 1940. Her name even appears at the end of the Angel’s fall video again by Breaking Benjamin. I don’t really know why the band decided to reference her twice in different videos.
Also, she acted in a movie called ‘We Are Not Alone’ which is also the name of Breaking Benjamin’s sophomore album.
Story and Meaning
Note: This is my opinion on what the song might be about. I could be right or wrong about it, but this is my explanation.
Coming back to the meaning of the song, in my opinion the song is based on unrequited love. This is the first idea that one normally gets after reading the lyrics of the song. The girl that the guy loved had passed away.
According to sources, the guy probably thought that the girl who he loved also loved him back. However, when he finds her diary he is curious to know more about what was written in it and see if she has written anything about him. To his astonishment, she doesn’t mention him anywhere in the diary. To make matters worse, the diary probably mentioned all the guys she had affairs with apart from him. Hence, the statement ‘ As I burn another page, as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in The Diary of Jane ‘.
So, he is pretty shocked at the realization that she didn’t love him and had other guys on her mind instead. He places the rose on her diary and closes it maybe signifying that despite all of that he still wishes love for her after her death and decides to leave the place after that.
Also, there was another source claiming what Benjamin Burnley said during an interview about what inspired the song.
Well, I’ll tell you not necessarily what it’s about, but what inspired it because I think that helps explain how it feels for me. It all started because I was watching a lot of Forensic Files stuff where there were a bunch of unsolved mysteries. There was a Jane Doe that washed up on shore and she just got buried with no story. It was like a meaningless person. Nobody knew who she was to the point where whatever she did was all gone. So, Jane references Jane Doe but then making a story up for her because she had nothing. That’s what started it and then once I started writing, it turned into more than that. Our lives are important. Your life is important to you, my life is important to me. We know that somebody is going to remember what we’re all about. This person Jane was just gone because they were unidentified for so long and lived this entire life for nothing.
Benjamin Burnley (according to a source, not sure if its true)
