She Don't Use Jelly

"She Don't Use Jelly" is a 1993 song by The Flaming Lips, and is their biggest radio hit to date. It is from their album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. It reached number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-30 hit in Australia.

"She Don't Use Jelly"
Single by The Flaming Lips
from the album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
ReleasedOctober 1993
Genre
Length3:40
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Flaming Lips singles chronology
"Wastin' Pigs EP"
(1991)		 "She Don't Use Jelly"
(1993)		 "Turn It On"
(1995)

Music and lyrics

Discussing the song, the band's website states, "With its chiming pedal steel chorus breaks and seemingly nonsensical lyrics, the song entered into the realms of novelty hit. It's a happy little ditty about strange people and their individual idiosyncrasies, with pretty melodies laced throughout and punctuated by trademark moments of crunching but still harmonious noise."[1]

The song describes a girl who "thinks of ghosts" and puts Vaseline on toast, a guy who "goes to shows" and uses magazines to blow his nose, and another girl that "reminds [the track's narrator] of Cher" and uses tangerines to make her hair orange. Coyne has stated, "The song came to me very quickly, and I thought it was sort of funny."[2]

Reception and legacy

"She Don't Use Jelly" became popular after being featured on the MTV show Beavis and Butt-head, nearly a year after the album's release. It is still their highest charting single to date (and the only to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100), even entering the top 10 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, at number 9. The song's success additionally garnered the band a guest spot on the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210, in which they played live at the show's hangout, The Peach Pit; afterwards, supporting character Steve Sanders (portrayed by actor Ian Ziering) remarks, "You know, I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!"[3]

Even though the band often ignores playing their pre-Soft Bulletin material, "She Don't Use Jelly" has usually been the most notable exception and is still played live at most of their concerts to this day. It usually is preceded by a video of Jon Stewart introducing the song on The Jon Stewart Show. After the song, lead singer Wayne Coyne usually inflates an enormous balloon, filled with confetti or smaller balloons, until it bursts onto the crowd.

In pop culture, "She Don't Use Jelly" is played by the band Crucifictorius in season three, episode seven of Friday Night Lights.

Track listing
  1. "She Don't Use Jelly" – 3:41
  2. "Translucent Egg" – 3:46
  3. "Turn It On (Bluegrass Version)" – 6:12
  4. "******* (Plastic Jesus) (Porch Version)" – 1:42

Charts
Chart (1994–1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4] 25
UK Singles (OCC)[5] 94
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 55
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[7] 9

References
  1. Band's webpage about the song
  2. "The Wikipedia Files: The Flaming Lips on Chicago Public Radio Blog, July 21, 2009". Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  3. Clip of performance on Beverly Hills, 90210 on YouTube
  4. "Australian-charts.com – The Flaming Lips – She Don't Use Jelly". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  5. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  6. "The Flaming Lips Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  7. "The Flaming Lips Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
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