As Kara’s Flowers took on the new identity of Maroon 5, the band’s music saw a similar change. During his time in New York, Adam Levine began studying different styles of music. He took a great deal of inspiration from Stevie Wonder and brought a new understanding of hip-hop and R&B back to Los Angeles [1]. After a great deal of experimentation, the group finally decided to focus on pop as their primary genre [2].
Finally, the band’s hard work paid off, and Maroon 5 was signed to Octone Records in 2001 (the record company with which they have remained until today) [1,3]. In June of 2002, Maroon 5 released its first album, Songs About Jane [1]. Although it took some time for the album to gain popularity (about a year in fact), the record became a hit, eventually going triple platinum [4].
Of the five hit singles that came off of Maroon 5’s first album (“Harder to Breathe,” “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved,” “Sunday Morning,” and “Must Get Out”) [5], the most interesting story surrounds the song “This Love.” Interestingly, the entirety of Songs About Jane was in fact written about Adam Levine’s ex-girlfriend Jane. Adam has stated himself that each song from the album contains at least one lyric dedicated to this mystery woman. The song “This Love,” however, has an even deeper meaning. Adam wrote this heart-wrenching single the very day he and Jane broke up and she moved away [2]. The lyrics state:
The chaos that controlled my mind
Whispered goodbye and she got on a plane
Never to return again
But always in my heart
This love has taken its toll on me
She said Goodbye too many times before
And her heart is breaking in front of me
And I have no choice cause I won’t say goodbye anymore [6]
Hear it for yourself!
In an amazing feat of irony, “This Love” was actually the single, released a year after the album, which caused Maroon 5’s jump to fame [4]. What started as a release of emotion over a terrible event in Adam’s life turned into an incredible area of success for the band. “This Love” was an instant hit, and, in 2005, the song won a Grammy for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal [7]. Keyboardist Jessie Carmichael even joked that “[the band needed] to get Adam back in a dysfunctional relationship pronto.” [2] All jokes aside, though, it takes true emotion to write a hit album, and Maroon 5 could not have done any better with Songs About Jane.
Citations:
- http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/maroon_5/news_feature_040308/index.jhtml
- http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1457217/maroon-5-want-make-cry.jhtml
- iTunes information on Overexposed (latest album)
- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/Maroon5
- http://www.soundscapemagazine.com/maroon5songsaboutjaneanniversary/
- http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/maroon5/thislove.html
- http://www.grammy.com/artist/maroon-5