Today’s classic song of the day is a gentle song about lost love from songwriter Janis Ian, made famous by the late Roberta Flack. The song is “Jesse,” and Ms. Flack included it on her 1973 album, Killing Me Softly. (That album also included Ms. Flack’s monster hit, “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”) Released as a single in September of 1973, “Jesse” spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #30. It also hit #19 on Billboard’s R&B chart and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
“Jesse” is about a woman whose lover has left and may or may not be coming back. Understandably, the woman has trouble letting go; she continues to wait for her Jesse, alone and lonely. It’s all there in the lyrics:
Jesse, come home, there’s a hole in the bed
Where we slept, now it’s growing cold
Jesse, your face and the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart, it hangs on my heart
And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No, I’m not scared, I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home
The song is achingly beautiful, simply heartbreaking; the singer’s loneliness is palpable. I defy you to listen to it without choking up.
Here’s what Ms. Ian remembers about writing “Jesse:”
“I was 14 or 15 when I started that song. Originally ‘Jesse’ was going to be about a Vietnam War vet coming home. But then that was limiting.”
Janis Ian included “Jesse” on her 1974 album, Stars. (That’s the one before 1975’s Between the Lines, which featured her big hit, “At Seventeen.”) But Roberta Flack had recorded it first—and, at least in my opinion, had the slightly better version. (But only slightly.) I love both artists, however, and both versions of the song.
Roberta Flack passed away on February 24, 2025. She was 88 years old. Janis Ian is still with us and still recording and performing; she’s 73 years old. She released her most recent album, The Light at the End of the Line, in 2022.
So here’s your daily bonus track of the day, Janis Ian’s original version of “Jesse.” It is a damned fine song.
