Songfacts®:

• Who is "Jane" in this song? In a Songfacts interview with Jefferson Starship bass player David Freiberg, who wrote the lyric, he said, "Let us say that it was loosely about an old girlfriend of mine whose name wasn't Jane."
  
  In the song, Jane is playing mind games, stepping out and fooling around. The singer is trying to reel her back in by telling her he knows what's best for her when it comes to love - good luck with that!
  
  Freiberg may have chosen the name Jane to protect the innocent, but it also scans well into lyrics like "you're playing a game," which helps show off the vocal range of lead singer Mickey Thomas.
• "Jane" has lyrics written by David Freiberg and Jim McPherson, and music by Freiberg, McPherson, Paul Kantner and Craig Chaquico. All but McPherson - a professional singer-songwriter - were members of Jefferson Starship at the time. The group - first known as Jefferson Airplane - had an ever-shifting lineup, which at times was completely rebuilt.
• The rocked-up arrangement on this song came courtesy of their guitarist, Craig Chaquico. When David Freiberg started writing it, he had a different musical direction in mind. "I was trying for the style of the Rolling Stones baroque period of the '60s," he told Songfacts. "It was Craig Chaquico who came up with the great hard rock arrangement, and thank goodness for that!"
• This was the first single released from the Freedom at Point Zero album. The song has a polished sound that is far removed from the '60s version of the group, the very psychedelic Jefferson Airplane. Boarding the Starship and heading into the future, Mickey Thomas, famous for singing on "Fooled Around And Fell In Love," took over on lead vocals with the departure of Marty Balin and Grace Slick (who would return in February 1981). The album was produced by Ron Nevison, who was known for his work with Led Zeppelin and Bad Company. It marked the first time Jefferson Airplane/Starship brought in an outside producer.
• Let's review the three variations of this band:
  
  Jefferson Airplane: Highly influential San Francisco group who were hallmarks of the hippie movement. They had just two US Top 40 hits ("White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love"), but were one of the most famous bands of the '60s. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
  
  Jefferson Starship: A much more polished version of the Airplane, Grace Slick summed it up in a 1981 interview with Creem, when she said, "When I think about the Starship of the late '70s, I just remember what a mess it was. We had four platinum albums in a row, but there's nothing fulfilling about selling records that bore you to play. Music is very emotional, so how you feel really affects how you perform. If an accountant has problems, he can still come into work, add two and two, and it still comes out four. Musicians can't do that. Confusion, feeling down... it'll come out in the music."
  
  Starship: With everyone from Aretha Franklin to ZZ Top tweaking their sound to cash in on '80s success, Starship (they're forced to drop the "Jefferson" when Paul Kantner leaves), scores three #1 hits with a radio-friendly sound that some Airplane fans find quite disturbing.
• This song was featured in the opening of the 2001 movie Wet Hot American Summer, which was set in 1981. It was also used in the 2015 TV series, which is based on the film.