What does The Diary of Jane mean?

Breaking Benjamin: The Diary of Jane Meaning

Album cover for The Diary of Jane album cover

Song Released: 2006


Get "The Diary of Jane" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

The Diary of Jane Lyrics

If I had to
I would put myself right beside you
So let me ask
Would you like that?
Would you like that?

And I don't mind
If you say this love is the last time
So now I'll ask
Do you like that?
Do you like that?

No!

Something's...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 11th 2007 !⃝

    you guys are all wrong. It's deeper than that. The diary is literal, it shows in the music video. The guy loves the girl but the girl is depressed and lost. She doesn't even know who she is or how she feels about the guy and keeps pushing him away and it's killing him. The girl ends up committing suicide. (hence the grave at the end) and the guy doesn't know why she did it or how she fully felt, if he loved her or not. He finds her diary and try to figure it out, while asking her what to do, and even considers killing himself (if I had to, I would put myself right beside you) He's trying to "find his place" in her life, her heart, her diary. Finally he gives up with the diary, burns it (as I burn another page) and tries to forget about it (as I look the other way) but still can't get it out of his head, (still I try to find my place...) as in it'll eat at him forever. Did he love her? will he ever know?

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 1st 2007 !⃝

    Okay this is my very first thing, so give me a break.. please? =] A diary contains inside a persons thought, feelings, personality etc. Anyways I think this song is about a guy that loves a girl, but they have already had relationship problems..like her cheating for an example. This girl doesn't know who or what she is anymore, hence the no reflection in the mirrors. (Kind of like she feels dead inside). When he yells NO he is either denying her cheating or denying she doesn't want to be around him anymore. "Somethings getting in the way" meaning there is a slight problem from him trying to figure out if she's still in love. Like I said before the diary contains thoughts felling personality yadda yadda yadda, when he says "I will try to find my place, in the diary of Jane" he's trying to figure out what he is in her life now, if he's a good friend, an enemy etc. "As I look the other way" "As I burn another page" "Try to find out what makes you tick" is when he's finding more out where he places in her mind. Not necessarily something he WANTS to hear. "So tell me how it should be" "Desperate I will crawl, what have I become?" Is when he is DETERMINED to find out where he stands. He becomes desperate for answers. "Die for anyone, what have I become" is when he just needs to be loved back but can't seem to find love because he still loves Jane. When Jane commits suicide (the graveyard in the video at the end) he gives her a rose as in forgiveness, but even though she has passed, he still wants to know if she thought of him differently than what he thought of her. Thanks for reading this, this is my first one... EVER, so I hope it helped =D

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 22nd 2007 !⃝

    I love this song, it's one of my favorite but I never knew what it meant exactly && all the articles && responses I have read about it never seemed right so I'm just gonna say what I really feel it means.
    It's about a guy who is in love with a girl, Jane (obviously). First of all, the diary is literal && at the same time it also represents her life. He wants to find out more about the girl, the main thing is trying to find his place in her life. If she loves him or not. Also he wants to know more about her herself.
    She is depressed && she thinks she loves him but she is trying to keep him away no wanting to open up or be hurt. It was mainly because she, herself, didn't know who she really was. Hence there being no reflection of her in the mirrors. She ends up commiting suicide && he is both hurt but angry.
    He is driving himself crazy trying to find out if she really loved him. The only problem is she never knew && though he flips through the pages of his diary they never tell him because she was unsure herself && he begins to grow angry (somethings getting in my way, something's just about to break). He get furious one night because realizes that neither of them knew the truth && he has no way of finding out if it was true or not (tell me how it should be) && through his rage he burns the pages of Jane's only outlook on the her life (as I burn another page). He trys not to care because he is mad at her for leaving him && even madder that she left him with no way of knowing is she loved him but is feels guilty about destroying it so he trys to turn the other way && not care but he can't do it && it continues to eat at him (as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane).
    He begins to think she just wanted to tourment him (as I lie down sore && sick, do you like that) && would killing himself too be the only thing that would make her happy && he is willing to do so just so he could find out if she loves him or not (If I had to I would put myself right beside you, would you like that). He's trying to tell the girl that the more toys with him, the more he is slowly begining to fall out of love with her. He begins to feel proud of himself thinking he has her right where he wants her && she will send him a sign of how she feels then he relaizes that if she could see him his behavior would have made her not love him to start with && he feels disgusted with himself. Then he realizes it took her suicide to make him realize that he really was in love with her but his maddness to try && find out drove them out of love for one another all because of him. He feels awful but a part of him still isn't sure && wants to find out if it was ever really true. He thinks he insane willing to kill himself for a girl just to know if she loved him or not. (Desperate, I will crawl waiting for so long No love, there is no love. Die for anyone What have I become?)

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 15th 2018 !⃝

    At the end of the Torn in Two video Jane is shown in hell. I think that means in the Diary of Jane music video that Jane didn't fall asleep and accidentally drown. She committed suicide... and I that's why she's in that purgatory in Torn in Two.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 8th 2017 !⃝

    When I heard this song I thought it was about a guy trying to figure out why a girl keeps rejecting him.
    Some say that there's a reference to Jane Bryan from the movie We are not Alone. Also BB has an album with that title.

    This is going to be long, sorry.
    The movie We are not Alone was about a doctor who was married to a cruel woman. He also had a son. One day he visits a patient who has tried to commit suicide. They become friends, but with pure non-lustful intentions and the lady meets his son. She's very kind-hearted and they get along just fine. When looking for a baby sitter, the doctor remembers her kind nature and recommends the patient. The wife later finds out that she was his patient, tried to commit suicide before, and was a prior dancer, and feeling jealous of the new sitter, she fires her. Her jealousy is so big that she even destroys her life by giving her a bad reference. Later in the movie the son accidentally knocks the medicine that the wife uses. The son places them back on the shelf in the bottles but they've been mixed up. When the wife takes what she thinks is something for her head, she dies. People begin to think the doctor killed his wife to be with the baby sitter. I left some parts out about the war. While his wife was dying the doctor was trying to help the sitter flee because it was becoming a hostile environment for German people but he didn't know his wife was dying. So it basically looks like he killed his wife, even though he's innocent. He loses the trial as does the sitter. They are both convicted of murder. So he's given a few minutes with the sitter before they are both hung and he discovers she's just a child right out of school (maybe college idk) and he also comes to realize that he loves her. He promises they'll meet again in another life and that he'll find her.

    I'm not sure how any of that relates to this or any song. Maybe Jane was younger and very kind. It could be a coincidence and there's no intended meaning. People like to over analyze things a bit much sometimes.

    Someone else also mentioned in the comments under mine that it might be a reference to Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre has a bad life, is poor, becomes a governess, leaves because she finds out her master is married and has been lying to her about being single. Years later she becomes wealthy and meets her master again only he's blind, miserable, and his wife is dead. Then they become lovers and it ends.

    Whatever the case, this is a great song and it holds its own personal meaning.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 10th 2017 !⃝

    I'll interpret this to sort of fit my life and my ex.

    One of their best songs. He dated Jane and the relationship started to fall apart. He started to look around for answers and found an actual diary she kept. Jane couldn't see herself in any of the mirrors. To me that's a metaphor for her feeling lost or unseen, maybe confused or abandoned, possibly emotionally dead. I don't think she was really dead. Reading through her diary, he doesn't find the answers he was looking for. Jane didn't express love and her true feelings. I think he became frustrated because he found someone else or multiple other people referenced in her diary, but nothing too detailed about him. I think she was angry at him. When he asks "would you like that?" he follows it by "No!" Which Jane is saying. He knows something is getting in the way. He wants to know what it is. Jane could be in love with someone else, she could be upset over something the singer did, she could be having problems at home and can't handle falling in love with him- it could be anything getting in the way. Reading the diary, he turns the other way to make sure she's not coming. He loves this girl and he's desperate for her to love him too. Because Jane has so many of her problems of her own, she hasn't expressed true feelings ( the same kind of love he feels). "Die for anyone what have I become?" He hates that his love for her is so great that he'd die for her. He's been waiting forever for her to truly love him "Waiting for so long" and he should be angry. Being in a one-sided relationship and waiting for the other one to come around and realize they love you too sucks. Jane obviously didn't write the diary for him to read it, but he was crazy in love enough to sneak in to her room and find it. She's pushing him away and he doesn't know why. One, this guy is obsessed. Two, Jane is emotionally dead. Three, he won't stop until she acknowledges him and loves him back. He'll keep trying to find his spot in her diary. Jane gave him a chance to begin with, so she did care about him in a way. As for the other men in her diary, Jane was probably young and young hearts are always naïve and easily fall for wolves. Men are like these hungry wolves always preying on the innocent. It's natural that she experienced others so he shouldn't have took it so personal. When you're young, your heart is all over the place. I think he was more mature or older and that's why he felt more deeply. Jane, in her immaturity, probably was incapable of loving as strongly as him (She's just a girl... because women don't really keep diaries do they? So maybe she's like 18 and he's in his mid to late 20's even though the music video has an older Jane)There would be a maturity conflict there if she was young. I also think she might have pushed him away or left him out of her diary because she didn't want to admit she loved him too and she was dealing with problems of her own (the whole no reflection thing) so she might have been protecting him from herself (This is what basically happened to me. Right love, wrong time thing) Maybe she thought that it would be better for him to not love her... his obsession does seem unhealthy.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 28th 2016 !⃝

    I think this song is about a sinner or someone like that and what he means by "I try to find my place In the diary of jane" is that someone is trying to find his name in the book of life thus meaning that a sinner is trying to make his way to heavon and not hell

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 20th 2015 !⃝

    Your all wrong. The song is about a real woman. A very famous celebrity who just suddenly ended her career after 4 movies. One is them was "We are not alone" her name was "Jane" Bryan. Her name is on the tombstone in the music video.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 14th 2014 !⃝

    I think its about domestic violence.... Think about it, leave questions n all, this is my favorite song, a million times if u think about it n listen deeply.... I'm ready for anyone that'd like to challenge it!!!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 26th 2013 !⃝

    Its More About Asking If Your In Someones Thoughts "He Tries To Find His Place In The Diary Of Jane" There You Go He's Asking If He's In Her Thoughts And If She Likes That. I See The Reason That She Died Is Just More Of Sexy Benjamin Burnley Just Being Crazy (And Sexy) AMAZING

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 4th 2013 !⃝

    Guys, what if I tell you Benjamin is way genius and he kinda encoded the song. It's deeper than you think!
    Replace the word "beside" with "behind", then read the lyrics.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 10th 2013 !⃝

    The grave at the end of the music video says "Jane Eyre". Jane Eyre is the protagonist of the novel "Jane Eyre" and the title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane is passionate and opinionated, and values freedom and independence. She also has a strong conscience and is a determined Christian. Its a pretty screwed up movie...

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 19th 2012 !⃝

    The video for "The Diary of Jane", directed by Ryan Smith, made its world premiere on Yahoo! Music on June 21, 2006, after originally being scheduled for release on June 16. The video features a woman named Jane, played by Sarah Mather from Season 4 of American Idol. Jane wakes up suddenly in a bathtub, getting out and getting dressed. However, her vanity's mirror is gone, and only the frame remains. Jane runs around her house, with similar results wherever there should be a mirror. She eventually stumbles across a room where all the mirrors are, and she cannot see her reflection in any of them. The video ends with Benjamin Burnley (the band's frontman) placing a rose in a book atop her tombstone, explaining the story of the video: she fell asleep and drowned in the bathtub.
    At the end of the video where Burnley closes the diary on Jane's tombstone, the last name was obscured. However, in the second episode of the band's podcast, the name can be clearly seen as "Bryan" during a shot of the tombstone. A Breaking Benjamin celtic knot can also be seen on the tombstone in a brief shot before he closes the diary.
    Jane Bryan was a female filmstar in the 1930s and 1940s. She was in many films, including We Are Not Alone, which is also the title for Breaking Benjamin's second album.

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 26th 2012 !⃝

    The part of the song when he says "I will try to find my place in the dairy of jane" is probably him saying there are many other people in her life and he is looking for a place next to her. The other part when he says "as I burn another page as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in the dairy of jane" he burning pages looking through and still can't find a place next to her.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 26th 2012 !⃝

    I never watched the video. I love the song. I have never wrote an interpetation before either, but here goes :)

    "If I had to
    I would put myself right beside you
    So let me ask
    Would you like that?
    Would you like that?"

    I can force myself to think like you do, I can quit on this relationship like you have, I can start pretending that I feel the same way about you that you do about me, if that will make you happy.

    "And I don't mind
    If you say this love is the last time
    So now I'll ask
    Do you like that?
    Do you like that?"

    If you want me to walk away from you right now, I will do it, if it would make you happy

    "No!"

    Actully I am not as capable of being as cold as you. I can pretend but inside I will never treat you as coldly as you treat me.


    "Something's getting in the way.
    Something's just about to break.
    I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane.
    So tell me how it should be."

    We are getting close to a solution. We will be done with this one way or another. Where do I fit into your life? What do you want from me? Why cant I walk away?

    "Try to find out what makes you tick.
    As I lie down
    Sore and sick.
    Do you like that?
    Do you like that?"

    You continue being concerned about yourself, continue to make me wait for you to figure it out while I am getting torn apart at the seams because I know what I want. I want you. I love you so damn much.

    "There's a fine line between love and hate.
    And I don't mind
    Just let me say that
    I like that
    I like that"

    If we are being honest,I love you so much, I hate you when you treat me this way. Yes I want to be honest with my feelings toward you. I prefer it. I want you to be honest with me.

    "Something's getting in the way.
    Something's just about to break.
    I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane."

    We are getting closer to deciding how you feel, where is my place in your life? Why cant I walk away?

    "As I burn another page,
    As I look the other way.
    I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane.
    So tell me how it should be."

    Time continues to pass by ("burn" like when someone says I "have to burn an hour) I continue to ignore the way you are treating me hoping you can finally tell me how you feel and where my place is in your life.


    "Desperate, I will crawl
    Waiting for so long
    No love, there is no love.
    Die for anyone
    What have I become?"

    Im at the end of my rope. You are driving me crazy leading me on. What do I have to do to find out if you want to be with me or if you even care about me? What has happened to me? All I can think about is you, everything you do consumes me. Waiting for you to tell me how you feel about me if you feel anything. Your continued silence and coldness makes me feel like there isnt anything here between us.There is no love.

    "Something's getting in the way.
    Something's just about to break.
    I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane."

    We are getting close to a solution; something is going to happen to determine this one way or another. But why cant I end it? Where is my place in your life?

    "As I burn another page,
    As I look the other way.
    I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane."

    Time continues to pass, I continue my life waiting every minute for you to tell me you love me and want to be with me and you want me in your life.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 26th 2012 !⃝

    its about his gf she died commited suicide for another guy and the lead singer from breaking benjamin was her bf ..he found the diary in her room and everything was about the other guy ..witch is why he was trying to find his name in her diary. this is a legit answer.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 12th 2012 !⃝

    to me it sounds like he's trying to make an impression on someone possibly the one he loves. He does anything he can to be noticed asking if the person accepts what he has done and ask what else could he possibly do to find a place in the diary of jane "be noticed or make a impression." but states that something is getting in the way probably his conscience but doesnt realize his personal feeling or morals/standards are telling him to remain who he is. then he notices towards the end all the thing he does just to find his place in this persons thoughts and thinks what have i just done and questions why has he done it. for all i know i could just be relating this to things in my life which is usually the goal of the artist's songs when creating.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 8th 2012 !⃝

    I think this song is very complex. It is a man in love with a women(Jane) and he tries to figure out where he belongs in her life. He wants to know if Jane thinks what she is doing to him is okay even if it is destroying him. He tries to find out more about Jane but she pushes him away(Something's getting in the way). But no matter what he still goes on(I still try to find my place). He wants to get rid of his feelings for her(as I burn another page). He also wants to forget her(as I look the other way). But he still tries to find his place. He also stats the he keeps falling for people
    But Jane can't tell him about herself because she doesn't even know herself. Since she can't see herself in any mirrors or pictures.And it ends up in her committing suicide.

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