One of the underlying premises of tonality, arguably, is that there is a well-defined key. Moreover, this well-defined key is centered on a particulary chord, which we call the tonic. In F major, the tonic is an F-major triad; in C minor, the tonic is a C-minor triad, and so on. Some schools of thought (e.g. Schenkerian thought) define musical composition as basically the moving away from and the returning back to this central tonic triad. The whole piece of music, one might say, is simply an expansion of this fundamental chord.

But what happens when a musical work does not include any instance of this tonic triad? Does the piece cease to be something that we can categorize as tonal? Are songs without a tonic necessarily modal, or is the Schenkerian definition of tonality in music unnecessarily limited?

As a case study, let me use “Jane Says” by Jane’s Addiction from the album Nothing’s Shocking as one instance in which a song appears to be in a key for which the tonic triad never arrives. Here is an little excerpt to refresh your musical memory:

Jane’s Addiction: “Jane Says” (opening vocal)

For those guitar players of you already familiar with the song, you’ll know that the chords just toggle between G major and A major throughout the song. There are little chorus-type sections where Perry Farrell sings stuff like “I wanna kick tomorrow” or “I want them if they want me” that are different, but those parts just stick on a G major chord.

The main point here is that “Jane Says” seems to be in D major. There is no other major key that includes both G major and A major as natural triads. The feeling of D major is strengthened since the vocal line often outlines the D major triad. For example, just take the opening line “Jane says / I’m done with Sergio.” The notes in this vocal part are A, F#, and D, thus creating a clear D major motion over the G major and A major chords.

Yet nowhere in the song does a D major chord present itself as a stable harmonic sonority. Can “Jane Says” therefore be in D major if the tonic triad never shows up?

I think one of the great allures of “Jane Says” is exactly this “missing” tonic triad. The constant back and forth between the subdominant and dominant chords of G and A major creates this longing for the tonic that never gets fulfilled. The absence of the tonic triad allows the song to continue forward, with the listener subconsciously expecting a resolution at some point that does not occur.

The dissonance between the vocal melody, which often outlines D major, and the guitar part, which is leading towards D major, heightens this forward motion in the song and helps to make those two chords in the guitar part really count. Imagine how boring and uninteresting the song would be, for example, if Perry Farrell sang more in A major, implicitly thereby perhaps creating a feeling of bVII to I instead of IV to V.

There are a couple other songs that I can think of that also have this characteristic toggling between G major and A major. One famous example is the middle part to “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin off their Houses of the Holy album. Take a listen to a snippet of the tune:

The Zeppelin tune, as opposed to “Jane Says,” includes a D major chord in this section (during those quick and heavy hits). The whole song is more obviously in D major, and begins with an acoustic embellishment of a D major triad. Jane’s Addiction could obviously have inserted a D major chord into their song and kept the same basic feel. In fact, one wonders whether Dave Navarro wrote “Jane Says” while riffing on “Over the Hills and Far Away.” Here’s a little mash-up to help show their extreme similarity:

Another song that comes to mind in which G major and A major form the basic harmonic structure is Beck’s “Puttin It Down” off his early album Stereopathetic Soul Manure. I won’t say much about this song, except that the melody in Beck’s tune emphasizes D major less than the melody from “Jane Says,” and I think for that reason the latter song seems to be a bit more melodically interesting to my ears. Here’s an excerpt from Beck’s song:

In conclusion, I would like to just say that I believe “Jane Says” is such a popular song and successful song, not only with guitar players since it is very easy to play, but also in general because of the way the song specifically avoids the tonic. So many pedantic tunes have been written that just bash away on the tonic harmony. It is refreshing and interesting to our ears, I think, to have a song that constantly plays with our sense of resolution by constantly teasing us with the possibility of an authentic cadence but never actually giving it to us. It is what makes us want to listen to it over and over again.