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Cover of Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Cover: Psychocandy

Song · The Jesus and Mary Chain

“Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain

From the album Psychocandy (1985)

“Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain appears on 30 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1985 and 2026. It was first released in 1985 on the album Psychocandy. Its best result is #2 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #41 alternative song of 1985, #811 alternative song of all time and #458 of the '80s.

30countdowns
10stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1985–2026years charted

Watch

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (UPROXX Indie Mixtape). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Just Like Honey" opens with a steal: Bobby Gillespie borrows Hal Blaine's drum beat from the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" to kick off this highlight of Psychocandy, the Jesus and Mary Chain's 1985 debut album. The Scottish band released it that September on Blanco y Negro as the album's third and last single.

Jim and William Reid wrote it, sang it and played the guitars, with Douglas Hart on bass, and the band produced it themselves with John Loder engineering. The song drifts: a sweet, woozy girl-group melody smeared in fuzz, the noise and the tenderness wrapped around each other. It's now held up as a milestone in the making of noise pop.

The song has had a long second life on screen. It plays over the closing scene of Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), turns up in The Man Who Loved Yngve and in a 2011 Volkswagen ad, and features in "Mommy", the third episode of American Horror Story: Hotel.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1985 2 John Peel (BBC Radio 1) John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 126 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 527 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1999 966 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1017 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1021 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1021 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2003 1006 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1006 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 92 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 1001 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 93 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 701 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 616 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 588 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 893 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2009 551 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2010 555 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 567 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 836 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 572 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 577 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 159 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2020 1948 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 48 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 142 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 404 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 167 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2026 403 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 612 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound 1055

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 1Alive and KickingSimple Minds
  2. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  3. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  4. 4Take On Mea-ha
  5. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  6. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode

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