Jamie was a real person. She lived across the hall from me in a UC Berkeley student dorm. Jamie was her real name. She was 19 or 20, and would sleep most days with her door shut. She'd be up at night. When PPM came to campus for a performance, Jamie went back stage and was invited by Peter to travel with them for a week or so. Jamie's father had died, I don't remember exactly when, but I think it was a year or two before. The album with the song came out the next summer and I thought that Peter really captured what was going on with Jamie. She probably was very depressed but as the song suggests, she didn't show it. If I could go back in time, I would try to be a better friend. Larry Saidman's comment fits for me, except that the loss would be from her father's death, not from father abuse. It's a beautiful song for a beautiful person.