I'm still John Pole and I hadn't noticed there are still garbled versions of my lyrics being discussed.And so...I'll correct the text Catamariner gave (nearly 2 years ago) - In "Jack the Lad" I wrote: 1.NOT "A lady just found him" but "His old lady just found him". 2.NOT "He done a Borstal" but "He done approved school" (In 1968 when I wrote it, "Borstal" was out of date and "young offenders" and other terms hadn't been invented. 3. NOT "next door" but "next room". 4. NOT "John and Lennon" but "John and Len and Gray" ("Gray" short for "Graham", a real kid I taught who was on drugs) 5. NOT "behind the wall" but "behind a wall" (I was trying to suggest that knocking himself out was like having a wall between him and the world he couldn't bear). Most of these points are minor - but NOT 1 ("His old lady" is his Mum) or 4 (The Beatles weren't involved, just 3 of his mates).Maybe it's the "Folk Process" at work. Interesting to know it's still being discussed and possibly sung 33 years later.
I've incorporated John's corrections below. Hope it's right now. -Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor- JACK THE LAD (by John Pole, as sung by Frankie Armstrong) Frankie Armstrong: Songs and Ballads Topic 12TS273 B:1 Where's Jack the Lad, then, snuffed it, ain't he? His old lady just found him dead Cold as the pavement and smelling sour So much methadone, so much methadone, so much methadone inside his head There's loads of methadone in his cough med'cine, see The empty bottle lies on the floor It wasn't for a cough 'cause he was fightin'-fit He'd never had no drugs, never had no drugs, he'd never had no drugs at all before Now Jack the Lad was a bit of a tearaway He done approved school for thievin' money But he died safe at home next room to his Old Dear She loved him all along, loved him all along, she loved him all along, now ain't that funny Jack and his mates went Up West one Saturday With bent prescriptions they bought the stuff If you can drink it all, the lot, the bottleful You'll blow your mind alright, blow your mind alright, you'll blow your mind alright, that's sure enough So Jack the Lad he bought the med'cine, see, like John and Len and Gray, like, they knew the scene Just for some laughs, like, and he could do with some What a load of laughs and that, load of laughs and that, what a load of laughs and that his life had been He took the mixture home and lay down on the bed He shook the bottle and swigged it all He twitched and shivered and went out like a light His mind went deaf and blind, mind went deaf and blind, his mind went deaf and blind behind a wall He lay unconscious, dead to the world, like, Up come his dinner and all his tea Lay in his gullet and slowly choked him He never moved a muscle, never moved a muscle, he never moved a muscle to spew it free It wasn't methadone killed Jack the Lad you know Just the obstruction that made him choke It's not a hard drug like proper heroin It was just accident, was just accident, it was just accident he died, poor bloke. Frankie Armstrong recording (may not play outside USA)
|