Song Origins
Jack
12/15/94 INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BELL AT GRADY'S RESTAURANT, ATLANTA GA
R&R:
Let me ask you about a couple songs on AIN'T LIFE GRAND.
First off, what is Jack cooking?
JB:
Biscuits.
Todd's mom...
honest to goodness, Todd's mom, would... she'd bestow all this home cooking on us.
She'd be like, "You boys just sit on down, I'ma whump up some biscuits!"
You know, I grew up in Cleveland.
I never knew the love for bread in the South.
You know, corn bread, or biscuits?
Who makes the best?
R&R:
Biscuits and gravy.
JB:
Yeah.
So ["Jack"] is just a simple reference to, I guess...
You got Jack, he's a jester.
There can be multiple jacks in different places in the song because of the way a card deck is laid out.
You get multiple jokers as well as multiple jacks.
So it's just...
That particular Jack in the kitchen at that point is just the daily bread thing.
Just whumping up some biscuits.
R&R:
Well maybe I was off base with it.
I kind of got the sense that "Jack" was resonant of the traditional folk story that "Peggy-O" is based on.
You know, you have a Jester, somebody whose duty is some kind of official subversion, being pulled under by an emotional force.
And "Jack's cooking in the kitchen for hours" struck me as some sort of emotional force at work.
JB:
Yeah, I can buy that!
I couldn't say that there are direct literary references here.
It's more based on a deck of cards, resemblance to government, and the multiplicity of having four kings, four queens, four jacks.
And I'd say it's more bits and pieces, instead of direct "this is the way it is".
Some of those images are just flashes.
That's where they were at that point in time, when we recorded things.
A lot of times it's wierd because songs don't make sense for a couple of years.
Or you might be at one place and it's...
But at that moment to say you're not...
[that] you don't understand, or this is wrong...
I know that the places this inspiration came [from] are like the true sources.
I can tell when I'm faking and I can tell when it's something coming through me.
So even though I didn't understand all the way...
And I still examine that to find out-- as a student-- like I'm picking apart English 102 or something.
Digging through the Wordsworth poem or something.
So what I'm saying is there could be something there.
I wasn't in a position to deny what had already happened and change the words back.
The words need to change on their own.
R&R:
You're reminding me of what people always say about poetry; that any interpretation that can be seen from the words on the pages sort of has to be accepted as a valid interpretation, even if it's totally foreign to the author.
JB:
I'd agree with that, totally.
And that's where the beauty of it [is].
If you're willing to accept that, then the stuff that comes out of you has a universality to it.
It leaves that window open...
R&R:
And it also gives you a sense of freedom.
When you're writing a song you can think, "This doesn't have to be absolutely perfect because it would only be absolutely perfect to *me* anyway, in my one narrow interpretation.
JB:
Yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent, and I personally, I get afraid of that element that wants to complete it just for the sake of completion.
If you're talking about putting in a doorknob, complete that task, finish it.
But if you're talking about being a channel for art and letting the natural...
the movementof that art take a life of its own, then you gotta be willing to stop once in a while.
You gotta be willing not to complete that, to wait for the next obvious conclusion, or the next obvious stage to come through....
R&R:
Or the next time a fan comes up to you and says something that peaks your imagination.
JB:
Right.
And so as far as the records go, that's where they were at that point, and a lot of those lyrics have changed drastically.
# of times played: 424
First time played: 08/04/1988
Frequency: 5.76 Shows
Longest drought: 40 shows (06/30/02 > 04/12/03)
Most common lead in: Chilly Water (22 times)
Most common lead out: Chilly Water (31 times)
Most common set position: Set 1, song 8 (37 times)
Notes: Appears on 'Ain't Life Grand (1994)';
Annotated Jack
Lyrics: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=87920490097
Burnthday's Picks:
11/23/01 Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN (w/ Do You Miss Me Darlin' rap) Link:
07/16/10 Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL Link: