Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[Pinhead44]

Track 15: Jack the lad

Chronology: Please, Further listening, Track 12

After the previous high tempo b-sides of the first 3 releases of Please, we slow down slightly for the lovely mid-tempo song, Jack The Lad.

The joy in this song, for me, is Neil's high-tone vocals on the verses, which are just lovely.

I suspect back in '86 it would have been difficult for anyone outside of the UK to understand what the term 'Jack the Lad' actually meant without the wonders of Google!

[leesmapman]

The weakest of the Please b-sides imho.

[Pinhead44]

The weakest of the Please b-sides imho.

To be fair to it, it is up against Paninaro, In the night and Was that What it Was !

[Kaputnik]

I suspect back in '86 it would have been difficult for anyone outside of the UK to understand what the term 'Jack the Lad' actually meant without the wonders of Google!

I kind of thought it was global in English speaking countries anyway. I'm probably wrong, never thought about it that much but they used it in a few Australian soaps like Prisoner and Cop Shop, way before PSB were a thing so it made me think it was.

[Drico One]

I love Jack the lad. It has a lot in common with Dancing star, thematically, in that it is again about the human spirit rising above the system and transgressing adventurously. "Don't let them try to restrain you..." is a clarion call to freedom.

Drico.

[Drico One]

Jack the lad is also another take on their dominant theme of escapism, namely, in this case, of escaping detection. I always see it as a celebration of individuality.

Drico.

[ahafan02]

The weakest of the Please b-sides imho.

I agree 100%.

[D.J.]

Wow! I’m surprised that few people don’t like Jack the Lad. One of my all-time favorite PSB B-sides ever. I love the piano riff, the orchestral stabs, lyrics, vocals… I guess everything.

[spacewalker]

Wow! I’m surprised that few people don’t like Jack the Lad. One of my all-time favorite PSB B-sides ever. I love the piano riff, the orchestral stabs, lyrics, vocals… I guess everything.

Not to mention the rearrangement of Satie's Gymnopédie №1, which the song is based on!

[telys]

It's a beautiful song... the melody at "don't let them try to restrain you..." is one of their best. And the lyrics are great, a perfect Neil story... one of those history stories he's so good at. To mention a few:

In The Night
Jack The Lad
Don Juan
October Symphony
Up Against It
The Resurrectionist
Auf Wiedersehen

The other part of Neil's lyrical world I like is the urban jungle (sorry for the Stones quote), like West End girls...
The third lyrical world I like is the political commentary/protest song, like Shopping, On Social Media
What I don't like are the lyrics about sex, even though the music sometimes is so good that I don't bother, like We All Feel Better... As an AC/DC-fan I am aware how an artist can get away with tacky/crappy/indecent/cringy lyrics when they're set to great music.

[Tom Angel]

Wow! I’m surprised that few people don’t like Jack the Lad. One of my all-time favorite PSB B-sides ever. I love the piano riff, the orchestral stabs, lyrics, vocals… I guess everything.

I agree- it was one of the songs that cemented my love for PSB. It's so elegiac and soaring, that piano motif is amazing. I like the Paninaro overshadowed it - makes it a deeper find somehow. Would have fitted on Please no problem.

[Spittingcat]

I didn’t read it as a “history story”, what’s the background?

Always loved this song. The Suburbia EP set fans expectations for what a single release could be… big remixes, unusual but instant favourite bonus songs… talk about making a rod for your own back! We still expect nothing less.

[Sandy Shaw]

It's a beautiful song... the melody at "don't let them try to restrain you..." is one of their best. And the lyrics are great, a perfect Neil story... one of those history stories he's so good at. To mention a few:

In The Night
Jack The Lad
Don Juan
October Symphony
Up Against It
The Resurrectionist
Auf Wiedersehen

The other part of Neil's lyrical world I like is the urban jungle (sorry for the Stones quote), like West End girls...
The third lyrical world I like is the political commentary/protest song, like Shopping, On Social Media
What I don't like are the lyrics about sex, even though the music sometimes is so good that I don't bother, like We All Feel Better... As an AC/DC-fan I am aware how an artist can get away with tacky/crappy/indecent/cringy lyrics when they're set to great music.

"Jack the lad" is I'm certain as evidenced by Neil's clever wordplay in other contexts, a sexual double entendre...

[ahafan02]

Jack the lad is also another take on their dominant theme of escapism, namely, in this case, of escaping detection. I always see it as a celebration of individuality.

Drico.

Isn't it about Hitler?

[ahafan02]

I didn’t read it as a “history story”, what’s the background?

Always loved this song. The Suburbia EP set fans expectations for what a single release could be… big remixes, unusual but instant favourite bonus songs… talk about making a rod for your own back! We still expect nothing less.

Neil says in the FL booklet it's about Hitler or Stalin but then he says it's about Hitler