JACK YOU'RE DEAD
Walter Bishop / Richard Miles  1947

as rec by Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five  1947


When you've got no more assurance than a great big hunk of lead,
If you don't respond to romance, Jack you dead!
When a chick is smilin' at ya, even though there's nothin' said,
If you stand there like a statue, Jack you dead!

You been always kickin', but you stubbed your toes
When you ups and kicks the bucket, just like old man mose!
When you get no kicks from lovin', and you  blow your top instead,
It's a fact that you ain't livin', Jack you dead!

If you just ain't got nobody since you gone and lost your head,
Rigor mortis has set in daddy, Jack you're dead!
What's the use of havin' muscles when your life hangs by a thread?
If you aint got no red corpuscles, Jack you dead!

You been always kickin', but you stubbed your toes
When you ups and kicks the bucket, just like old man mose!
When you get no kicks from lovin', and the news begins to spread,
All the cats will holler, "Murder!  Jack you dead!".

All the breath has leaked out of ya,
When your vfriends gather 'round the bed
And look at ya and say, "mm-mm, don't he look natural!",
When that happens to you daddy, Jack you dead!





(Contributed by Peter Akers - December 2009)