Stan Ridgway – Jack Talked lyrics

Chorus:
repeat these three lines three times
Jack talked
Jack talked like
Jack talked like a man on fire
(Man on fire!)

Jack talked like a man on fire and his eyes moved like two shiny steel ball bearings
And when they moved the ground beneath him shook and split open
No one got too close to Jack but Jack never got too close anyway
And when he dreamed, his ears drooled thirty-weight engine oil

He took personality tests
And stapled them to his lower lip
No one ever came out on a visit with Jack
But Jack never visited anybody anyway

Chorus repeat

Jack made false contributions to charity telethons
Jack made crank phone calls to elected officials
His arms shook and his legs twitched and his tongue darted out of his mouth every few seconds
And when it did it touched the tip of his nose

And when it touched the tip of his nose
He yelled out as loud as he could
"I have artistic sensibility,
I am a damn good risk,
I am the messenger and here is the message"