Lyrics

Jack was the son of a useless mechanic
Who settled in the valley back in 1962
Hooked up with a waitress
At some local greasy spoon
And set about putting down roots

Folks say Jack was the type of kid
Who sat at the back of the classroom
Never raising his hand
Never was the center of attention
Never got picked on too much, really
But still never had any friends

The few who really knew him
Say they never really knew him
He was always off somewhere on his own
Folks say sometimes people would see him
Down by the river alone

One day Jack hit one of the backroads
Never made it home
No one really noticed, though
Not for quite a while
"Where's Jack?", they said
"Nobody knows!"
Most folks got ideas, though

Some say he was murdered
In a random act of violence
Some folks say that he moved to Las Vegas
Struck it rich
And set up a construction firm
In El Paso, Texas

Some folks say he joined the Marines
Others, that he met his demise
In a raging river, a storm,
Or the flood of '87

Some say he's responsible
For a homicide or two
For that outbreak of pneumonia
Some folks say they seen him with Elvis
Kickin' back Cokes at a hamburger stand
In Tucson, Arizona

Some folks say that sometimes
They see him at funeral processions
Hidden in the crowd
Still other maintain
That he's off in some dilapidated double-wide
Making bomb of sawdust and glue
Waging a one-man campaign against
Dog food, sofa beds, and high-heeled shoes

Now me?
I think I seen him just the other day
Driving a Ford Bronco into the Citgo Station
On the corner of Harbor and Main
Had some local hooker with him
And the radio way too loud
Captain and Tennille, I think it was playing

The cashier told me later
That he asked for a pack of Lucky Strikes
And a six of Mickey's Big Mouths
Said something about heading South

Sometimes at night
I can hear the wind tumbling down
Off the side of the mountain
Blowing into town
Working its way in through the cracks
Along the window frame
Whispering into my ear
"Where's Jack?"
"Where's Jack?"
"Where did he go?"
Somebody's got to know