I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
come and listen, I'll tell you what happened to me
one day as I went down to cork by the sea
the day it wa hot and the sun it was warm
so says I a quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm
I went in and I called for a bottle of stout
says the barman, I'm sorry all the beer is sold out
try whiskey or paddy, ten years in the wood
says I, I'll try the cider, I've heard it was good
oh never, oh never, oh never again
If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten
I fell to the ground and I couldn't get up
After drinkin' a quart of that Johnny Jump Up
After downing the third I went into the yard
When I bumped into brody the big civic guard
Come here to me boy, don't you know I'm the law
well I up with me fist and I shattered his jaw
he fell to the gound with his knees doubled up
But it wasn't I that hit him was the Johnny Jump Up
Next thing I remember down in cork by the sea
was a cripple on crutches and he says to me
I'm afraid on me life I'll be hit by a car
Won't you help me across to the Celtic Knot Bar?
After drinkin' a quart of that cider so sweet
he threw down his crutches and he danced on his feet
chorus
I went down the lee road, a friend for to see
they call it a madhouse in cork by the sea
well when I got there sure the truth I will tell
they had this poor bugger locked up in a cell
said the guard testing him, say these words if you can
around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran
tell him I'm not crazy, tell him I'm not mad
It's only a sip of that bottle I had
chorus
a man died in the mines by the name of macnabb
they washed him and they laid him outside on the slab
well after the parlors measurement did take
his wife brought him home to a bloody fine wake
twas about 12 oclock and the beer was high
the corpse sits up and he says with a sigh
I can't get to heaven, they won't let me up
til I bring 'em a quart of the johnny jump up
chorus
so if ever you go down to cork by the sea
stay out of the alehouse and take it from me
if you want to stay sane don't you dare take a sup
of that devil drink cider called Johnny Jump Up
one day as I went down to cork by the sea
the day it wa hot and the sun it was warm
so says I a quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm
I went in and I called for a bottle of stout
says the barman, I'm sorry all the beer is sold out
try whiskey or paddy, ten years in the wood
says I, I'll try the cider, I've heard it was good
oh never, oh never, oh never again
If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten
I fell to the ground and I couldn't get up
After drinkin' a quart of that Johnny Jump Up
After downing the third I went into the yard
When I bumped into brody the big civic guard
Come here to me boy, don't you know I'm the law
well I up with me fist and I shattered his jaw
he fell to the gound with his knees doubled up
But it wasn't I that hit him was the Johnny Jump Up
Next thing I remember down in cork by the sea
was a cripple on crutches and he says to me
I'm afraid on me life I'll be hit by a car
Won't you help me across to the Celtic Knot Bar?
After drinkin' a quart of that cider so sweet
he threw down his crutches and he danced on his feet
chorus
I went down the lee road, a friend for to see
they call it a madhouse in cork by the sea
well when I got there sure the truth I will tell
they had this poor bugger locked up in a cell
said the guard testing him, say these words if you can
around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran
tell him I'm not crazy, tell him I'm not mad
It's only a sip of that bottle I had
chorus
a man died in the mines by the name of macnabb
they washed him and they laid him outside on the slab
well after the parlors measurement did take
his wife brought him home to a bloody fine wake
twas about 12 oclock and the beer was high
the corpse sits up and he says with a sigh
I can't get to heaven, they won't let me up
til I bring 'em a quart of the johnny jump up
chorus
so if ever you go down to cork by the sea
stay out of the alehouse and take it from me
if you want to stay sane don't you dare take a sup
of that devil drink cider called Johnny Jump Up
Lyrics submitted by belle1313
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