(Tracy Jacks) works in civil service
(Tracy Jacks) it's steady employment
(Tracy Jacks) is a golfing fanatic
(Tracy Jacks) but his put is erratic
(Tracy Jacks) saw a Harley Street doctor
(Tracy Jacks) who prescribed healthy living
(Tracy Jacks) but he's getting past forty
(Tracy Jacks) and all the seams are splitting

Everyday he got closer
He knew in his heart he was over
I'd love to stay here and be normal
But it's just so overrated

(Tracy Jacks) left home without warning
(Tracy Jacks) at five in the morning
(Tracy Jacks) got on the first train to walton
(Tracy Jacks) and stood on the seafront
(Tracy Jacks) threw his clothes in the water
(Tracy Jacks) and ran around naked
(Tracy Jacks) got stopped by the police
(Tracy Jacks) and escorted back home

Well, everyday he got closer
He knew in his heart he was over
I'd love to stay here and be normal
But then it's just so overrated

Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks

And then it happened on a Tuesday morning
Tracy Jacks bulldozed down the house he lived in
Saying it's just so overrated

Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks
Tracy Jacks

Everyday he got closer
He knew in his heart he was over
I'd love to stay here and be normal
But it was always overrated


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by starbelliedboy, wave_of_castration

Tracy Jacks Lyrics as written by Graham Coxon Damon Albarn

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Tracy Jacks song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    A lot of the interpretations of the song have been kind of negative (i.e. he's having a breakdown), and I think they're all valid really, but I choose to look at it positively.

    I usually think of "Tracy Jacks" as being an uplifting song about a bloke who got tired of life as it was and decided to break free by totally letting go (getting naked and bulldozing his house).

    Him bulldozing his own house and saying "I'd love to stay here and be normal/But it was always overrated" is a declaration - he's starting over, and sometimes destruction is needed for a new start.

    cosmic bullfighton October 04, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think this song is basically the fear of getting past an age where you dont feel like you've got much choice left in the course your life is going to take.

    The person in the song appears to have a sort of beakdown about losing that control over his life that he had when he was younger. He realises that life probably wont (or cant) change much now and its sort of a reaction to that- to getting older and accepting your life is headed in a certain direction. Its maybe about losing that essence of free spirit and suddenly realising you are part of the rat race and pretty much stuck there

    Scattelon July 29, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think this song is about someone who is made neurasthenic by the preasure of everyday life .Also he longs for the freedom in heart. He was so depressed that he could no more restrain and did something astonishing.(bulldoze down his house)It's just a classical modern character who is taken over by the nervous life style.It's a product of industrialization.The nervousness brews the paranoid which turn out to cause him to destroy the acheivement he tried every effort to make. A man with immaculate outlook and good status but hopeless in mind.

    amelieleeon January 28, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    By far and away their greatest song. Interestingly, said to be based on The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin.

    alfiebabyon May 22, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is based on the day in the life of an ordinary person with an ordinary job who realises everything he has been striving for or lives for is overrated. I think it's Damon's way of saying how what the majority of people in the UK "supposedly want", i.e a white collar job, a nice house and maybe a nice car is overrated.

    smokyruinson June 21, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me, this seems like just a play by play on Tracy's day in the life. I think the key to the meaning, however, is shown in the chorus. Though the first two lines are pretty ambiguous ("Everyday he got closer/He knew in his heart he was over") the second two lines have some substantial meaning for us all ("I'd love to stay here and be normal/But it was always overrated")

    Behold999on May 29, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think it may be about how evry one who lives a normal life dreams of something better something that isnt just the evry day normal, but knows at the same time that this goal is proberbly un reachable

    Darth_woodyon June 08, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think it's about a man who wan't something else in his life something new but he is getting old and it's now or never. "but he's getting past forty"
    But then on a tuesday he finally decides to change his life. "And then it happened on a tuesday morning Tracy Jacks bulldozed down the house he lived in Saying it's just so overrated"

    arno_von January 22, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is pretty much THE classic blur song.

    teapoton December 07, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    teapot totally said it

    velouria91on December 13, 2007   Link

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