Mr. Jack

I'm not sure I agree with everyone's characterization of "Jack" as a drug dealer or pedophile. It seems to me that the song actually presents him as a sympathetic character. We're never told what he's on the run for -- which could be an indication that whatever it is, it's not that important. The song clearly switches narrators a few times, but the theme is clear: the people looking for Jack sound cold, calculating, and frightening ("Is that the trick of your disguise?", "YOUR PROSPECT OF LIVING GONE"). The fugitive (whom we assume to be Jack himself), seems almost defenseless. My guess is that between the whispered "7AM, morning" section and the next lines "YOUR PROSPECT OF LIVING GONE", "Jack" escapes from his pursuers (probably cops, since they refer to themselves as "authority") and is recaptured in the dramatic showdown on the highway that ends the song. Jack only becomes belligerent when he's being captured. Like a caged animal he fights back in rage, even though he knows that it will do no good -- he'll be captured or killed, a faceless victim of "justice". His outrage comes (I think) from a sense that he really is innocent, and he's being wrongly victimized by the police. I can imagine the cop's lyrics near the end actually being in response to Jack's plea of innocence: Jack tries to appeal to the cop's sympathy, and the cop responds coldly, reassuring himself that Jack is a criminal -- "nothing like me".