I'll mow your lawn, clean the leaves out your drain
I'll mend your roof to keep out the rain
I'll take the work that God provides
I'm a Jack of all trades, honey, we'll be alright

I'll hammer the nails, and I'll set the stone
I'll harvest your crops when they're ripe and grown
I'll pull that engine apart and patch her up 'til she's running right
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright

A hurricane blows, brings a hard rain
When the blue sky breaks, feels like the world's gonna change
We'll start caring for each other like Jesus said that we might
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright

The banker man grows fatter, the working man grows thin
It's all happened before and it'll happen again
It'll happen again, they'll bet your life
I'm a Jack of all trades and, darling, we'll be alright

Now sometimes tomorrow comes soaked in treasure and blood
Here we stood the drought, now we'll stand the flood
There's a new world coming, I can see the light
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright

So you use what you've got, and you learn to make do
You take the old, you make it new
If I had me a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright


Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11

Jack of All Trades Lyrics as written by Bruce Springsteen

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Jack of All Trades song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • +2
    My Opinion

    I think "Jack Of All Trades" is about where we are headed. Many people believe very hard times the-like-of-which haven't been seen for centuries are just around the corner and Bruce knows it. This song has a cadence that to me is soothing and may have been designed so as to help people as they come to realize what lies ahead, or sing to each other after events begin to unfurl.

    HChapinfanon November 22, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Perhaps the finest song in Bruce Springsteen's vast collection. And I am proud to write this on the very day it was released.

    franklintitanon March 08, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    One of the finest on the album i agree. I think the song is pretty obvious. It's a narrative from the point of view of a blue collar worker looking for odd jobs. Then Bruce switches and and talks generally about the hardships that (americans)people have gone through over the years (im guessing The recession, and hurricane katrina). Though sometimes it feels as though when he says jack of all trades he means, "i've been through worse i'll handle whatever you throw at me. The last part echos the twin towers, not sure if im right though.

    JackBauer4321on March 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    As a loosely defined "concept album" proceeds from where the bankers - take care of their own and to get "easy money" from everyday people, blue collar people feel more shackled and drawn. Now that banking/ housing bubble has burst, blue collared people has to work all odds jobs to be jack of all trades but at the same time still hopeful about the new world and future.

    WiseOldGuyon July 07, 2021   Link

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