Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother.
And the tears she cried, they were cried for none other
than her little boy lost in our little world that hated
and that dared to drag him down. Her little boy courageous
who chose his words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Hip flask-slinging madmen, steaming café flirts,
they all spoke through you.

Hey Jack, now for the tricky part.
When you were the brightest star who were the shadows?
Of the San Francisco beat boys you were the favorite.
Now they sit and rattle their bones and think of their blood-stoned days.
You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
The hip flask-slinging madmen, steaming café flirts,
nights in Chinatown howling at night.

Allen, baby, why so jaded?
Have the boys all grown up and their beauty faded?
Billy, what a saint they've made you,
just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls' Day.

You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Cool junk-booting madmen, street-minded girls
in Harlem howling at night.
What a tear-stained shock of the world,
You've gone away without saying goodbye.


Lyrics submitted by kornchick, edited by rlm, Icon6386

Hey Jack Kerouac song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    Merchant obviously was influenced by the Beats, though equally clear is the mixed aspect in the lyrics. Her reference to Kerouac being the "brightest" and the "favorite" seems honest, not ironic or sarcastic. He also died young, never reaching fifty -- a heavy drinker, never recovered after he started throwing up blood. The others lived on and watched the Beat Generation fade away, that seems part of the song -- the "blood stoned days" while they sit rattling bones. The song has clear references like their writing, like "howl" and "junkie", and even mentions WIlliam Burroughs wife, in that casel living dangerously was mortal. A literate song, that's always welcome, and also not a simple encomium.

    john saxonon June 06, 2016   Link

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