Dresden Dolls, The - Half Jack Lyrics






Half underwater
I'm half my mother's daughter
A fraction's left up to dispute
The whole collection
Half off the price they're asking
In the halfway house of ill repute

Half accidental
Half pain full instrumental
I have a lot to think about
You think they're joking?
You have to go provoke him...
I guess it's high time you found out

It's half biology and half corrective surgery gone wrong
You'll notice something funny if you hang around here for too
Long ago in some black hole before they had these pills to take it back
I'm half jill
And half jack

Two halves are equal
A cross between two evils
It's not an enviable lot
But if you listen
You'll learn to hear the difference
Between the halfs and the half nots

And when i let him in i feel my stitches getting sicker
I try to wash him out but like she said:the blood is thicker
I see my mother in my face
But only when i travel
I run as fast as i can run
But
Jack comes tumbling after....

And when i'm brave enough and find a clever way to kick him out
And i'm so high not even you and all your love could bring me down
On 83rd he never found the magic words to change this fact:
I'm half jill
And half jack

I'm halfway home now
Half hoping
For a showdown
Cause i'm not big enough to house this crowd
It might destroy me
But i'd sacrifice my body
If it meant i'd get the jack part OUT

See

Jack

Run.....





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Dresden Dolls, The Half Jack Comments
  1. K.... R....

    Half underwater, I'm half my mother's daughter
    A fraction's left up to dispute
    The whole collection, half of the price they're asking
    In the halfway house of ill repute

    Half accidental, half painful instrumental
    I have a lot to think about
    You think they're joking? You have to go provoke him
    I guess it's high time you found out

    It's half biology and half corrective surgery gone wrong
    You'll notice something funny if you hang around here for too
    Long ago in some black hole before they had these pills to take it back
    I'm half Jill and half Jack

    Two halves are equal, a cross between two evils
    It's not an enviable lot
    But if you listen you'll learn to hear the difference
    Between the halves and the half knots

    When I let him, when I feel the stitches getting sicker
    I try to wash him out but like they say, 'The blood is thicker'
    I see my mother in my face but only when I travel
    I run as fast as I can run but Jack comes tumbling after

    And when I'm brave enough and find a clever way to kick him out
    And I'm so high, not even you and all your love could bring me down
    On 83rd he never found the magic words to change this fact
    I'm half Jill and half Jack

    I'm halfway home now, half hoping for a showdown
    'Cause I'm not big enough to house this crowd
    It might destroy me but I'd sacrifice my body
    If it meant I'd get the Jack part out

    See Jack, run Jack, run Jack, see Jack
    See Jack, run Jack, run Jack, see Jack
    See Jack, run Jack, run Jack, see Jack
    See Jack, run Jack, run Jack, run Jack, run

  2. B.... E....

    The song is about whatever you connect with to it

  3. B.... N....

    reading these comments, it makes me so terribly sad that so many fans of the dresden dolls dont actually understand gender dysphoria at all. I mean, its great that ya'll can relate in some degree. But, so many of these comments have NOTHING to do with the actual pain and fear that Amanda is singing about.

  4. F.... C....

    I know its not what the songs about but as a tran (TM) I feel this

  5. m.... s....

    So everybody has I duality in their personality. Struggling with self is one of the oldest human emotions . the beauty about this band and especially the song is that everybody can relate to it in their own way and that is called Art

  6. M.... M....

    I interpret this song as a story of my congenital diseases and an extensive history of hospitals, as well as that one time I was haunted by an entity for a solid year or so. Hashtag relatable am I right kids?

    M.... M....

    Jokes aside, could you tell us about the entity that haunted you for a year or so?

  7. A.... C....

    I know this isnt what the song means, but sometimes I'm confused about my own gender. So the first half of the song just makes sense to me

  8. F.... Y....

    As a trans woman, I've always interpreted this song as being about gender dysphoria, I see it from the view of a trans woman frustrated with her male side and trying to get rid of it. And some of Amanda's other songs talk about queerness and gender bending in various ways.

    But I see how the more obvious message of the song is about the relationship between Amanda and her father. People say that it's about how she hates her father, but I don't think that's true, you can love your parents and still be aware of their flaws. I think it's more about her own worries that those flaws are in her blood and that no matter how hard she tries, she'll always have the same inclinations as him. "Runs in the Family" hits on similar themes, except talking about her family as a whole instead of just her dad. Are we just slaves to our genetics, doomed to repeat the mistakes of our parents over and over again? Or are we adaptable, capable of learning from their mistakes and becoming something better? Maybe it's a little of both.

    And if you think about it, that same theme of inherent nature ties into the transgender reading of the song too, they're both valid interpretations! That's what I love about Amanda's lyrics, they can mean so many different things at once.

    F.... Y....

    most of dresden dolls songs purposely have 2 very different interpretations, that's one of my favorite things about them.

    F.... Y....

    mre too farah...im also trans

    F.... Y....

    The lyrics lean more dad-related

    F.... Y....

    I think that’s what truly beautiful about this song. I’m cis and to me it’s something completely different.

    F.... Y....

    I was thinking about this rn

  9. M.... K....

    I'm not crying, you're crying.

  10. L.... C....

    Been a long time fan just getting back into getting her into my rotation, mostly due to the new material.

  11. M.... M....

    Scoliosis got me all one sided, but at least i got this song to pull me through the pain of relating :)

  12. m.... -....

    "before they had these pills to take it back..."

    She's literally saying she wishes she was never born. How am I just now realizing this?

    m.... -....

    I think she's speaking of medication.

    m.... -....

    @47Keiser I was thinking an abortifacient pill

    m.... -....

    I'd say if any part was referencing suicide, it be "I'd sacrifice my body to get the Jack part out".
    But I translate it more as her demonizing something in her and expressing the desperation to rid herself of it.

    m.... -....

    Oh, and to add, so many people read this as how tumultuous her relationship with her dad is but I don't see that as the case. As a huge AFP fan, I've read her book and heard all her albums. None of the book references ill will towards her father and she even has an album produced with him.
    That's just my take.

    m.... -....

    Not about taking back her own birth or just pill popping. Its about taking trans pills and messing up your gender when you didnt really understand what the risks were. It is such a dangerous and frightening process. I swear...its like no one gets them. Its so obvious. It does feel like undoing yourself. And, you cant take it back. Its about self-hatred, self loathing, finding a release, and then also knowing that you said goodbye to something you can never get back, and the question point of......that

  13. O.... W....

    My fathers name was jack and I so relate to this song

  14. V.... V....

    I'll bleed you out of me.

  15. R.... A....

    is this song about the singer wishing she could wipe her father's half of her blood from herself?

    R.... A....

    It has multiple meanings. For me it resembles being two half's of none being seen as equal by either half of being born of more than one race.

    R.... A....

    @Lehlila Devandria The song is about not feeling right in your own body and trying to expel the gender prescribed to you by society and feeling powerless to do so

  16. G.... T....

    I know this song is about Amanda's father issues but I've imagined this song being about a boy wanting to become a girl

    G.... T....

    Modern Moonlight haha good, at least im not going crazy

    G.... T....

    To me Amanda's songs were always multilayered. It's her story - but then again it's also our story. Fans have different interpretations about "Boston", "Trout Heart Replica", "Thirty Whacks" "Provanity", "Me & Minibar" or "Will". Each of them is unique and I never found a single one close to mine. It just proves what an amazing song writer she is. She makes us feel not only her emotions but also our own burried deep within.

    G.... T....

    Tell me you've heard the song "Sex Changes"!

    G.... T....

    That's my realtionship with the song

    G.... T....

    Ghost Toast that’s how I took it too!

  17. G.... T....

    What's the meaning of this song?
    I'm guessing it's something about transgender

    G.... T....

    Ghost Toast It is about Amanda’s relationship with her father, Jack.

    G.... T....

    Joey Love O h that makes much more sense!

    G.... T....

    Selby M.R You get it. I feel for you. Amanda's music was very healing for me because I have a feeling while we may not have experienced the same thing, the pattern is the same. You start coming into the world and noticing you're fundamentally different from the rest of your family, and you pick up the sense that they don't value that. You start blaming the world and blaming your parents, but perhaps everyone was just doing the best they could do given the place they were in their lives. She's attempting to come to terms with the fact that she is fundamentally a product of both. They will be a part of you forever, and so you have to learn to love yourself and see yourself for who you are without trying to deny the unsavory side(s), or it'll torment you until you do and you won't be free to be yourself.

    G.... T....

    I certainly think that's a valid interpretation - I've always thought of it as being about gender dysphoria, with lyrics like "I'm half Jill and half Jack" and lines about pills and surgery. It's definitely relatable in that sense, even if that wasn't Amanda's explicit intention.

    G.... T....

    thats the brilliance of a good lyricist. you can find your own meaning.

  18. I.... J....

    hey dad, do you wanna come to my concert?
    sure ill bring my wife
    okay heres a song about how I hate my dad lets roll!

    I.... J....

    Such a. Awesome experience!!!!😵😨😵😨😵😵😵😨😨😨😨😵🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

    I.... J....

    Talk about the definition of reading your own personal experiences into something.
    Don’t think this is about her dad at all really.

  19. C.... C....

    I’m going to go to the center of the earth using only the pure energy of this song

    C.... C....

    UNDERRATED COMMENT

  20. M.... B....

    One lf thr best songs from this album!

  21. K.... M....

    I think this song just taught me how to hear pitch. 0,0

  22. z.... ....

    Brilliant song from a brilliant band!

  23. B.... ....

    I've paid for all of them.

  24. K.... M....

    refraction

  25. J.... H....

    my life

  26. S.... A....

    666 likes0.0

  27. n.... ....

    I'm not crying, my eyes are just sweating.

    n.... ....

    if you want another song to make your eyes sweat try 'Blake says' by amanda palmer. literally cried *cough* i mean my eyes were sweating cause it was so fucking amazing.

    n.... ....

    Lol ikr. I only just found this one recently, and for the first time it made me cr... made my eyes sweat today. It means something completely different to me than what Amanda wrote it about though. For me it's about trying to deal with this friend I know I'm never gonna see again a few weeks from now, due to uncontrollable circumstances, and all the hellish different angles of mental baggage I've had to deal with as part of knowing this person. "When I'm brave enough and find a clever way to kick him out..." *wipes sweat out of eyes*

  28. S.... ....

    Here is the (recently published) fascinating story behind (and beyond) this song: http://myoldman.org/jack-palmer-by-amanda-palmer/

    S.... ....

    Thank you very much :)

    S.... ....

    This was wonderful to read. Thank you.

    S.... ....

    The link's dead. I'm kinda bummed

    S.... ....

    Just managed to locate it!: https://web.archive.org/web/20161227083730/http://myoldman.org/jack-palmer-by-amanda-palmer/

    S.... ....

    Wow. Sounds like my relationship with my dad. Only we don't talk at all anymore.

  29. K.... N....

    love this song!!

  30. B.... O....

    makes me cry

  31. C.... V....

    There is something unmistakably edgy and unrefined about this version of such an amazing assembly of lyrical genius that draws me in even deeper every time I hammer the play button. Very few artists have the courage to expose their soul like this, with such raw intensity and open vulnerability. It's just amazing. Especially when considering how disgustingly cookie cutter generic the music industry has become.

    C.... V....

    geez u writing an essay?

    C.... V....

    The live on version is fucking AMAZING 😵😨🤐🤦😵🤤🤔😨🤔🤤🤔🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

    C.... V....

    White people problems. This song is about white people problems.

    C.... V....

    @Calin Marie he is writing an essay. and like most of them, there are a lot of words and no content

    C.... V....

    Most people make the mistake of writing about themselves rather than what they are commenting on. Goes true for doctorate essays as well as dipshits on the internet (self included)

  32. R.... 0....

    <3 it!!!

  33. R.... ....

    It might be time to actually pay for an album or two.

    R.... ....

    +Rho I remember i bought this album from Camelot, FYE or whatever they were called at the time. I was in high school. Always been a dream of mine to see them live. Probably one of the handful of bands I've missed.

    R.... ....

    +Karly J Never give up hope! I missed Jane's Addiction way back when they were popular and I was a huge fan. Then out of the blue they reformed and played in Hollywood at the Jimmy Kimmel show and I finally got to see them. It was amazing and I got to tick one more off the list. :)

    R.... ....

    Awesome!!! Leaves me with hope!

    R.... ....

    The are playing two shows this summer. And from the sounds of it, they might be doing a new record. So HOPEFULLY a tour will be on way! Let us hope :)

    R.... ....

    I got the reissue vinyl of this album on Record Store Day several years ago, and when Amanda toured in my city before she had her baby, I had her sign it. Best money ever spent.

  34. M.... B....

    we're the same

  35. F.... A....

    iyi şarkı

  36. l.... ....

    Incredible!!

  37. A.... H....

    These lyrics are incredible. I want to make my own version of it, because they're so awesome.

  38. M.... T....

    <3 Amanda Palmer

  39. J.... B....

    Amazing fucking band!