Lyrics to
Smackwater Jack

This version of Smackwater Jack was released by Carole King in 1971.

Our About Carole King page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Smackwater Jack from 1971 as well as all of the other lyrics from Carole King that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Carole King or about the 1970s in general.

Now Smackwater Jack, he bought a shotgun
‘Cause he was in the mood for a little confrontation
He just let it all hang loose
He didn’t think about the noose
He couldn’t take no more abuse
So he shot down the congregation

You can’t talk to a man
With a shotgun in his hand
Shotgun

Now Big Jim the chief stood for law and order
He called for the guard to come and surround the border
Now from his bulldog mouth
As he led the posse south
Came the cry, we got to ride
Clean up the streets for our wives and our daughters

You can’t talk to a man
When he don’t want to understand
No, no, no, no, no, no

The account of the capture wasn’t in the papers
But you know, they hanged ole Smack right then instead of later
You know the people were quite pleased
‘Cause the outlaw had been seized
And on the whole, it was a very good year
For the undertaker

You know, you know, you can’t talk to a man
With a shotgun in his hand
Shotgun in his hand

Smackwater Jack, yeah
Smackwater Jack bought a shotgun
Yeah, Smackwater Jack bought a shotgun
Smackwater Jack, yeah
Smackwater Jack, yeah

Talkin’ about Smackwater Jack, yeah
Talkin’ about Smackwater Jack, oh
Talkin’ about Jack and his shotgun,
Talkin’ about Smack, talkin’ about Jack
Smackwater Jack, yeah

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Carole King?

Carole King has released many songs over the years besides Smackwater Jack. Carole King released songs from 1968 to 2005 spanning across albums like Now That Everything's Been Said, Writer, Tapestry, Music, Rhymes & Reasons, Fantasy, Wrap Around Joy, Really Rosie, Thoroughbred, Simple Things, Welcome Home, Touch The Sky, Pearls: Songs Of Goffin And King, One To One, Speeding Time, City Streets, Colour Of Your Dreams, Love Makes The World, and The Living Room Tour. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Carole King.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Smackwater Jack by Carole King

When you decide to study the lyrics to Smackwater Jack, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1971 song by Carole King. Some of the lyrics to Smackwater Jack have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Carole King and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Smackwater Jack if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Smackwater Jack" means the words set to the music of Smackwater Jack, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Carole King. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Smackwater Jack and the lyrics to Smackwater Jack are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Carole King who came here looking just for the lyrics to Smackwater Jack, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Carole King

Visit our Carole King profile for more Carole King songs, lyrics & info!

)