Topic: Jack Owens - "Jack Ain't Had No Water"/Jack Owens Lyrics

[L. F. Nelson]

is anyone able to understand these lyrics? it would be great if someone could post these for me! Its a difficult task - i know  - but i hope i get some help...

[uncle bud]

Welcome to WeenieCampbell, LF. Great song. I have worked on this song myself and am a big fan of Jack Owens. But I agree, it's a tough slog to transcribe the lyrics to this one. Normally on the site, people will post what they've got so far and ask for suggestions and corrections. (Just filling you in, not trying to lecture or anything.) Here's my stab at it from awhile back, without revisiting the song. Frankly, most of the words in square brackets are very dubious, IMO. And I'd swear he sings "Stuart" more than "certainly", but -- with apologies to fine Stuarts everywhere, including here -- that seemed even stranger to me.

Jack Ain't Had No Water - Jack Owens

Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no --
Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] ain't had no --
Ain't had worries, oh since the day has been done

Looka here, woman, what's the matter now?
Well looka here, woman, oh what's the matter now?
You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine

[So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??]
Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??]
Ain't had no water, oh surely ain't had no [corn??]

I ain't had no blues, yeah, oh since the train been gone
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone

Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?]
Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?]
Cause when you're leavin', oh run the [wind right down??]

Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways
Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways
Well quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways

I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??]
I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no --
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone

[dj]

I've never heard this song, so I'm obviously not an authority on its lyrics, but it does make some sense to me.  Some suggestions:

Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no -- 

Could this be "STILL had no --", as in the other no water/no corn verses?

Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??] 

Corn could quite well be correct here:  no water, no corn, you can't work the still to make moonshine.

[So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??]

"STILL it ain't no water..." would make sense in light of the other water/corn verses.

There's a spot in the back of my mind that keeps telling me that "jack" is a term associated with distilling, but a cursory web search doesn't find it and I don't have time to look further right now.

[Bunker Hill]

I've listened to it umpteen times via the Testament LP and I'm now beginning to hear what I want to hear, i.e. UB's suggestions.

If  anybody owns an Otis Brothers cassette by the title of Land Of Corn and Wine maybe they?ve deciphered it. (see http://www.wirz.de/music/otisbfrm.htm)

[L. F. Nelson]

i asked axel k?stner (he has been to bentonia many times and took great pictures of jack and also did some recordings with him) to tell me something about this song and he said that "Jack" is a synonym for a mule or donkey... that makes sense because he told me as well that "corn" is for sure!

[uncle bud]

While I don't have the recording, I think the Otis Bros. tune is a version of Do-Boy Diamond's song of the same name, which is a version of Long-Haired Doney.

[Rivers]

Breaking my resolve not to get into any lyric threads, such a cool song I had to give my impressions. Great job Andrew.

Verse 1

Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] had no --
Jack ain't had no water, [certainly??] ain't had no --
Ain't had worries, oh since the day has been done

That's what I hear, the word is certainly 'certainly'
Possible alternative last line 'Ain't had no belly since the train's been gone' (bear with me on this one, see the last verse)

Verse 2

Looka here, woman, what's the matter now?
Well looka here, woman, oh what's the matter now?
You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine

Agreed. Big nasal snark between 2 and 3  

Verse 3

[So it??] ain't no water, Jack ain't had no [corn??]
Still ain't had no water, still ain't had no [corn??]
Ain't had no water, oh surely ain't had no [corn??]

I hear "still" (not "so it..") and "corn". Last line I hear "still" repeated, not "surely"
Ain't had no water, oh still ain't had no corn

Verse 4

I ain't had no blues, yeah, oh since the train been gone
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone

I think I hear "belly" not "blues" or "worry" in all 3 lines. See last verse.

Verse 5

Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?]
Oh looka here, woman, what do you [call a lie?]
Cause when you're leavin', oh run the [wind right down??]

"call a lie" is good, I would never have caught that.
Last line is tricky. My current theory is he's forgotten the line and is singing slur-gibberish, as we are all liable to do on occasion.

Verse 6

Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways
Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways
Well quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown ways

Agree, except for the second line he leaves off the last word in classic blues fashion and plays a tremolo guitar figure,
Oh quit your greedy, oh stop your lowdown... {twang}

Verse 7

I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??]
I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no --
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone

I hear:
Don't want no water, I don't want no corn
Don't want water, I still don't want no corn
I ain't had no [billy? burley? I like "belly"], oh since the train been gone

My theory is "ain't had no belly" means he ain't been eating so well since his rider left town on that train.
I do not have this problem having acquired a taste for Dogfish Head IPA

[banjochris]

Very cool song. I've had this LP for years and only listened to it a couple of times; it never did much for me, but this number is great.

I agree with Rivers about the last line of the first verse -- "Ain't had no belly since the train's been gone"

However, I think he doesn't sing "still," or "Stuart," or "certainly" -- I think the line (and all the permutations of it should be along this line) is:

Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn.

Referring to a mule and a horse, and the corn is feed in this case, not moonshine, which would make the belly reference fit as well.
Chris

[Slack]

Very cool song.

I agree with Chris, I think he is saying stud.  Lots of times in verse 3:

Stud ain't no water, Jack ain't had no corn
Stud ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn
Stud had no water, oh stud ain't had no corn

[Rivers]

Could well be "stud", I hear that as well. I assumed it was "still" as it might come out if you had a mucus problem, since there are several audible snarking interludes throughout the song. Which is part of the charm of the performance of course.

Good thread topic, "Major head colds in country blues". I will listen s'more.

[L. F. Nelson]

[...] Verse 7

"I don't want no water, I don't want no [corn??]
I don't want no, baby, oh surely don't want no --
I ain't had no worries, oh since the train been gone

I hear:
Don't want no water, I don't want no corn
Don't want water, I still don't want no corn
I ain't had no [billy? burley? I like "belly"], oh since the train been gone" [...]


I hear "Jelly" in that line ... Could be possible in this case because the train is gone (and the woman too) so he had no jelly no more .
What do you think about this possibility?

[uncle bud]

Thanks Rivers and Chris, both stud and belly make sense to me. While I didn't start the thread, I've been puzzling over these lyrics for some time. Now I can play the song without feeling like I'm winging it on the words.

L.F. - not hearing jelly myself.

[L. F. Nelson]

"call a lie, stud, belly" - that helped a lot! And i have to say i?m very happy about the fact that there are some more guys who are into this song (and one jack owens fan - like i am!)

Thanks a lot for your help!
Anne

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Youtube has become such a wonderful resource.  When this topic was first posted, if you didn't have the album or CD this song was on, you were out of luck.  Now it is up on youtube for us all to hear.  What a tremendous performance by Jack Owens, such strong, clean and dynamic playing.



All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Building on the work that was previously done in this thread on transcribing the lyrics to "Jack Ain't Had No Water", and some additional listening, here is what I currently have for the lyrics.  Let me know if you think I've got them wrong somewhere, please, and what you think they should be.  You can listen to the song at the last previous post in this thread.

Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no --
Jack ain't had no water, stud ain't had no --
Ain't had no belly, oh, since the day's been gone

Look-a here, woman, what's the matter now?
Well look-a here, woman, oh, what's the matter now?
You tell your trouble, I sure will tell you mine

Stud ain't had no water, Jack ain't had no --
Stud ain't had no water, stud ain't had no corn
Ain't had no water, oh, stud ain't had no corn

I ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone
I ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone
Ain't no more belly, oh, since the train been gone

Oh look-a here, woman, what do you call a lie?
Just look-a here, woman, what do you call a lie?
'Cause when you're leavin', oh run to me, good night

Oh quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown ways
Oh quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown --
Oh, quit your greedy, oh, stop your lowdown ways

SOLO

Don't want no water, stud don't want no corn
Want no more water, oh, stud don't want no --
Ain't had no belly, oh, since the train been gone

All best,
Johnm