Jack’s Mannequin started off as a side-project of Andrew McMahon, who is th… Read Full Bio ↴Jack’s Mannequin started off as a side-project of Andrew McMahon, who is the vocalist, pianist and main songwriter of the band Something Corporate but has now become his main project. The band is based in Orange County, California. The name Jack’s Mannequin originated from one of McMahon’s songs called Dear Jack, which was written about a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. Andrew himself was diagnosed with leukemia on June 1, 2005 and cancelled a show for the first time ever when he received the call from his doctor.

The initial impulse behind McMahon’s new project Jack’s Mannequin was "Locked Doors", a song he recorded in December 2003, which he felt was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that, if he would ever decide to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record. The idea seemed to be off the table, until in late summer 2004 both McMahon and his band mates were exhausted from months of touring. They decided to take a temporary break. During his time off, McMahon started writing songs, knowing they would not see the light of day as Something Corporate songs. These songs were a more therapeutic approach McMahon took, and therefore a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting.

Over the next couple of months, McMahon began recording the newly written songs with producer Jim Wirt, who would play guitar and bass over sampled drum tracks, while McMahon contributed vocals and piano. They later brought in additional musicians such as Bobby Anderson (formerly of River City High) and Tommy Lee to add to the mix. In March 2005, Jack’s Mannequin (now consisting of McMahon, Jon Sullivan on bass, Anderson and Jacques Brautbar on guitar and Jay McMillan on drums) played their first live show at Molly Malone’s Irish pub in Los Angeles, California.

Their debut album, Everything in Transit, was released on August 23, 2005 debuting at #37 of the Billboard 200 with over 22,000 copies scanned within its first week.

Everything in Transit received a positive response from fans and critics alike. A summer tour was scheduled to support the record release, but was canceled after McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and had a bone marrow transplant. The band began recording their second album in the summer of 2007. In August 2007, McMahon posted the lyrics to the song “Cellular Phone” on his blog,which the band played live at several shows in 2007 and 2008. Also, in February 2008, videos of live performances of two songs off the new record (“Caves” and “Suicide Blonde”) were uploaded onto YouTube for public viewing. McMahon appears on the cover of Alternative Press’s January 2008 issue, which contains an interview with him.

Their second album, The Glass Passenger, was released on September 30th, 2008, and is their first album with Sire Records. Despite numerous delays (the album was originally slated for release in April 2008) it has been well-received, and debuted #8 on the Billboard 200.

Previously, in August of 2008, The Ghost Overground EP was released exclusively on iTunes to promote the album, containing the songs "The Resolution", "Bloodshot", and two live performances of tracks from Everything in Transit. After the release of the EP, "The Resolution" topped the Billboard "Hot Singles Sales" charts.

Songfacts reports that "My Racing Thoughts," the first single from their third album People and Things, was released on August 2, 2011. People and Things was released October 4, 2011.

On the evening of the 24th August 2012, the official Jack's Mannequin website & official Twitter account were changed to www.andrewmcmahon.com & "amslingshots" respectively. A blog post on the official Andrew McMahon website confirmed that Jack's Mannequin were no longer & that Andrew would be working on solo material.

Kill the Messenger
Jack's Mannequin Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh my God this hurts like hell
I had that dream again
Where I was lost for good in outer space
Tell my doctor how to shake
Awake a nightmare that is only worse
when I am sleeping

[Chorus]

Kill the messenger
I swear it's not me
It's just what I use to know
And get to church cause you're a good girl
And I never told you that
And all I need from you
Could be the thing that leaves us both up here forever
I'm gunna send a little rain, away
I'm gunna send a little rain

It's not so easy caving in
I walk by your apartment twice today
While you were gone at work
And all the colors got so dim
It's not as cold out here,
But come quick, I am losing feeling

[Chorus]

I'm gunna send a little rain,
To pour down on you
Rain, to make the flowers bloom (you know)
Rain, to leave you all alone,
But keep eye lashes fallin'
Eye lashes washed away

[Chorus]

I'm gunna send a little rain
I'm gunna send a little rain your way

I'm gunna send a little rain
Send a little rain

Overall Meaning

"Kill the Messenger" by Jack's Mannequin is a melancholic song about personal struggles and the inability to communicate them. The opening lines, "Oh my God this hurts like hell, I had that dream again," introduce the theme of facing inner turmoil and a past that haunts the singer even when he is asleep. He describes his desperation to find a solution, but he doesn't have the courage to share his pain with anyone. "Tell my doctor how to shake, awake a nightmare that is only worse when I am sleeping" represents the paradox of wanting to reach out for help, but at the same time, fearing the consequences of exposing oneself.

The chorus "Kill the messenger, I swear it's not me, it's just what I used to know" suggests that the singer is blaming his past self for his current situation, and he is trying to distance himself from that person. The line "And get to church cause you're a good girl, and I never told you that" implies regret for not expressing his feelings towards someone who might have been a source of support. The final lines, "I'm gunna send a little rain, away, I'm gunna send a little rain" encapsulate the idea of finding solace in isolation and using external factors like rain as a metaphorical representation of an emotional release.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh my God this hurts like hell
The pain I feel is indescribable

I had that dream again
I had a recurring dream

Where I was lost for good in outer space
In my dream, I was lost in space and couldn't find my way back

Tell my doctor how to shake
I need advice from my doctor on how to overcome this

Awake a nightmare that is only worse
Waking up from this nightmare makes it worse

when I am sleeping
When I am asleep

Kill the messenger
Blame someone else for the bad news

I swear it's not me
It's not my fault

It's just what I use to know
This is what I'm used to

And get to church cause you're a good girl
You should go to church because you're a good person

And I never told you that
I never mentioned it before