Jackie’s self-produced CD, "Never Let Me Go" brought outstanding reviews. Her holiday album with jazz veteran Judy Roberts, paired two of the city's most popular female performers and inspired a series of standing-room concerts.
Jackie's work as a jazz educator has made her one of Chicago's most influential and respected vocal instructors.
Jackie Allen is a Midwestern native who grew up surrounded by music. Her father, Gene Allen, plays Dixieland jazz tuba, and she and her four siblings all played brass instruments. Her choice was the French horn. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she studied music with an eclectic mix of teachers including renowned jazz bassist Richard Davis and pianist/theoretician Joan Wildman; as well as studying voice with Lois Fisher and John Gilmore.
Jackie formed her first jazz quartet in the mid-1980s. It was while performing five nights a week as a duo with Mel Rhyne (the original keyboardist for jazz legend Wes Montgomery) that she began to develop her distinctive, sophisticated style . In Chicago, she performs regularly in clubs such as Lush Life, Andy’s, Green Mill, Pops for Champagne, and Toulouse.
"Never Let Me Go" (Lake Shore Jazz) received glowing reviews in Down Beat, Jazz Times, and the Chicago Tribune, making the national top-twenty and remaining on the charts for thirteen weeks. "Santa Baby," her holiday album, co-produced with pianist Judy Roberts, was named "the most endearing of the holiday albums" by the Chicago Tribune.
Jackie Allen's second solo album entitled "Which?," released on the Naxos Jazz label, was produced by Ralph Jungheim, producer of Grammy Award winners for Joe Williams and Ruth Brown. Jackie is featured on the acclaimed recording "Women Who Swing Chicago" (Big Chicago Records).
Jackie Allen has performed in Europe at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her performance with bassist Hans Sturm at the International Bass Festival in Edinburgh was highly acclaimed. Jackie has also been featured on the main stage of the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Ravinia Festival.
Jackie has performed and recorded with jazz artists such as Patricia Barber, Bill Cunliffe, Richard Davis, Von Freeman, Eddie Higgins, Red Holloway, Roy McCurdy, and Ira Sullivan.
She has written songs recorded by major artists including Nnenna Freelon.
Jackie Allen is a popular and inspiring educator who has been the jazz vocal instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music for many years. She has also been featured with a number of university jazz ensembles as a guest performer and clinician.
Jackie produced concerts for the Disney Institute in Florida, including a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. She is a Governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Chicago Chapter.
Neil Tesser, author of the Playboy Guide to Jazz, comments on her debut recording "With this recording, Jackie does more than debut. She arrives. And as the title suggests, she’s worth hanging on to."
It's Bad For Me
Jackie Allen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And leave me totally dazed
For they do such strange things to me
They nearly make me gloomy
For you dear are so clever
So obviously the top
I wish you'd go on forever
I wish even more you'd stop
Oh it's bad for me it's bad for me
The knowledge that you're going mad for me
I feel certain my friends would be glad for me
But it's bad for me
It's so good for me so new for me
To see someone in such a stew for me
And when you say you'll do all you could for me
It's so good for me it's bad for me
I felt 'til you whispered to me
Completely left on the shelf
But since you started to woo me
I'm just crazy about myself
It's a boon for me a break for me
To hear that your heart's on the make for me
Yet no matter however appealing
I still have a feeling it's bad for me
It's so sweet for me it's swell for me
To feel that you're going through hell for me
Yet no matter however appealing
I still have a feeling it's bad for me
The song “It’s Bad For Me” by Jackie Allen is a love song that describes the feelings of being in love with someone who is not good for you. The lyrics convey mixed feelings of pleasure and pain, excitement and fear, joy and gloom. The first stanza talks about the power of the lover’s words to affect the singer’s emotional state. She is dazed and somewhat gloomy because the lover is so clever and obviously superior. It’s as if the singer is in a trance and cannot resist the lover’s charms.
The chorus is the heart of the song, where the singer admits that the knowledge that the lover is going mad for her is bad for her. She acknowledges that her friends would be glad for her, but she herself is unsure. She wants to believe that the lover’s passion is good for her, but deep down, she knows that it’s bad for her. The second verse describes the singer’s transformation from feeling left on the shelf to being crazy about herself since the lover started to woo her. She revels in the attention and adoration, but she’s aware that it’s not necessarily healthy for her.
Overall, the song captures the ambivalence of being in a relationship that is both satisfying and destructive. It highlights the tension between desire and caution, vulnerability and self-protection, heart and head. The singer is torn between wanting to indulge in the ecstasy of love and needing to exercise restraint for her own well-being. The vulnerability and introspection expressed in the lyrics are what make the song relatable and poignant.
Line by Line Meaning
Your words go through and through me
Your words penetrate my being deeply
And leave me totally dazed
And leave me completely bewildered
For they do such strange things to me
Because they have an inexplicable effect on me
They nearly make me gloomy
They almost make me sad or depressed
For you dear are so clever
Because you, my dear, are so intelligent and skilled
So obviously the top
Clearly the best or most skilled
I wish you'd go on forever
I wish your talent or abilities would never end
I wish even more you'd stop
But at the same time, I wish you would stop because of the effect on me
Oh it's bad for me it's bad for me
Your attention is not good for me
The knowledge that you're going mad for me
Knowing that you are crazy about me
I feel certain my friends would be glad for me
My friends would be happy for me
But it's bad for me
But it is not good for me
It's so good for me so new for me
It feels great and exciting for me
To see someone in such a stew for me
To see someone in such a state of emotional turmoil because of me
And when you say you'll do all you could for me
And when you promise to do everything possible for me
It's so good for me it's bad for me
It feels great, but at the same time it is not good for me
I felt 'til you whispered to me
I felt rejected and unwanted until you expressed interest in me
Completely left on the shelf
Completely ignored or overlooked
But since you started to woo me
But since you started to pursue me romantically
I'm just crazy about myself
I am now very enamored with myself
It's a boon for me a break for me
It is a great opportunity and a lucky break for me
To hear that your heart's on the make for me
To hear that you are pursuing me romantically
Yet no matter however appealing
Yet regardless of how attractive it may seem
I still have a feeling it's bad for me
I still have a sense that it is not good for me
It's so sweet for me it's swell for me
It is very enjoyable and exciting for me
To feel that you're going through hell for me
To feel that you are experiencing intense emotional distress because of me
Yet no matter however appealing
Yet regardless of how attractive it may seem
I still have a feeling it's bad for me
I still have a sense that it is not good for me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marchicago
Hartman's timing and delivery is absolutely impeccable. This skit right here is a master class in comedy. Every single player nailed their part. Even Sting did a hell of a job. Incredibly impressive all around. Rest in peace Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks and Sinead O'Connor.
@119Agent
And Luther Vandross
@gurujaketube
Why "even" Sting did a heluva job? Did his late career elevator music really tarnish his genius to this degree?
@lemoncurry
@@gurujaketube because he's not an actor or a comedian?
@FrankBurnsie
And Eydie Gorme and Frank Sinatra
@MC_Mega-Jessup
@@lemoncurry Sting had at least 10 acting credits when this aired.
@amartinez33
This skit was atomic. Everyone should appreciate the genius of Phil Hartman.
@raycarter8070
I agree! Everyone still acts the same too funny.
@spiritmatter1553
Quotidian.
@virghammer1
YASSSS. So d*mn brilliant … Ahhhh … pretty much all of those wonderful Canadians 🏆 🇨🇦 … And what a horribly tragic 😭 end… Just… No words .. thank you forever, brilliant Phil Hartman! You’ve brought so much Joy and massive, HOOGE laughter to so many millions! ❤❤❤