Jack Allsopp - Just Jack

Born in North London, Jack grew up on a die… Read Full Bio ↴Jack Allsopp - Just Jack

Born in North London, Jack grew up on a diet of dance music including, break dance, electro hip hop and house. A wannabe break dancer at eight, his love of dance music led him to start DJing at the age of fifteen and he soon became submerged in DJ culture and US garage.

After completing a degree in Furniture Design Jack enrolled on a community music production course, which heightened his awareness to the potential of sampling. This inspired Jack to concentrate on perfecting his sound by night and to take on a series of unfulfilling jobs by day.

"I've been a washer upper, a flower arranger, a runner for a TV post production company... I even worked at Gap for while. That made me all the more determined to work at the music. I would get this down time in a studio and be recording all night, and working at Gap all day. It was knackering but it was very inspiring time."

Jack's debut album, 'The Outer Marker' is a collection of songs about modern life, relationships and the pressures of social situations. Originally released by the independent label RG Records, Just Jack's debut album 'The Outer Marker' received fantastic reviews. 'The Independent' described it as "impressive", Q said, "masterful", the 'NME' said "Awesome. Welcome Just Jack, you rule!", and 'The Big Issue' saluted Jack as "The new troubadour of daily life in the UK".

"The Outer Marker" has recently been re-packaged and re-released and now includes extra tracks and the video for 'Snowflakes'. It has been receiving plenty of airplay and remixes from the likes of Aphrodite and a famous Cure bootleg of 'Snowflakes' is now thrusting Just Jack into the limelight.

Recently, Jack and his band played his third ever gig to a great crowd at the Glastonbury Dance Tent and he will be performing at the V Festivals later this summer.

Jack Allsopp on Just Jack:
"I never had heroes and never wanted to be like other musicians", he says. "I have no affiliations to anyone, I'm not part of a gang, I'm not a part of a scene and I don't have a sound that's obviously a part of a scene. I'm Just Jack."

Links to Just Jack official homepages
Just Jack Homepage
Just Jack @ MySpace

Heartburn
Just Jack Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's a dragon
Blowing fire
In my ventricles
And I can feel
The grip now
Of these tentacles
And I had ideas
Back when I was very young

Like the back of my hand
I thought I'd understand
But now I find myself
Just playing dumb

[Chorus]
Heartburn
And my soul
Is red raw
Inside
Heartburn
And don't the world look different
When you're lying on the floor
Heartburn
And my soul
Is red raw
Inside
Heartburn
And don't the world look different
When you're lying on the floor

There's a lion
Tearing holes
In my ventricles
And I'm feeling
The effect now
Of these combining chemicals
And I had ideas
Back when I was very young
I thought I could weather the storm
I would not need your warmth
But now I find myself
Just praying for the sun

[Chorus]

I'm not joking
The floor is sloping
Towards the things I never wanted to be near
The drop of a tear
Another year
Seen in retrospect
Images I collect
Answers correct
As we continue
To break and connect

[Chorus: x2]

Overall Meaning

In Just Jack's song Heartburn, the singer describes the physical and emotional pain of heartbreak. He compares the feeling to a dragon blowing fire in his ventricles and a lion tearing holes in his heart. He also describes the tentacles and combining chemicals that grip him, implying that the pain is all-consuming and uncontrollable.

The singer speaks about how he had once thought he would understand the world, but now finds himself "just playing dumb." Heartbreak has left him feeling helpless and lost. He finds himself lying on the floor, feeling like a different person than before.

The chorus of Heartburn repeats the phrase "heartburn and my soul is raw inside" with variations. The singer acknowledges that heartbreak changes one's perspective on the world - when you're lying on the floor, everything looks different.

Line by Line Meaning

There's a dragon
There's a feeling of intense burning pain in my chest

Blowing fire
Like a dragon breathing flames, this pain is constantly present and intense

In my ventricles
This pain is located within my heart and cardiovascular system

And I can feel
I am acutely aware and in constant experiencing of this pain

The grip now
This pain is tightening and taking hold of me

Of these tentacles
These tentacles represent the overwhelming and consuming nature of my pain

And I had ideas
In the past, I had thoughts and plans

Back when I was very young
These plans were made when I was naive and inexperienced

Like the back of my hand
I thought I had a complete understanding of my life and of the world around me

I thought I'd understand
I believed that I would be able to make sense of everything and that life would make sense

But now I find myself
However, currently, I am struggling to make sense of things

Just playing dumb
I am pretending that I do not understand even though I'm actually struggling to navigate my emotional pain

[Chorus]
The physical and emotional pain of my heartburn is overwhelming and making it difficult for me to function

There's a lion
There is also an intense and aggressive presence inside me

Tearing holes
This presence is destructive and causing chaos within me

In my ventricles
Similar to how the burning pain is located within my heart and cardiovascular system, this presence is also located in my body

And I'm feeling
I am experiencing this destructive presence in a very real and intense way

The effect now
The consequences of this presence are becoming clear and unmanageable

Of these combining chemicals
This presence represents a complex interaction of various emotions and reactions within me

I thought I could weather the storm
In the past, I thought I could survive the challenges and difficulties that life would present

I would not need your warmth
I believed I could cope on my own without needing external support

But now I find myself
Now, however, I am struggling and realizing that I need help

Just praying for the sun
I am desperately hoping for a brighter and better future, one without the intense pain and stress I am currently experiencing

I'm not joking
This is not a trivial or minor matter, it is a serious and significant issue for me

The floor is sloping
My world feels unsteady and unpredictable

Towards the things I never wanted to be near
The instability and pain I am experiencing is leading me towards things that I have always tried to avoid or distance myself from

The drop of a tear
The slightest emotional trigger can cause me to break down in tears

Another year
Another year of struggling and coping with my emotional pain

Seen in retrospect
When I look back at my past life and experiences, I can see how this pain has always been present or brewing, even if I was not aware of it at the time

Images I collect
I am constantly collecting data and analyzing my past experiences in an attempt to make sense of my current situation

Answers correct
I have the answers to my problems, I just don't know how to apply them

As we continue
As I continue to navigate my journey through life

To break and connect
I am continuously trying to build new and meaningful connections while also breaking free of old and negative patterns

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JACK CHRISTOPHER ALLSOPP, JAY MARK GIMBEL REYNOLDS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS