Happy Jack

Happy Jack wasn't old, but he was a man.
He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man.
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key,
So they rode on ahead on their furry donkey.

The kids couldn't hurt Jack,
They tried, tried, tried.
They dropped things on his back,
They lied, lied, lied, lied, lied.

But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping,
And they couldn't prevent Jack from being happy.

But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping,
And they couldn't prevent Jack from being happy.

The kids couldn't hurt Jack,
They tried, tried, tried.
They dropped things on his back
They lied, lied, lied, lied, lied.

But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping.
And they couldn't prevent Jack from being happy.




- Released December 3, 1966

- "Happy Jack" was the band's first top forty hit in the USA.

- Pete Townshend based the "Happy Jack" character on the strange and not-too-intelligent guys who used to hang around English beaches and play with the kids. Townshend himself, played on the Isle Of Man beach as a kid.

- At the tail end of "Happy Jack", Townshend can be heard shouting "I saw you!", and it is said that he was noticing drummer Keith Moon trying to join in surreptitiously to add his voice to the recording. Apparently, Moon had been banished from the studio and was trying to sneak back in.