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Jack Dawson is an original song written, produced and with lyrics by Paul Robert Thomas with music exclusively commercially licensed to Paul from the album More Folk
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Jack Dawson is available to download at all good download stores as well as on Bandcamp
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You can download the album More Folk at all download stores HERE and on Bandcamp HERE
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“Jack Dawson” is a haunting folk ballad that strips away the Hollywood glamour of the Titanic tragedy to honor the real, forgotten working-class men who perished in the disaster.
The song profiles “Big J.D.,” an Irish trimmer working deep in the claustrophobic gloom of the ship’s coal rooms. He is a hard-working, hard-gambling man, dismissed by high society but deeply rooted in the camaraderie of the poor. When disaster strikes on April 15, 1912, his fate is sealed by his inability to swim and his location deep within the ship’s structure.
Up on deck, a parallel love story unfolds with his “Rose”—not a high-society heiress, but a working-class woman on the decks above. As the ship goes down and wealthy dignity disintegrates into a raw panic for survival, Jack spends his final moments helping others before succumbing to the freezing waters. The song serves as a musical elegy, reminding the listener that behind the famous blockbusters and history books lies a real gravestone in Nova Scotia (Body No. 227), marking the true sacrifice of an ordinary working man.
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The date structure in the lyrics—expressed as both digits (15-04-1912) and spoken text—acts like a ticking clock or a news bulletin cutting through the poetry of the song.
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Jack Dawson lyrics
Well, Jack Dawson was, a friend to me
They’d call him, ‘Big J. D’.’
He worked the big liners that sailed on the sea
Here to there in the early century
He’d work hard, that was his way
Then he’d gamble away all of his pay
‘A drunken Irish bum’ they’d say, but he cared not for praise
You know, he worked as a trimmer down in the gloom
He’d shovel and he’d sweat, in the coal room
That place was so small you couldn’t swing a cat inside that tomb
There was no way out of this watery doom
For he never learnt to swim, just was something he never did
In his pit no-one raised the lid
“Out of sight, out of mind’ it’s best to keep it all hid, that’s how it was in those days
You know, he never moaned that it was all wrong
He just was where he knew he belonged
Down amongst all those people who’r poor but strong
Whose love helped him carry on
Just why should he complain as he knew no-one cared
Well, not those above who’d paid so much for their fares
With his cross and anchor tattoo, dirty clothes and dirty black hair
15-04-1912
It’s not a film or a book upon your shelve
His gravestone is marked ‘J Dawson died 15-04-1912, number 227’
If there’s a God I hope his soul went to heaven
If there’s a God I hope his soul went to heaven
You know, his Rose worked on the decks above
Even the poor have a right to love
He was her dark Albatross, she was his white Dove
They stood and watched as the passengers pushed and shoved
As rich dignity was forgot in the rush to survive
It’s a basic human instinct to stay alive
Jack helped all he could but couldn’t save his own life
Fifteen Four Nineteen Twelve, Fifteen Four Nineteen Twelve
It’s not a film or a book upon your shelve
His gravestone is marked ‘J Dawson died 15-04-1912, number 227’
If there’s a God I hope his soul went to heaven
If there’s a God I hope his soul went to heaven
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Paul Robert Thomas PRS No. 497904008 (London)
PRS Tunecode: 032265NA ISWC: T-341.172.063-9
Audiosparx Catalogue ID: 1426774 ISRC: US5UL2655130
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You can check out Paul’s complete Music Discovery HERE that includes 54 of Paul’s albums, as well as 610 of Paul’s songs catogorized according to their music genre HERE and you can also read Paul’s interesting and eventful Bio HERE
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Take a tour of Paul’s music site HERE where you’ll find not only great songs, but you can also read about Paul’s meeting with Andy Warhol, the letter that Robert Johnson’s grandson’s sent to Paul, the letter to Paul from Buckingham Palace, Paul’s successful court battle against the London police, Paul’s Dylan concert reviews, articles and much much more!
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Paul is a member of the PRS (London) CAE 497904008
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You can contact Paul via email at paul@paullyrics.com
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