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The Devil and Pastor Jack
(Words and music: Dick Gaughan)

Song Lyric

Jack Glass fought the Devil, he fought him all his days
Everywhere that Jack Glass looked he saw the Devil's face
From the early hours of morning to the setting of the sun
Jack Glass fought the Devil - that was all he'd ever done

You wouldn't see Jack dancing, you wouldn't hear Jack sing,
You wouldn't really find Jack doing much of anything
From the early hours of morning to the setting of the sun
Jack Glass fought the Devil - no time for having fun

I don't know if Jack believed in God, it's kind of hard to tell
He never mentioned heaven much, he seemed obsessed by Hell
For Jack had just one purpose, one target in his sight
He fought against the Devil, it was the meaning of his life
From the early hours of morning to the setting of the sun
Jack Glass fought the Devil, now his fighting days are done

Jack Glass he got cancer, but not like anyone else
He said, "This is a personal attack by Lucifer himself
"It's the Devil's desperation, shows I've got him on the run"
So Jack Glass fought the Devil,
Jack Glass fought the Devil,
Jack Glass fought the Devil - looks like the Devil won

I hope there is a Devil with all my heart and mind
For if there isn't, Jack's whole life was a pointless waste of time
From the early hours of morning to the setting of the sun
Jack Glass fought the Devil -
Jack Glass fought the Devil -
From the early hours of morning to the setting of the sun
Jack Glass fought the Devil - looks like the Devil won

Song Notes

"Pastor" Jack Glass was a notorious character in Scotland.

Described by the Rev Ian Paisley as "a bit of an extremist" he vehemently denied being a bigot but actively campaigned against, amongst other issues, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and rights for gay people, Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, the Papal visit to Scotland, the Catholic Church, in fact, against anything or anyone who didn't fit into his extreme Calvinist view of the world as being dominated by the Power of Darkness.

Perhaps his most notorious escapade was when, never one to miss the opportunity for a bit of self-promotion, he began picketing Billy Connolly's concerts on the grounds that Connolly was a blasphemer. The cartoonist Malkie McCormick lampooned him in his weekly strip in the Sunday Mail, by having a piece of graiffiti on a wall saying, "Jack Glass is a wee pastor".

Like all humans, he was a mass of contradictions and when he wasn't proclaiming that most of life was a Satanic plot, he could be very pleasant and charming.

Anyway, he now knows whether he was right or if he spent his life wrestling with monsters out of his own psyche.

Recorded by Dick Gaughan

Lucky For Some (2006)

Also recorded by

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