Go home and pray, Jack/Oh, do you masturbate over the corpses, Jack?/Have a nice f**king w*nk, eh?/Re-living the crime over and over, lustful thoughts?/Or are you mad, Jack? Mad?/We know you're mad, Jack, but do you?
The Tiger Lillies have never shied away from controversial subjects, covering everything from blasphemy to bestiality throughout their lengthy career. Their psychological study of Jack, The Ripper and its menacingly creepy video is one of their more recent (and unquestionably finest) moments of musical mischief. The enigmatic Ripper, known for murdering multiple prostitutes in Victorian London, is questioned by a sneering Martin Jacques (renowned for his terrifying squawking falsetto) regarding the motivations of his crime. "Why do you do it, Jack?" he asks, wondering "do you burn with hatred for the whores?" Jacques wonders if The Ripper sees himself as doing God's work, or whether he'll "go to Hell" for his actions over a creepy, creaking soundscape of repetitive minor chord piano, violins and bowed saw. The song concludes with Jacques laughing as he realises that Jack's pleasure derives from masturbating over his victims, and he enquires as to whether Jack realises just how mad he is. Genuinely creepy songwriting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6huZ4uEeofg
