Stop the bus
I want to be lonely
When seconds pass slowly
And years go flying by
You gotta stop the bus
I'll get off here
Enough's enough
I'm leaving this factory

All she wants
Is food on the table
I won't be able
To bring it home
All she wants, come on,
All I need is free
Cause I'm a factory

Did Mother Nature tell you
Boy you come and go as you please
That's what she said to me
But Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery

Millionaires and mill rats live side by side here,
Messed up my brother's mind
He's far from earth
What's he worth
The same as you the same as me
In this factory

Did Mother Nature tell you
Boy you come and go as you please
That's what she said to me
But Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery

(Whoa)(Come on)(Whoa)(Whoa)
(That's pretty good, try it again)
(Whoa)

It's 4 in the morning
Mother don't know
That I'm going far away
She's whispering to the moon
I hope he don't join you soon

Baby boss
Climbs up on his soapbox
But Great Caesar's ghost
Knows what's best for me
He says stop the bus

Did Mother Nature tell you
Boy you come and go as you please
That's what she said to me
But Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery

Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery
Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery



Lyrics submitted by kevin

Track duration: 03:24

"Jackson Cannery" as written by Ben Folds

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Jackson Cannery song meanings
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18 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:Its weird how many of these songs make sense to me now that I'm older. This song is about what every man goes through when they get married and have kids. You're on a ride that you can't get off of unless you stop the bus - that is, divorce and go your own way (which Ben has done a few times!) You want to be "lonely" again - without the burden of marriage. Marriage, at least some marriages, the husband feels like a factory, churning out "food on the table." He is simply a tool.

    Men innately feel the need to wander, not be tied down ("did mother nature tell you boy you come and go as you please?") But Big Brother's got the keys - the machine of societal pressure binds us. And I've got Jackson Cannery - the factory that he has become.

    And all men are in the same situation - whether they be millionaires or mill rates, they're all worth nothing but the factory they represent to their wives.

    The 4 in the morning thing is him leaving his wife in the middle of the night.

    Anyway, that's my interpretation.
    Flag UncleWalter1978on July 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Jackson Cannery is the factory he works in, as in a cannery where they produce cans, not a person guys, it's pretty obvious! The rest is pretty self explanatory
    Flag nimanimon May 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah, of course big brother is meant in the 1984 sense. I LOVE this song, it makes me feel better when I feel pissed off at "the system." btw, I think the words are slightly wrong, I'm pretty sure it's "didN'T mother nature..." not that it really changes the meaning so much. I love that bf can rock so good, and also have brilliant references to shakespeare and 1984... I just love that bit about Ceasar's ghost telling you to get off the bus- what's the bus- yeah, I believe that the bus could be referring to the guy who got off the bus to work and went to italy, but the bus is totally a great metaphor for the boring, common life.
    Flag gracetbeon September 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This to me is oddly reminiscient of BF's philosophy...

    it seems like a social statement, about socialism and such. BF is tired of the socialist, "everyone is equal" view that is held in worker's unions... like how the "millionaire and mill rats live side by side." He doesn't think that everyone should be stuck in these factories, pretending like everyone is equal, where everyone does everything for everyone, but nothing for himself or herself. At that point, no one gets anything, but everyone gets what they need... which in a socialist state, is technically "nothing"; everything is pooled for the group, rather than the individual. Thus, "the factory" provides everything for everyone, but nothing for the individual... and no one is really happy.

    "Mother Nature," or basically, human nature, he says, says that people should do what they please and be what they want, without being bound by the social rules of equality and "justice." But "big brother," the mysterious, collective head as portrayed in 1984, (which by reference to 'mother nature,' is given some relation to the speaker) has got "the keys," conceivably to the doors of opportunity, and thus, "i've got jackson cannery"; he has nothing.


    That's just coming from a tired english student though. who knows... good song.
    Flag hjdjooon July 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When I think about this song, I think of school. I see it as just a factory of students; everyone doing the same things they are taught. We're not worth a thing to them. They're just trying to produce successful people so they look good. I don't know; I really relate to this song in quite a few ways. It's one of my all-time favorites for sure.
    Flag h0merg0mezon May 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is the best BFF song, only mathced by Ben Folds' 'Fred Jones Part 2'.

    It's about not wanting to just live life, being a victim of the 'factory' and going along with the crowd, doing what you're told to and then yourself becoming a 'factory' and having kids and forcing them down the same road of just making sure there's 'food on the table'.

    He writes it in the way about a girl, who he doesn't want to be with, becasue she's just going along with ife in this way, but he wasnts to do what HE wants and that's to be in a band. If he didn't do what he wanted then life is worthles, even if he became a millionaire whose life is as worthless as a 'mill rat'.
    Flag phil_FFFon October 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:BF has said this song was inspired by a guy he vaguely knew who had a crack-up episode while taking the bus to work. This guy demanded that the bus stop in the middle of the street, then abruptly wandered off to someplace like Ireland...

    Seems he's mostly talking about how against human nature it is to spend most of your life working in a factory (or wherever).... so here's this guy who just says, "fuck it, I'm outta here!"
    Flag Quonseton August 01, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:'It's 4 in the morning
    Mother don't know
    That I'm going far away
    She's whispering to the moon
    'I hope he don't join you soon'

    Maybe she's hoping that her son doesn't join his brother that's 'far from earth'?
    Flag Ludeyon May 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've always thought Big Brother was in the 1984 sense of it. The song's incredibly good. I've got no idea what "Jackson Cannery" itself means, though.
    Flag carlosthedwarfon August 04, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with the statement "Reminds me of the phrase "you are what you eat" especially when he says "cause I'm a factory." You work in a factory, therefore the factory becomes your life".

    Buyt I do not think that Jackson Cannery is a person, so there's no point looking him up on the internet - Jackson cannery, as in a factory, where they can things... that would make sense....
    Flag ___evaporatedon March 16, 2005   Link

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