He was an artist and a writer
And a poet and a friend
In a man's life he will take a fall
But how low he goes it just depends

He's shooting dope in the men's room
At the station, daly city train
Have you ever seen an angel
Well, I know I have
They'll stay here for a while and then they'll fly away

Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here
Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here

Some grown up and some grow old
But what about the kid who never learned the rules
Spent all these years on this earth
When you look back, it's just a flicker of time

Jackyl was one of the one's that
He was one of the one's that was already saved
Through all this evil and wreckage,yeah
He maintained a sense of himself

Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here
Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here

Some men are in prison even though they walk the streets at night
Other men who got the lockdown are free as a bird in flight

Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here
Jackyl had a beer in his hand last time I seen him
When he rolled the dice, you know he never thought twice
Never thought twice about being here



Lyrics submitted by Kpizzle

Track duration: 03:21


Daly City Train song meanings
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28 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:When I first heard this song, about six years ago, when I was around six or seven I remeber sitting with my sister and she was explaining to me what Tim was saying (I still have trouble knowing what he says) and, I remeber her saying, me not knowing if this is true that it was about someone close to the band, who drank, took drugs didn't obey the rules but was a good guy, but his adiction beat him and he died..

    Just a point of view from my family and I :)
    Flag AbiAvengedon May 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Jackyl is mentioned again in the lyrics for Rats in the Hallway

    Johnny bought some shit down on market st.
    Shoot up boot up the human target
    He hit the dirty spike when he hit the scene
    It's easy to stay dirty when nothing is clean
    Johnny's a writer who tags up jackal
    Jackel just clamped on unclampable shackles
    Rout up shoot up some dope to go like legal currency
    It's money it's like that rat tat tat
    Kid got shot point blank in the back
    My land lord said not to be bumming
    He was a cocaine stoop and he had it coming
    He was only 12 years old
    He was in the blizzard, he got shot for being cold
    It don't seem right, tonight hit the lights alright
    Watch the roaches run into the darkest room
    Junkie drunken bum
    Rats in the hallway again
    Flag chiefwiggumon March 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:jackyl is also mentioned in rats in the hallway. and i think another song as well. but i think its someone Tim knew growing up.
    Flag sklubbyon October 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's obviously about Jesse from operation ivy.
    Flag cfalcon7688on December 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yes...i agree with jhxect. it is about someone tim knew who died
    Flag missmurder233on July 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This in my opinion is the best Rancid song. It is very badass with all the ska and meaningful shit.
    Flag Motorheadacheon June 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:nobody has mentioned the ska on this page....i fuckin love it when rancid does ska
    Flag peace.love.ska.punkon June 12, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:While I can't say for sure, it's most likely about someone that Armstrong personally knew. His lyrics are usually very literal.

    My best guess is that it is about someone who was a drug addict and shunned by the general public but who Armstrong developed a personal relationship with and found to be a very beautiful person.

    He says how low he goes it just depends, and follows that with shooting dope in the mens room. That's a pretty low moment moment in most people's opinions. However he follows that up with Have you ever seen an angel?...

    I believe the song is about a real person who either died or disappeared, and Armstrong is writing a sort of homage to this person.
    Flag jhxetcon March 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I believe this song may be about Jesse- the lead singer from Op Ivy. I know he drank, he was an artist, a poet, and a good friend of armstrong's (armstrong used to be in op ivy) . And plus Jesse and Jackyl start with the same letter.
    Flag achin_to_beon January 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Some men are in prison although they walk the streets at night
    Other men who got the lockdown are free as a bird in flight
    How about the hour in the system that ended
    In a one-way line, our measures could not stand it

    i got that from here singulartists.com/artist_r/rancid_lyrics/…

    it sounds pretty right.
    Flag brandnizzle6on October 24, 2006   Link

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