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Driving home she grabs something to eat
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat
In the Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you been judged and handed life
Down in Jackson Cage
Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move you belong to
The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play
Or will you just do your time and fade away
Down into the Jackson Cage
Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
Till you become the hand that turns the key down in
Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darlin' can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat
In the Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you been judged and handed life
Down in Jackson Cage
Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move you belong to
The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play
Or will you just do your time and fade away
Down into the Jackson Cage
Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
Till you become the hand that turns the key down in
Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darlin' can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage
Lyrics submitted by oofus
Track duration: 03:04
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I live in the Jackson cage. It suffocates you more each day, and whether or not this was actually written with this town in mind, he sure as hell hit the nail on the head. Only Bruce could describe things so perfectly.
To me this song is about the way we imprison ourselves, or become imprisoned, by unfulfilling lives and the challenge to just keep our bills paid and a roof over our head, putting our dreams on hold or giving them up entirely.
In this case, Springsteen is probably imagining someone in a low-paying, dead end, pointless job, who works just to keep their head above water - a common theme in Springsteen's lyrics as any fan will recognize.
If you follow the lyrics, he's talking to someone who clearly seems tired, dispirited, and resigned to her fate. And he's wondering, basically, if they are damned.
I feel the same way.
This, to me, is one of the few standouts off of the Boss' double-album "The River". The lyrics are gut wrenching... the song seems to tell the story of a woman who cannot escape from the enviornment in which she lives - The Jackson Cage. I guess it's open to interpretation as to what the "Jackson Cage" really is. I like to think of it as a city where all of this happens. My favorite lyric is in the chorus:
"You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you've been judged, and handed life
Down in the Jackson Cage"
That line about being "handed life" kinda sums up the life that the two characters are living in this song.