Cold aeroplanes, slow boats, warm trains
Remind me of jack-a-lynn.
Lush hotels and pretty girls
Won't cheer the misty mood i'm in.
Silly, sad --- i've never had to write this before ---
Oh, jack-a-lynn.

Funny how long nights allow
Thoughts of jack-a-lynn.
When phantoms tread around my bed
To offer restless dreams they bring.
And it's just the time and place to find
A sad song to play
For jack-a-lynn.

Magpies that shriek, old boots that leak
Call me to jack-a-lynn.
Coal-black cats in policeman's hats
Nosing where the mice have been.
And the long miaow's beginning now
And i'm far, far from home ---
And jack-a-lynn.