Fact #164445

Glenys Lynn (Four Jacks and a Jill) : In certain mines the foreman is called ‘Master Jack’, and the song tells the story of a labourer who works diligently for this master for years and years and then decides to go out on his own and exercise his desires and aspirations as an individual to be something other than a labourer.

(Source : http://middelburg.getitonline.co.za/2016/10/04/who-is-master-jack/#.WurtlS-ZPMI)

David Marks (songwriter`) : The lyrics expressed the thoughts of a young Afrikaner called Nico who questioned the policies of society. He was a friend of mine. He was brought up in a very strict home and was not allowed to speak English. The day Hendrik Verwoerd was assassinated Nico was very happy. In fact he was so happy he got in a fight with some miners. It was on that same day that I added the final notes to that song.

It was a bizarre time. A time where we had signs on the beaches that read ‘Whites only’. It was an awkward time, yet compelling in the sense that something was happening around us. It was a time of Woodstock, mixing desks, the Rivonia trial, the hippies with their open mindsets on sex, drugs and rock and roll.
(Source : http://middelburg.getitonline.co.za/2016/10/04/who-is-master-jack/#.WurtlS-ZPMI)