Priscilla Block is taking her power back in her new song, “Hey, Jack.” Granted, taking her power back is a consistent theme in the rising star’s music. She points to “Thick Thighs” and “My Bar” as other examples where she has no shame in defending her territory, making confidence the thread that strings her songs together. “Hey, Jack” relies on clever wordplay where Jack can either stand for Jack Daniel’s whiskey or another person named Jack whom she’s ready and willing to make some poor decisions with. Below, Block tells American Songwriter about the inspiration behind the song and how it symbolizes a new era in her life.
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“It’s very me: I sent Cover Girl down south / Crying my eyes out / Finally putting on the boots / Scissors cut the jeans off / Walmart had press-ons / Walgreens covered the roots. It’s like, ‘That’s me’ and that kind of sassy thing that people have seen. Even Jack is up for interpretation, whatever Jack is to you. It’s maybe somebody that’s probably not good for you, or the liquor, or anything that you turn to to feel something, that’s what this song is. It’s taking your power back. It’s like, ‘I’m done calling you up, I’m calling somebody else and I’m gonna do me and I’m gonna put on whatever makes me feel good.’ Having that confidence in yourself and you see that in the video, owning it and that’s how I have my power back. It’s not letting anyone alter anything for you. You just own it and you do it and you’re like, ‘I’m not going down this train anymore. I’m calling on Jack tonight.’
I think ‘My Bar’ is a big taking your power back song. ‘I’m not leaving this bar, this is my bar, I don’t care if you’re here or not.’ There’s a lot of that in my music of taking your power back because there were times in my life that maybe I didn’t feel so confident. Writing a song like ‘Thick Thighs’ and being like, ‘I’m curvy and I don’t look like whatever you might want me to look like,’ it’s owning that, it’s owning who you are. It’s about never letting anyone make you feel like you need to be different or do something different than what you wanna do.
I’m really excited about ‘Hey, Jack,’ I think it’s the start of this new era for me. There’s some similarities with ‘You, Me, & Whiskey,’ but it all fits together and we’re moving in that direction. I’m really excited to give people a new side of me, but still the same freshness.”
Photo from YouTube
