100 Greatest Song of the 60’s #57 Scott Walker – Jackie

Released: 1967

Scott Walker is another artist with a story too rich for the confines of the few hundred words here, so to make things brief and to the point Jackie was a cover version of a song by Belgian composer Jacques Brel. Walker was introduced to Brel’s music by his then German girlfriend, and the impact was profound; the second album released post The Walker Brothers’ disintegration, Scott 2, featured not only Jackie’s cabaret noir but also two other versions (Next, The Girls and the Dogs).

There’s a perfectly acceptable argument that Walker made or participated in better songs in this decade, a few candidates being Take It Easy On Yourself, The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore, 30 Century Man or Montague Terrace (In Blue). There are cases for all of them, but in terms of influence and legacy it was the gothic pomp of Walker’s solo career that resonated most for his later acolytes, would be troubadours like Neil Hannon, Jarvis Cocker and latterly, the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner.

The song itself was a character sketch that flirted with both the sublime and the ridiculous, Walker’s breathless, raconteur’s delivery making it canter, the narrative made up of a thousand seedy flashbacks. Amongst the sentiments were darker references which would earn it a ban on mainstream radio and television, but once heard it’s refrain – ‘Cute, in a stupid assed way’ – was never forgotten. His later career became an exercise in taking the roads less travelled, but Jackie was a peak as theatrical as it was unorthodox.