The Jack Union - The Stand

I was born and raised in High River, Alberta, Canada. High River is a small-town south of Calgary. I cannot recall the specific statistics, but I believe the town has more than tripled in population and size since my birth in 1983. Since no one has ever heard of High River outside of those from Southern Alberta, I just tell everyone I am from Calgary. This year, I will have spent half my life in High River and the other half in Calgary.

Calgary has managed to produce some successfully musicians over the years, perhaps most notably Tegan and Sara, but rural Southern Alberta has had little to advertise to the world. However, at one point in time, it felt like we nearly had something going in the band The Jack Union.

Hailing from Vulcan originally, The Jack Union formed in the late nineties and found a strong amount of local success. Their 2001 album “A Fine Madness” got plenty of radio play across the prairies, and after winning some sort of song or band contest with local Calgary classic rock station CJAY-92, they found their music strongly supported on that radio station and in the surrounding communities.

Perhaps my memory of The Jack Union makes them out to be more significant then they really were because they were from my part of the world, many of my friends were listening to them, and the local radio station played them. They had made it right? Only insofar that they were a big fish in the little fishbowl.

I had completely forgotten about The Jack Union, until one day in the used record store in Inglewood, “Recordland,” when I happened across a used CD of their album “A Fine Madness.” Boy did that bring back memories. Naturally I played it a few times recalling when the song “I Am” used to get played on CJAY-92 and grooving to “Surf the Freedom” while one of my friends drove us around town. This made me wonder, whatever happened to The Jack Union?

Consulting the all-human-knowledge-in-one-place-device (Google), I looked up to find what I could about The Jack Union. Their facebook page has one post back in 2013 that simply informs us who the band members are. There are a few sites dedicated to documenting Canadian rock with brief synopsis of their short-lived existence. Lastly, I actually found what appears to be their official website with the latest updates being their 2003 tour dates which there were only two, Drumheller and Brooks.

What I did not know was that they had an EP released in 2004. They must have broken up and gone their separate ways that year, because I could find nothing about them after that.

And that’s it. That sums of their time as Alberta rock champions. This site gave me the best information: http://www.canadianbands.com/Jack%20Union.html

There is not much to say, so I will talk about my favorite song of theirs “The Stand.”

“The Stand” is the first track on their only album “A Fine Madness.” The tale being told is not a complicated one, it is a story of unrequited love, where the rejected party swallows his pride and walks away.

What makes “The Stand” unique is the independent strength and potential delusion of the narrative rejected lover. Despite being hurt and heart broken, the unrequited lover accepts his baby’s choice and is leaving, saying “you want it, you got it.” However, the touch of angst cannot be ignored, as the singer lays bare the opinion that the two of them being together is, at least from his point of view, how they objectively should have spent their lives.

I really like the line:

“And the lies and the cries,
And you just don’t realize,
What you had inside of me.
My baby never going be my baby,
Never going be.”

As a hopeless romantic myself, this line really resonates.

However, the next line:

“One day you'll realize. I'm the man for you,
There's no disguising.
To late to reconcile. you've said your piece,
And now I'm leaving.”

When I was seventeen, or sixteen, or however old I was when I first heard “The Stand” I felt like I could relate to both verses. Like any boy that age, I had a crush on a cute girl, and it become pretty clear pretty quickly she was never going be my baby, and at the time it sure felt like that we made a good match and that maybe one day she would regret her choice. However, after many years of multiple babies never being my baby, and none of them seeming to regret that choice, this line now comes across to me like a bitter man trying to save face whilst being rejected.

Nonetheless, I think something even more interesting is accomplished in The Jack Union’s “The Stand” consequently. Two powerful states of mind are being presented simultaneously. Undying love from a strong man who is willing to walk away as per his baby’s request, after all if you love something you must let it go. Also, the resentment of a broken heart unable to retain civility. It is nigh impossible to love someone who makes your relationship unreconcilable without holding animosity for that person, even if you do continue to be in love with them.

Emotions are complicated.

You can understand why The Jack Union’s “The Stand” is a song I keep going back to. It has great sound, but also great emotional depth. Also, for me, and other Southern Albertan’s of my generation, this band was a flash in the pan, that was ours, and that is rare. Whatever happened to the men of The Jack Union I do not know, but I wish them well. They gave us one very solid album, that I hope time does not forget them and their short but quality work.

- King of Braves