Excerpt from A Teenage Opera

"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'" (also known as "Grocer Jack") is a 1967 single by Keith West, produced by Mark Wirtz. It was a big hit in Europe, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. The single was part of a bigger "A Teenage Opera" project.

According to Mark Wirtz, the song comes from a dream he had about an ageing door-to-door grocer named Jack in a small, turn of the century village, who was mocked by the children as he was taken for granted by the town folk. When Jack unexpectedly died, the town folk reacted with anger about the inconvenience of now having to be self-reliant about their staple provision, while the children were heartbroken, in truth having loved and appreciated Jack all the while.