dannyno said:LazarusOblong said:soulcitizen said
oes the content translate outside the north of England, it's very of its time and place? (Genuine question)
No, it really doesn't.
But it doesn't matter to me. I don't care what the lyrics mean. It's not relevant to the appeal of the band.
I don't agree with this at all. There is an element of Salford-specificity, especially maybe early on. But it's not remotely true of The Fall's output as a whole. And even where the lyrical inspiration is Northern, he most often writes cryptically and in cut-up fashion, which means the songs can be universalised. Perhaps when The Fall started out they had the aim of reflecting their own local experience, but MES rapidly outgrew that. You know, although he always returns to Prestwich, he's lived in the States, and in Edinburgh, and has had an American wife while his current wife is Greek via Germany. You can't accuse him of parochialism!
Many of the songs are about or mainly concerned with London, like Deer Park. And there is also Edinburgh Man, which is self-explanatory.
There are songs about other countries, like Iceland.
There are songs concerned with the U.S, like Chicago, Now!, L.A., Pittsville Direkt, The Steak Place.
Yeah, okay. See post #30 in the thread, where I sort of backtracked on that earlier post. I like your cutup/universalized insight.
Smith wrote some songs which are totally clear - take "How I Wrote Plastic Man," for instance, one of his best - but that cutup process definitely allows listeners to enjoy Fall songs without being in on the underlying meaning.
I THINK this song is about an addict dying before Christmas, but maybe not:
No Christmas for John Quays
Come on get a bit of fucking guts into it
What what
Well the powders reach you
And the powders teach you
But when you find they can't reach you
There is no Christmas for junky
He thinks he is
More interesting
Than the world
Ah but five fags
Puts him in a whirl
I'll have a packet of three-five fives
You fucking [full of money] or something for Christ's sake?
I'll have a packet of three-five fives
I'll have 20 of those over there
I'll have 20 No.6 for a headache
And I've had enough right there, stop
(Why is this)
Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah
He spits in the sky
It falls in his eye
And then he gets to sitting
Talking to his kitten
Talking about Frankie Lymon
Tell me why is it so?
Tell me why is it so?
Why did the sky break today?
Why did this happen today?
He gets out of his face with the Idle Race
He gets out of the room with this tune
Although the skins are thin
He knows its up to him
To go out or stay in
I'll stay in
I'll stay in
Have a break
You
Me
X-Mas
X-Mas
Well the powders reach you
And the powders teach you
But when you find they can't reach you
There is no Christmas for junky
There is no girls
Just the traffic passing by
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
Open the room, there's a cloud of smoke
Will you fucking get it together instead of showing off?
Give me one
Give me B
Give me three
Give me D
No X-mas for John Quays
