Behind the Counter
Lyrics
They're always hitting on me
But I'm getting thin
From waiting on
They just want me to be
Behind the counter
The hen centre (1)
Was always picking on me
There they are tucking in all over shop (2)
Got no time
For dinner or tea
Behind the counter
Every car I see
Is always picking on me
They take a left turn when I cross, guaranteed
They park on the pavement
Some have paid parks on the pavement
Here
I say "Wait sir, wait sir,
You'd better wait sir"
Guaranteed
I'm getting thin
From idiots who write rock books
Disparate
Ex-groups cold would've played this
"For Nose Pin and the Punk Piggies (3)
Didn't quite make it," they say
Get behind the counter
The other side of the counter
Chill it, boy
The other side of the counter
Notes
1. "Hen" is a generic English slang term for "woman," much like the (presumably related) term "chick" (and presumably it is equally controversial) (thanks to Robert Brokenmouth).
2. The Peel sessions version has the more straightforward "eating all over the shop."
3. This is an odd way for MES to portray himself being portrayed; his scorn for any band that such a name could fit would surely be at least as heavy as would be that of the rock writers he is complaining about here.
More Information
Comments (8)

- 1. | 30/04/2017

- 2. | 18/02/2018
perhaps because of personal experience, I see this song as being a plea for decency to 'those serving us' which makes people into pigs (in shops, too) - looking down on those who bring your drinks or your food, for a sub-minimum wage, while they themselves 'get thin'.
The title and last line could go either way: telling those stuck in service to get out and get on with their lives; or telling the 'cunts' to try a bit of service themselves, see how they like it.
get out of the service industries. They are leading you nowhere. A sympathetic song, I think.

- 3. | 13/04/2018
as in 'Hen Party' which is the female 'ladette' version of a stag night (and yes, they do fly them off to Majorca these days/those days, too, where a group of women might get rather boisterous and pick (or peck) on anyone getting in their way... and be as hellish to the servers as the lad counterparts are/were.
I think the group aspect is important.

- 4. | 16/10/2019

- 5. | 09/11/2019

- 6. | 09/11/2019

- 7. | 13/11/2019

- 8. | 03/10/2021
http://thefall.org/gigography/93dec18.html
The lyrical relevance of this is not immediately obvious, but maybe it tells us something about what was in MES's head at the time.
It does seem either that MES is putting himself as an artist in the metaphorical role of shopkeeper, or accusing others of doing this to themselves.