Clear Off!
Lyrics
When the off-license asks (2)
I've been 2 months
Checks the crack
On their forehead
Should comb a hair
Over that
And these Czech shoes
Are a bloody reminder
And this town
Is not much different
The clothes, the stooped appearance
Over the hill
goes killer civil servant (3)
I still remember
The white leafy border
The scheiss in winter (4)
Over the hill
goes killer civil servant
There's a song she had before
Borough town
That had the snappy rejoinder
Who's there?
What's wrong?
Clear off!
Notes
1. From Uncut magazine, October 2003 (thanks to Dan): "The lyrical idea came when I bumped into a good pal I hadn't seen for 10 years who'd just got back after working behind the Iron Curtain. He was still dressing like a Czech factory worker, drinking heavily. He'd obviously seen some terrible things and I think he'd left his sweetheart behind. The drums and Gavin Friday's part really make it.
2. In Britain an off-license is a liquor store, i.e. a place that has a license to sell liquor to be consumed off the premises. This cryptic little song probably has something to do with Eastern Europe (but see note 2 below), what with the Czech shoes, the "killer civil servants," the paranoia. Like "Copped It" and "Stephen Song," it features guest vocals by Gavin Friday of the Virgin Prunes.
3. Although "civil servants" would be apparently be approporate characters in a song about Eastern Europe, with its mentions of Czech shoes and bit of German cussing (see notes 1 and 3), this may be a reference to a British civil servant rather than a European one. Danny drops a bit of science in the comment section:
"In February 1983, civil servant Dennis Nilsen of Muswell Hill was arrested on suspicion of murder. This song was first performed in September, by which time Nilsen had been charged with 5 murders plus some attempted murders. He is thought to be responsible for 15 murders in total, which makes him one of Britain's most prolific serial killers."
Known as the "Kindly Killer," Nilsen was also a necrophiliac.
More Information
Comments (13)
- 1. | 02/05/2013
- 2. | 20/02/2014
- 3. | 22/02/2014
- 4. | 07/07/2014
- 5. | 28/09/2014
"The lyrical idea came when I bumped into a good pal I hadn't seen for 10 years who'd just got back after working behind the Iron Curtain. He was still dressing like a Czech factory worker, drinking heavily. He'd obviously seen some terrible things and I think he'd left his sweetheart behind. The drums and Gavin Friday's part really make it."
http://thefall.org/news/pics/03oct-uncut.html
- 6. | 22/04/2016
By the way, the line "white leafy border" often got slightly extended to "white leafy border post" in gigs, and the German "scheiss" replaced by "shitty".
- 7. | 15/09/2020
Was. Ironically, he died in 2018.
Nilsen is currently the subject of the ITV drama Des, where he is played by David Tennant.
- 8. | 25/09/2020
There's a song she had before
Borough town
That had the snappy rejoinder
I wonder if "she" is Brix. I wonder if her previous band did indeed have "a song" that included some of these lyrics, or a "snappy rejoinder" of some kind?
"A song she had before Borough town" could mean before she moved to Prestwich, part of the borough of Bury. This song was debuted, after all, only a few months after she met MES, moved to the UK, and got married.
- 9. | 25/09/2020
"Lloyd Call eat shit" (sic)
"Hi Lisa Feder!" (Brix's friend, with whom she had formed Banda Dratsing)
"The Snappy Rejoinder"
Lloyd "Call" aside, we have an obvious shout-out to a former band-mate and friend by Brix there, and so it's plausible that "The Snappy Rejoinder" could be a little in-joke or reference that Lisa would understand. A song title, perhaps, or a lyric, or a phrase with mutual meaning.
We need to ask Brix, first chance we get!
- 10. | 27/09/2020
- 11. | 04/10/2020
- 12. | 11/01/2023
When I arrived for the recording sessions, I had no idea of what he wanted me to do. All I remember was the group constantly putting down some very loud music nonstop. I had no sense as to what the lyrics might be. So, we went to a nearby pub and Mark pulled out some pieces of paper from a plastic carrier bag—envelopes, cigarette boxes, etc.—with bits of lyrics written on them. Laying them out on the table, jigsaw-like, these lyrics were the basis of ‘Clear Off.’ Mark revealed, “It’s about a Civil Servant a lost and lonely sad old fucker….” His only other advice to me was to be intimate. “Do your sad thing”, he said.
- 13. | 20/09/2023
In February 1983, civil servant Dennis Nilsen of Muswell Hill was arrested on suspicion of murder. This song was first performed in September, by which time Nilsen had been charged with 5 murders plus some attempted murders. He is thought to be responsible for 15 murders in total, which makes him one of Britain's most prolific serial killers.