Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow

(1)  

We are the Fall
Northern white crap that talks back (2)
We are not black, tall
No boxes for us
Do not fuck us
We are frigid stars
We were spitting, we were snapping "Cop Out, Cop Out!"
as in from heaven
 

Sucker sucker sucker sucker sucker sucker sucker sucker
 

No stars in the zone
I stay at home
I live on snacks
Potatoes in packs
 

I like to blow...
I like to blow....
I like to blow
Concentration zone (3)
 

The years go in circles,
the years go in circles
Hopes goes, I'm gone
Smoke comes, i go
 

A Spurs fan, a warrior, (4)
happy no-hoper
Dull, manage,
I think slow.
 

Sucker, blow.

(5)

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1. Crap Rap preceded several songs live (see note 4 below).

Martin:

25 November 1978 Prestwich Hospital Social Club: MES: "The next one's about the old marijuana..." (introducing Like To Blow)

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2. From Rip it Up and Start Again:

 [I]n a later interview (January 1980 NME), [MES} says "the 'white crap that talks back' thing was due to people in London being told that people in the North are thick, or warm, friendly people. A lot of bands masquerade, pretend that they're the 'Northern thing'.... We're neither white crap, nor like 'We're talking about Art here, aren't we?'"

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3. From Kenji Yamada:

"Concentration Zone" may be alluding to Frank Zappa's "Concentration Moon" off of We're Only In It For The Money, an album that Mark E. Smith has expressed admiration for in the past. Both songs are clear stabs at certain kinds of lethargic music fans, essentially the same despite about ten years of separation. "Concentration moon" can even be misheard as "concentration zone" if you strain yourself enough.

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4. Presumably a reference to Tottenham Hotspur; this would be an indication that MES, a Manchester City fan, is writing in character. 

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5. I'm not always sure of the best way to organize things; sometimes when songs are paired on an LP I put them together, sometimes not. In this case, there seem to have been several "Crap Rap"s, which was a standard introductory blast for much of the Fall's early career, before being more or less displaced by "C 'n' C-S Mithering." Here are a few lyrics, with the ensuing song indicated in the heading:

07/29/1979 Marquee, London ("Before the Moon Falls")

Good evening, all the groups imitate us but they always underrate us. We are The Fall, hello, hello, a scratchy wall of sound. White crap talks back. Witch Trials, brandy, Dragnet, Dragnet...

11/4/1979 Rock Garden, Middlesborough ("Printhead")

One, one... aaaaaaah! Futuristic aides on long legs... good evening, we are The Fall. Northern white crap but we talk back... we were spitting, we were stepping. Cop out, cop out! As in from Heaven. You can get wise at half the price... get wise at half the price. We are The Fall... as in from Heaven.

11/16/1979 Porterhouse, Retford ("Psykick Dancehall")

Good evening, we are The Fall. Interesting (?) on long legs. We are The Fall. (...) white crap talks back. Up here in the North, there is no wage package jobs for us, thank Christ. As the junior clergy demand more cash and (...) couples discuss their trap. We spit in their plate. We are The Fall, as in from heaven.

[The "wage packet" line turns up in "Before the Moon Falls" on Dragnet)

10/27 1979 Bircoats Leisure Center, Doncaster (Totale's Turns, labeled "Intro.")

We are Northern white crap that talks back 
We are The Fall we were spinning we were stepping
Cop out, cop out as in from heaven 
The difference between you and us is that we have brains
Cos we are Northern white crap 
But we talk back 
Uh oh, uh oh 
Bang fucking bang, The Mighty Fall 
The Fall, we are back, we are back 
And this next number is Fiery Jack

[The "Bang bang, the mighty fall" is the refrain of a clever but slight 1979 hit by BA Robertson entitled "Bang Bang," which peaked at #2 two months before first half of Totale's Turns was recorded. John Peel subsequently dubbed the band "the mighty Fall," and journalists and fans often use his sobriquet for the group, analogously to the way Grateful Dead fans say "The Good Ol' Grateful Dead." The line echoes the proverb "Pride goeth before a fall," a condensation of the biblical "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).]

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Crap Rap 2: Fall Tracks A-Z

Like to Blow: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 1978

The Story of the Fall: 1979