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The Annotated Lyrics
- (Birtwistle's) Girl in Shop
- (Jung Nev's) Antidotes
- (We Are) Mod Mock Goth
- (We WIsh You) A Protein Christ
- 15 Ways
- 2 x 4
- 2nd Dark Age
- 4 1/2 Inch
- 50 Year Old Man
- 986 Generator
- A Figure Walks
- A Lot of Wind
- A Past Gone Mad
- Afternoon Disco
- Age of Chang
- All Leave Cancelled
- Alton Towers
- Amorator!
- An Older Lover Etc.
- And Therein...
- And This Day
- Anecdotes+Antidotes in B#
- Arid Al's Dream
- Arms Control Poseur
- Assume
- Athlete Cured
- Australians in Europe
- Auto Chip 2014-2016
- Auto-Tech Pilot
- Backdrop
- Bad News Girl
- Barmy
- Before the Moon Falls
- Behind the Counter
- Bill is Dead
- Bingo-Master
- Birmingham School of Business
- Birthday Song
- Black Roof
- Blindness
- Blood Outta Stone
- Bo Demmick
- Bombast
- Bonkers in Phoenix
- Bound
- Bournemouth Runner
- Breaking the Rules
- Bremen Nacht
- Brillo De Facto
- British People in Hot Weather
- Bug Day
- Bury Pts. 1+3
- Butterflies 4 Brains
- C'n'C-S Mithering
- C.R.E.E.P.
- Cab It Up
- Calendar
- Can Can Summer
- Carry Bag Man
- Cary Grant's Wedding
- Cheetham Hill
- Chicago, Now!
- Chilinism
- Chino
- Choc-Stock
- City Dweller
- City Hobgoblins
- Clasp Hands
- Clear Off!
- Cloud of Black
- Coach and Horses
- Contraflow
- Copped It
- Cosmos 7
- Couldn't Get Ahead
- Couples vs Jobless Mid 30s
- Cowboy George
- Cowboy Gregori
- Crackhouse
- Craigness
- Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow
- Crew Filth
- Crop-Dust
- Cruiser's Creek
- Cyber Insekt
- D.I.Y. Meat
- Das Boat
- Das Katerer
- Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wai
- Dead Beat Descendant
- Dedication Not Medication
- Deer Park
- Detective Instinct
- Devolute
- Dice Man
- Disney's Dream Debased
- Distilled Mug Art
- Dktr Faustus
- Dog is Life/Jerusalem
- Don't Call Me Darling
- Don't Take the Pizza
- Dr. Bucks' Letter
- Draygo's Guilt
- Dresden Dolls
- Early Days of Channel Führer
- Eat Y'Self Fitter
- Ed's Babe
- Edinburgh Man
- Elf Prefix
- Elves
- English Scheme
- Enigrammatic Dream
- Entitled
- Everybody But Myself
- Everything Hurtz
- Exploding Chimney
- Extricate
- Fall Sound
- Fantastic Life
- Feeling Numb
- Fibre Book Troll
- Fiery Jack
- First One Today
- Fit and Working Again
- Flat of Angles
- Fol de Rol
- Fortress
- Free Range
- Frenz
- Frightened
- Futures and Pasts
- Garden New
- Gentlemen's Agreement
- Get a Hotel
- Get A Summer Song Goin'
- Gibbus Gibson
- Glam-Racket
- God Box
- Gramme Friday
- Green Eyed Loco Man
- Greenway
- Gross Chapel-British Grenadier
- Groundsboy
- Guest Informant
- Guide Me Soft
- Gut of the Quantifier
- H.O.W.
- Haf Found Bormann
- Hands Up Billy
- Happi Song
- Happy Holiday
- Hard Life in Country
- He Pep!
- He Talks
- Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot
- Hey! Fascist
- Hey! Luciani
- Hey! Marc Riley
- Hey! Student
- High Tension Line
- Hilary
- Hip Priest
- Hit the North
- Hittite Man
- Hollow Mind
- Hostile
- Hot Aftershave Bop
- Hot Cake
- Hot Runes
- Hotel Bloedel
- How I Wrote Elastic Man
- Hurricane Edward
- I African Mancunian
- I Am Damo Suzuki
- I Come and Stand At Your Door
- I Feel Voxish
- I Wake Up In The City
- I'm Frank
- I'm Into C.B.
- I've Been Duped
- I've Seen Them Come
- Ibis-Afro Man
- Iceland
- Idiot Joy Showland
- Immortality
- Impression of J. Temperance
- In My Area
- In The Park
- In These Times
- Industrial Estate
- Inevitable
- Insult Song
- Irish
- Is This New
- It's A Curse
- It's The New Thing
- Ivanhoe's Two Pence
- Jam Song
- Janet, Johnny + James
- Jawbone And The Air-Rifle
- Jazzed Up Punk Shit
- Jetplane
- Jim's "The Fall"
- Job Search
- Joker Hysterical Face
- Junger Cloth
- Just Step S'Ways
- Kick The Can
- Kicker Conspiracy
- Kinder of Spine
- Kurious Oranj
- L.A.
- Ladybird (Green Grass)
- Laptop Dog
- Last Commands of Xyralothep Vi
- Last Orders
- Latchkey Kid
- Lay of the Land
- Leave the Capitol
- Levitate
- Lie Dream of a Casino Soul
- Life Just Bounces
- Light/Fireworks
- Live at the Witch Trials
- Living Too Late
- Loadstones
- Look, Know
- Lucifer Over Lancashire
- Ludd Gang
- M5 #1
- Mad.Men-Eng.Dog
- Mark'll Sink Us
- Marquis Cha-Cha
- Married, Two Kids
- Mask Search
- Masquerade
- Medical Acceptance Gate
- Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
- Mess of My
- Mexico Wax Solvent
- Middle Class Revolt
- Middle Mass
- Midnight in Aspen/Aspen Repris
- Midwatch 1953
- Mike's Love Xexagon
- Mister Rode
- Mollusc in Tyrol
- Monocard
- Mother-Sister
- Mountain Energei
- Music Scene
- Muzorewi's Daughter
- My Condition
- My Door Is Never
- My Ex-Classmates' Kids
- My New House
- Nate Will Not Return
- Neighbourhood of Infinity
- New Big Prinz
- New Face in Hell
- New Facts Emerge
- New Formation Sermon
- New Puritan
- Nine Out Of Ten
- No Bulbs
- No Respects Rev.
- No X-mas for John Quays
- Noel's Chemical Effluence
- Noise
- North West Fashion Show
- O! ZZTRRK Man
- O.F.Y.C. Showcase
- Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun
- Oh! Brother
- Ol' Gang
- Oleano
- On My Own
- One Day
- Open The Boxoctosis
- Oswald Defence Lawyer
- Over! Over!
- Overture From "I Am Curious, O
- Oxymoron
- Pacifying Joint
- Paintwork
- Papal Visit
- Paranoia Man/Cheap Sh*t Room
- Pat-Trip Dispenser
- Pay Your Rates
- Pearl City
- Perverted by Language
- Petty (Thief) Lout
- Pilsner Trail
- Pine Leaves
- Pittsville Direkt
- Pledge
- Plug Myself In
- Ponto
- Pop Stickers
- Portugal
- Powder Keg
- Pre-MDMA Years
- Printhead
- Prole Art Threat
- Proteinprotection
- Psycho Mafia
- Psykick Dancehall
- Psykick Dancehall #2
- Pumpkin Head Xscapes
- Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potato
- Put Away
- Putta Block
- Quit iPhone
- R.O.D.
- Race Hatred
- Rainmaster
- Rebellious Jukebox
- Recipe for Fascism
- Recovery Kit
- Reece Stick
- Reformation!
- Rememberance R
- Repetition
- Reprise: Jane--Prof Mick--Ey B
- Return
- Riddler
- Ride Away
- Room to Live
- Rose
- Rowche Rumble
- Rude (All The Time)
- Scareball
- Scenario
- Secession Man
- Second House Now
- Segue
- Senior Twilight Stock Replacer
- Serum
- Service
- Session Musician
- Shake-Off
- Shift-Work
- Shoulder Pads
- Sing! Harpy
- Sinister Waltz
- Sir William Wray
- Slang King
- Slates, Slags, Etc.
- Sleep Debt Snatches
- Smile
- Smith and Mark
- Snazzy
- So What About It?
- So-Called Dangerous
- Solicitor in Studio
- Sons of Temperance
- Spectre vs. Rector
- Spencer Must Die
- Spinetrak
- Spoilt Victorian Child
- Squid Lord/ Squid Law
- Stephen Song
- Stepping Out
- Stout Man
- Surmount All Obstacles
- Surrogate Mirage
- Susan vs. Youthclub
- Symbol of Mordgan
- Systematic Abuse
- Taking Off
- Telephone Thing
- Tempo House
- Ten Houses of Eve
- Terry Waite Sez
- That Man
- The 500 Dollar Bottle of Wine
- The Acute
- The Aphid
- The Ballard of J. Drummer
- The Book of Lies
- The Boss
- The Classical
- The Coliseum
- The Container Drivers
- The Crying Marshal
- The Joke
- The Knight, the Devil and Deat
- The League of Bald-Headed Men
- The Littlest Rebel
- The Man Whose Head Expanded
- The Mixer
- The N.W.R.A.
- The Past #2
- The Quartet of Doc Shanley
- The REAL Life of the Crying Ma
- The Reckoning
- The Remainderer
- The Steak Place
- The Usher
- The War Against Intelligence
- The Wright Stuff
- Theme From Error-Orrori
- Theme From Sparta F.C.
- Time Enough At Last
- To Nk Roachment: Yarbles
- Tom Raggazzi
- Tommy Shooter
- Totally Wired
- Touch Sensitive
- Touchy Pad
- Town Called Crappy
- Trust in Me
- Tuff Life Booogie
- Twister
- Two Face!
- Two Librans
- Two Steps Back
- U.S. 80s-90s
- Underground Medecin
- Unutterable
- Van Plague?
- Various Times
- Venice With The Girls
- Victoria Train Station Massacr
- Victrola Time
- Vixen
- W.B.
- W.M.C.--Blob 59
- Way Round
- Weather Report 2
- What About Us?
- What You Need
- Where's the F***in Taxi? C**t
- Whizz Bang
- Who Makes the Nazis?
- Win Fall CD 2088 AD
- Wings
- Winter (Hostel-Maxi)
- Wise Ol' Man
- Wolf Kidult Man
- Words of Expectation
- Wrong Place, Right Time
- Xmas With Simon
- Y.F.O.C./Slippy Floor
- Yes O Yes
- You Don't Turn Me On
- You Haven't Found It Yet
- You're Not Up To Much
- Your Heart Out
- Youwanner
- Zagreb
- Zandra
-
Arranged By Album
- Live at the Witch Trials
- Dragnet
- Grotesque (After the Gramme)
- Slates
- Hex Enduction Hour
- Room to Live
- Perverted by Language
- The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall
- This Nation's Saving Grace
- Bend Sinister
- The Frenz Experiment
- I Am Kurious, Oranj
- Extricate
- Shift-Work
- Code:Selfish
- The Infotainment Scan
- Middle Class Revolt
- Cerebral Caustic
- Light User Syndrome
- Levitate
- The Marshall Suite
- The Unutterable
- Are You Are Missing Winner
- The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)
- Fall Heads Roll
- Reformation Post TLC
- Imperial Wax Solvent
- Your Future Our Clutter
- Ersatz G.B.
- Re-Mit
- The Remainderer
- Sub-Lingual Tablet
- Wise Ol' Man
- New Facts Emerge
- 2014
- O! ZZTRRK Man
- New Facts Emerge
- Segue
- Ponto
- Smith and Mark
- Afternoon Disco
- Reece Stick
- Home /
- The Annotated Lyrics /
- Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow
Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow
Lyrics
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.
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Notes
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)
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?'"
"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.
4. Presumably a reference to Tottenham Hotspur; this would be an indication that MES, a Manchester City fan, is writing in character.
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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Comments (30)
MES: "The next one's about the old marijuana..." (introducing Like To Blow)
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/188450.html
The best alternative I can come up with is "Asperse but a worrier" which at least is an image in keeping with the frightened/paranoid theme elsewhere on this record. Someone who castigates others openly but then secretly fears retribution and wishes they'd kept their mouth shut.
I always thought the line was "we are not black/tall/no nazis for us/do not fuck us- a reference probably to both Rock Against Racism, and the notion that Smith is well aware that 'rap' is a Black idiom he's riffing on. Essentially "I know I'm a white boy, but I'm gonna do this rap thing but note- this is not some form of minstrel mockery." I know racism was a big issue in the UK at the time, and Smith is an avowed reggae fan.
It sounds like "no Nazis for us" to me as well, and I think that it makes more sense than "no boxes for us".
Nice if true, but how do we know? It's on the relevant wikipedia cite, but tagged as unsourced.
Vexingly, Google knows no source other than Wikipedia, at least when I search "'frigid stars' Codeine 'the fall'"
Not much comes up with minusing Codeine, this is probably the most interesting: https://www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/1472795-frigid-stars-by-cheerful-madness-by-cheerfulmadness_cartoons
or anyway, it's not interesting, but it's not obviously related to Codeine of the Fall
Try a google books search, for example.
Google books search for "frigid stars", 1800-1977
Yeah, I think it's an alternate take or version.
See also:
Wrong Place, Right Time No. 2
No Bulbs 3
Slang King 2
Psykick Dancehall #2
Shoulder Pads 1# and Shoulder Pads 2# and Shoulder Pads #1B
M5 #1
Theme From Sparta F.C. #2
Recovery Kit 2#
The Past #2
Open the Boxoctosis #2
Weather Report 2
There are also Fall songs with "parts", i.e. [Hot Cake, Bury, Black Monk Theme, Hit the North, and Winter. So could be something like that. Zagreb, on the other hand, has "movements".
Other songs seem to distinguish takes or versions with alternate spelling or alphabetication or other typographical indications: see c.r.e.e.p. / C.R.E.E.P. and Oh! Brother / O! Brother