Don't Call Me Darling

Lyrics

[first two lines whispered by Brix]
Don't call me darling  (1)

Don't call me darling

Harbouring on it
hates this
wants this
she hates this

Brix:
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling 

The long black hair
of wretched bluebottle (2)
darting all over
to no avail
I got zero tolerance
My head full 
Panga wood floor   (3)
>>Don't call me darling
>>Don't call me darling
>>Don't call me darling
>>Don't call me darling

People hate beauty
I cannot fathom it
They smell of oak paneling
voices thick with
Bouncing Jackson  (4)
with stupidity

Brix:
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling

Soon there will be dancing
around the queue
Strippy, high and cheap
why do people hate beauty
I cannot fathom it
bouncing...

Brix:
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling

Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling
Don't call me darling...

Notes

1.  Barnet suggests a resonance with "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," written by Steve Goodman and John Prine, and made popular by David Allan Coe:

You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even called me by my name

From Shawn Swagerty:

I believe (and have believed, since I first heard "Cerebral Caustic", which I purchased upon its release) that the title is probably from a line said by Raymond to Peter in the infamous "Shut Up, Little Man!" recordings,"audio vérité recordings of two argumentative and violent alcoholics, Peter J. Haskett and Raymond Huffman in San Francisco."

During the CD track titled "You Always Giggle Falsely," Raymond says to Peter at one point, "Don't call me darling, you little . . .

Transcript

The recordings were officially released as a compact disc in 1993. I first read about the Raymond and Peter CD in GQ or some other slick mag that was around at the time.

It is quite likely that MES and the band were aware of this compact disc, as the CD was a topic of a lot of discussion in certain circles, in fact my copy of the CD was sent to me in 1993 by someone who was then a label-mate of the Fall on Matador records.

^

2. A bluebottle can be a fly, a parasitic wasp, a squeaky-voiced Boy Scout played by Peter Sellers on the 1950s British radio comedy The Goon Show, or a police officer. Here my money's on the wasp.

^

3. Brendan writes: 

I was struggling to make sense of the last line of the second verse. Finally cracked it with a little help from Wikipedia:

"Millettia stuhlmannii, commonly known as panga panga, is a well-known species of timber tree[1] that is native to the southeastern Afrotropics. The wood of the tropical species M. laurentii has similar qualities and uses, but is slightly darker, and lacks the copious yellowish white resin of the heartwood vessels."

This mght sound far-flung to read but if you listen again right now I'm sure you'll hear that the line is actually "My head for panga wood floor".

Maybe the subject is banging or resting his head on the floor because of the aforementioned "zero tolerance" for whatever is going on with the wretched bluebottle (which I think might be a metaphor for the "she" mentioned in the first verse. A woman with long black hair, maybe."). Is there any significance to panga panga wood versus any other type of floor? Probably the same reason it's "well known" but having never heard of it before I can't tell.

^

4. Bollocks submits the following ad lib from MES during the March 20, 1995 rendition at the Roadhouse, Manchester: "'Bouncing Jackson' is a poem I wrote about connections with carpets."

Bollocks and Dan suspect a reference to Inspiral Carpets here...according to Dan, "In 1994, MES appeared on the Inspiral Carpets' 'I Want You.' The single version, anyway. The album version was on their album Devil Hopping (bouncing?). It all seems a bit tenuous, but there is clearly a contemporaneous Carpets connection if you want one."

^

Comments (15)

dannyno
  • 1. dannyno | 26/04/2013
"blue bottle" is more likely to be the fly than the wasp. The wasp is obscure, the fly a byword for annoying buzzing.
Junkman
  • 2. Junkman | 26/03/2018
Been trying to decode that last line of verse 2. Not having much luck. I was fairly certain the last two words were "wood floor", and just heard the live version on Time Enough At Last where he sings "with my head full of splinters", which seems to suggest it's a wood something. But even so the closest I can get is "My head full pack of wood floor".

Pretty sure it's "wrenching bluebottle" though.
bzfgt
  • 3. bzfgt (link) | 07/04/2018
"Pack a wool sweater" is what I seem to hear.
Barnet
  • 4. Barnet | 14/04/2019
Isn't it 'paca wool sweaters' as in alpaca. Still doesn't make any sense.

Phoenix Festival - 'The long black tentacles of a re(n)tching blue bottle'

David Allan Coe - You Never Even Called Me By My Name

'Well it was all that I could do to keep from crying.
Sometimes it seems so useless to remain.
But you don't have to call me darlin'. darlin
You never even called me by my name.'

Sort of thing that would appear on a cheesy trucking comp.
Bollocks
  • 5. Bollocks | 24/04/2019
"'Bouncing Jackson' is a poem I wrote about connections with carpets. A (...). Hup!" (during "Don't Call Me Darling 20 March 1995 Roadhouse, Manchester.

Carpets? Inspiral? DId they wear 'paca sweaters?
dannyno
  • 6. dannyno | 06/05/2019
In 1994, MES appeared on the Inspiral Carpets' I Want You. The single version anyway. The album version was on their album Devil Hopping (bouncing?). All seems a bit tenuous, but there is clearly a recent Carpets connection if you want one.
bzfgt
  • 7. bzfgt (link) | 28/06/2019
Great call with David Allan Coe! "Paca"--maybe, can't hear the difference of course...
Shawn Swagerty
  • 8. Shawn Swagerty | 27/01/2020
I believe (and have believed, since I first heard "Cerebral Caustic", which I purchased upon its release) that the title is probably from a line said by Raymond to Peter in the infamous "Shut Up, Little Man!" recordings,"audio vérité recordings of two argumentative and violent alcoholics, Peter J. Haskett and Raymond Huffman in San Francisco."

Info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shut_Up,_Little_Man!

During the CD track titled "You Always Giggle Falsely," Raymond says to Peter at one point, "Don't call me darling, you little . . .

Transcript:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/shut-up-little-man-the-official-fan-club/shut-up-little-man-transcript/10150278387772401/

Amazon has the audio track here (it may also be available from free sources).

https://www.amazon.com/You-always-giggle-falsely-Explicit/dp/B00160RYOI

The recordings were officially released as a compact disc in 1993. I first read about the Raymond and Peter CD in GQ or some other slick mag that was around at the time.

It is quite likely that MES and the band were aware of this compact disc, as the CD was a topic of a lot of discussion in certain circles, in fact my copy of the CD was sent to me in 1993 by someone who was then a label-mate of the Fall on Matador records.
bzfgt
  • 9. bzfgt (link) | 01/02/2020
Great!
Brendan
  • 10. Brendan | 24/07/2020
I was struggling to make sense of the last line of the second verse. Finally cracked it with a little help from Wikipedia:

"Millettia stuhlmannii, commonly known as panga panga, is a well-known species of timber tree[1] that is native to the southeastern Afrotropics. The wood of the tropical species M. laurentii has similar qualities and uses, but is slightly darker, and lacks the copious yellowish white resin of the heartwood vessels."

This mght sound far-flung to read but if you listen again right now I'm sure you'll hear that the line is actually "My head for panga wood floor".

Maybe the subject is banging or resting his head on the floor because of the aforementioned "zero tolerance" for whatever is going on with the wretched bluebottle (which I think might be a metaphor for the "she" mentioned in the first verse. A woman with long black hair, maybe."). Is there any significance to panga panga wood versus any other type of floor? Probably the same reason it's "well known" but having never heard of it before I can't tell.

More from Wikipedia: "The highly priced and valued wood has a range of applications, including flooring, furniture, musical instruments and boat building. The heartwood is very durable, as it is not affected by fungi, dry-wood borers or termites, but the sapwood is vulnerable to powderpost beetles.[2] It is locally sawn, and exported legally from Tanzania and Mozambique, especially Zambezia Province.[2] It accounts for some 45% of timber legally exported from Tanzania, and much of it is bought by Chinese buyers, who in turn re-export a portion to the West."
Brendan
  • 11. Brendan | 26/07/2020
I meant to write far-fetched, not far-flung!
bzfgt
  • 12. bzfgt (link) | 26/07/2020
No you're definitely right, fuck. I'll be damned if he doesn't say "panga wood floor"
Jermyn Temperance
  • 13. Jermyn Temperance | 22/06/2021
Not forgetting of course the Bryan and Michael song “Don’t Call Me Darling” from their album “We can count our friends on one hand” that might just have crossed the line of MES vision at some stage.
Rob
  • 14. Rob | 08/12/2023
Listening to a live version, which makes a lyric very clear:

Soon they will be dancing
Around you
Triippy, high and cheap
Why do people hate beauty

Reminds me very much of being around e-heads in the 1990s, waiting for them to come up and start twitching and dancing around you... then two hours later telling you how much they've always liked you and trying to give you a hand massage
Rob
  • 15. Rob | 08/12/2023
But then... listening back to the album version, he's singing something different, so...

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