Get A Summer Song Goin'

Lyrics

(1)

Get a Summer song goin'
Get a Summer song goin'
Get a Summer song goin'
Get a Summer song goin'

In Ancient Myth Pubs float everywhere
In inflammable places
In between Hammersmith and the Deep South (2)

Get a Summer song goin'

I set out for a quest
From the Great God Keiron
Who sits à la Bowie     (3)
Tryin' to find the mythical Guinness factory
In South London, in Hammersmith

Get a Summer song goin' 

Why don't you stop playing on Stratford Bridge (4)
Why don't have you use some of those clothes yourself
And let the grass grow on itself

In Ancient Myth
The public houses floated everywhere
Inflammable places
Between Hammersmith and the Deep South
But many could not find it
And the fishermen did dredge
And those fishermen looked out
Over Stamford Bridge  (5)
And they saw the green grass
And they reflected

Get a Summer song goin'
 
You have to see
To make the mercenaries stow
And the white haired male nurses
With the afro rocker in adjacent chair
Knew the key  (6)
And the words were:

Get a Summer song goin'

Notes

1. This song is something increasingly rare in this era of the Fall: a strong non-album track (or, at least, non-CD track, since the song does appear on the vinyl version of Your Future Our Clutter). The Fall are still very prolific, and it's no slight to say they no longer have songs coming out of their ears, of course. Lyrically, this seems like the sort of thing MES can crank out on a moment's notice, which isn't to say it isn't any good. It is good, it's catchy and weird without being random or utterly confusing. And it probably doesn't really have a place on Your Future Our Clutter, although I may just think this because I'm used to the CD version.

^

2. It's actually a myth that there are myths about floating pubs, or, anyway, it would be if anyone thought there were (so it's a myth that it is a myth that it's a myth). But Dan has found a real one in Tattershall. The phrase "Deep South" is usually only used in reference to the US states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Lousiana and Mississippi (and perhaps North Florida). It is possible that it is being extended to refer to the English south here, as "South London" is specified in the next verse; on the other hand, since the Atlantic Ocean intervenes between London and the US Deep South, there are more places for pubs to float in between those places.

^

3. This line isn't enunciated very clearly, but if MES indeed says "à la Bowie" this is actually the second time he's used this line, the first time being in "He Pep!." Bowie is also mentioned in "Mere Pseud Mag. Ed." and "Hard Life in Country." "The Great God Keiron" is a reference to Keiron Melling, the Fall's drummer, with a nod at "The Great God Pan" thrown in for good measure. It sounds like he might say "who sits on a (?)" but it isn't very clear.

^

4. As far as I am able to discover there is no bridge named "Stratford Bridge"; there is a Clopton Bridge in Stratford-upon-Avon, however, which was built in 1480 and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. But there's a Bow bridge in Bow, and Bow used to be called Stratford, and the bridge used to be called Stratford at Bow or some such. The bridge is apparently a unique, bow-shaped bridge, from which Bow takes its name.

 ^

 

5. Stamford Bridge is the opposite of Stratford Bridge, in that there are at least three entities bearing that name. There is a village named Stamford Bridge, which contains a bridge also known as Stamford Bridge. There has been a bridge on the site since ancient times, but the current structure dates from the 18th century. There is also a stadium called Stamford Bridge in London, which is home to the Chelsea football club, and is located in Hammersmith, which makes it a likely candidate, although the fishermen suggest an actual bridge.

^

 

6. This verse is out there; I'd love to hear from anyone who thinks they have a clue what's going on.

Here I will insert a few general remarks that do not bear directly on the subject at hand. There are several types of obscurity in Fall lyrics, although I have not undertaken to count them. One type of obscurity (which may or may not be the type that is relevant to the final verse above) results when there is a fairly straightforward story or idea behind the words, but just enough is left out to bury it. In those cases, I usually try to ferret it out, if at all possible; "Hostile" is a great, indeed probably the best, example of this (and please note that it was dannyno rather than I who figured it out). But it must be noted that, as far as I understand MES's methods and intentions, the background is there for the sake of the words that result from it, rather than vice versa. In other words, a Fall song isn't intended to be a puzzle to be solved, but a source of a multiplicity of possible meanings and interpretations. This does not stop me from trying to find out as much as I can about the genesis and underlying reference of the lyrics, and it is my belief that such knowledge does not hamper one's appreciation of a Fall song, but there are those who do not share my opinion about the work that I (and the others who contribute to this site) do here, at least not when it is detective work of this sort. What I do believe very strongly is that knowing more about the lyrics of a song does not close off interpretation, but helps to open it up, which is one of the primary reasons I do what I do.

^

Comments (9)

dannyno
  • 1. dannyno | 03/09/2013
"Tryin' to find the mythical Guinness factory
In South London, in Hammersmith"

This?: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/homes/48.html

Dan
dannyno
  • 2. dannyno | 03/09/2013
There may not be floating pubs in ancient myth, but they certainly exist:
http://www.thetattershallcastle.co.uk/

Dan
HiccupPercy
  • 3. HiccupPercy (link) | 03/04/2014
Re note 5. Stamford Bridge - the football stadium - is in the London Borough of Hammersmith.
Martin
  • 4. Martin | 03/03/2016
You've transposed the e and the I of Melling's name in the lyrics.
dannyno
  • 5. dannyno | 19/03/2016
Stratford Bridge.

This could just be a misspoken reference, but if it isn't then maybe he could be referring to Stratford-Le Bow:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol3/pp489-502

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow,_London#Bridges_at_Bowe
dannyno
  • 6. dannyno | 19/03/2016
The Tattershall Castle floating pub now has a wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Tattershall_Castle
joincey
  • 7. joincey | 03/07/2020
funny , your comment about this not seeming right on YFOC , it's the only Fall LP i actually *own* and i can't imagine the album without it !
bzfgt
  • 8. bzfgt (link) | 05/07/2020
Yeah, who knows. I was just babbling, I try not to write notes like that anymore...some day it will be purged
joincey
  • 9. joincey | 22/03/2022
the Tattersall Castle pub , well i suppose there are any number of similar things , i can think of at least one or two on the Danube in Budapest. Also whenever i hear the line about 'Stratford Bridge" i presume he's alluding to STRETFORD in manchester, there's the Bridgewater Canal that cuts through the place with a couple of little bridges but nothing very impressive, but the famous Barton Swing Aqueduct ( as seen in TASTE OF HONEY ) is just up the road , i always think he maybe means that . Maybe not tho , ha.

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