Hot Cake

Lyrics

(1)

Hot came the wind
Hot came the wind
It was watery
It was Chino, like last song (2)
One note
A man, a nasty slice of the action

Step alligator
I went in to a skip
I went into a drip
I can't open the door
I can't open the door
My dialogue is stuck
My dialogue is stuck
Hot cake

And God say something
Bills
Is on TV
I can't answer the door
My dialogue is declining
All because
Of a slippy floor (3)

And all I got was a slippery floor
And all I get is a slippy floor 

Hot cake
Slip
Slide

I can't disagree
I get Mr Spurr
I get Mr Green (4) 
I get Mr Spurr
And for the mind
I get sloppy floor
And for the mind
I get slippy floor

Notes

1. According to Zack, from the comment section below: "Hotcake is the name of a guitar distortion pedal made by Crowther Audio. Peter Greenway has been known to use one." 

There is more information about Greenway's effects on the Fall online forum. Greenway apparently does use the HotCake pedal as a regular part of his setup; the pedal was invented in 1976 by Emlyn Crowther, the drummer of Split Enz. The song is probably named after Greenway's pedal...

According to SM:

I always thought 'hot cake' referred to a urinal cake and 'slippy floor' was a corruption of 'slippery floor,' i.e., a piss-stained bathroom floor. Smith slips on a bathroom floor, cracks his hip and is confronted by a hot urinal cake. The idea of 'chino splashback' fits this understanding, does it not? This could be my crude joke though.

^

2. "Chino" actually comes two tracks later; presumably the running order wasn't yet set when this was recorded. In this context it is possible that "Hot came the wind, it was watery..." refers to the effects on the guitar on these two songs. This video is a demo of the HotCake.

^

3. "Slippy Floor" is the title of the next song on the album.

^

4. Dave Spurr and Peter Greenway, on bass and guitar, respectively.

^

Comments (11)

Zack
  • 1. Zack | 28/08/2013
Hotcake is the name of a guitar distortion pedal made by Crowther Audio. Peter Greenway has been known to use one.
SM
  • 2. SM | 06/07/2014
I always thought 'hot cake' referred to a urinal cake and 'slippy floor' was a corruption of 'slippery floor,' i.e., a piss-stained bathroom floor. Smith slips on a bathroom floor, cracks his hip and is confronted by a hot urinal cake.

The idea of 'chino splashback' fits this understanding, does it not?

This could be my crude joke though.
naime
  • 3. naime | 12/11/2019
Ad-lib Berlin, 2011

'And how they cried when the crocodiles gripped them in their slows of Castleford
So they thought they could film,
They could not learn
But they could not escape
Hot Cake'
bzfgt
  • 4. bzfgt (link) | 16/11/2019
Does "slows of Castleford" make sense and I just don't know what it means? Or is it gibberish?
Dave
  • 5. Dave | 18/11/2020
I am pretty sure he is singing

'I get Mr. Green,
I get Mr. Spark'

As in names of cleaning brands
Dave
  • 6. Dave | 27/12/2020
Nah, cleaned my ears out. He is singing:

I went into a skip
I went into a drip

I get Mr. Green
I get Mr Spurr

And don't say something bills is on TV

I don't remember a programme called anything like that.
SMW
  • 7. SMW | 10/02/2021
@bzfgt - it's 'slums' of castleford
bzfgt
  • 8. bzfgt (link) | 21/02/2021
Yeah Mr. Spurr and Mr. Green seems plausible. I went into a skip, not "Are we near to a skip?"
dannyno
  • 9. dannyno | 03/05/2021
I have some kind of memory of a photograph of Pete Greenway standing in a skip. I'm not sure how far I can trust this memory, however.

<goes off to try and find it>
dannyno
  • 10. dannyno | 03/05/2021
Oh, it's from the video of Imperial Wax's Art of Projection:

Mark Oliver
  • 11. Mark Oliver | 01/09/2023
Could it be 'Sloughs of Castleford', as in 'Slough of Despond'?

Add a comment