I Wake Up In The City

Lyrics

Turn the music up...

When I wake up in the city
I look around to see who's with me
And all the thoughts that pollute me
The ship canal and the gallery

How many of you are stable
In the proximity
The Deputy Collector is the Commander Chief (2)

I wake up in the city
I look around to see who's with me
A lonely cloud descended (3)
The bill and bushes have not grown (4)

Don't keep laughing
Can you give a dog a bone?
Heh Ha!
Ugh Heh Heh Ha! (5)

When they give me breakfast
Politburo KGB (6)
Maybe a Flight Commander (7)
Is curled up in a tree

And even Jesus had a tale (8)
And General Custer was the same
That old dollar bill
Came out backwards in the machine

When I wake up in the city
I find I'm not around (9)
I look who's with me
All the thoughts that pollute me

I got glasses under my skin (10)
I don't know how thin I been
I don't want to keep, to keep laughing (11)
I don't need no reason to keep laughing

Even Jesus had a tale
And General Custer was the same
Now I'm the enemy of the city (12)
Every dollar bill came out backwards
And the new note it came out backwards
And the new note it came out backwards
And the new note it came out backwards
And the new note it came out backwards

[Radio recording:]

... at 9 to 11 year olds. So how do we cope with this?

I think it is, practically, I think you'll find across the country that some schools are delivering not just two hours but even more and it's very good quality and other schools are not delivering the amount of time that they should be. So now there should be an entitlement that every youngster must get that two hours of good quality. And I want an advancement in two different areas of not curriculum ... support

A youngster is given the chance... by society ...We'll provide the topic...

Okay, well, let me just say one more thing. We also have to recognize that for many youngsters, especially in their early teens...

[End of radio segment] (13)

When I wake up in the city
I look around and see who's with me
All the thoughts that polluted me as well (14)
The ship canal and gallery

How many of you are stable?
How many of you are stable?
The thief and fox

The commander in chief
And the breaking of the chains
By the ship canal
By the gallery
By the fox stable
By the gallery
By the dark brown stable
No one's stable

Notes

1. This was later adapted, with different lyrics, as "My Ex-Classmates' Kids" on Are You Are Missing WInner. According to Ed Blaney, who is featured on guitar here, Blaney wrote all the lyrics to both the latter song and to this one. Both he and MES have a writing credit on this; it is not clear what Smith contributed, however.

The opening exhortation to "turn the music up" cannot but remind me of "Sweet Home Alabama" with its opening "turn it up," although here MES may be speaking to the producer about his monitor, wheras Ronny Van Zant just seems to be digging things...

2. This line always reminds me of "Highway 61 Revisited":

Well, John the Baptist, after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero, the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me, great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?"

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And, dropping a barbell, he points to the sky
Saying, "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken"

In any case, Dan points out that "'Deputy Collector' is, or was, a Customs & Excise rank."

3. This line suggests Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud." Since I don't have many notes for this one, the reader will indulge me:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

I put that here in its entirety so I could also put in the following verse from John Lennon, which isn't so much a parody or a comment on the original in any way, but is something of its own free standing hypnogogic gargle:

On balmy seas and pernie schooners
On strivers and warming things
In a peanut coalshed clad
I wandered happy as a jew
To meet good Doris Fing.

Past grisby trees and hulky builds
Past ratters and bradder sheep
In a resus baby stooped
I wandered hairy as a dog
To get a goobites sleep

Down hovey lanes and stoney claves
Down ricketts and sticklys myth
In a fatty hebrew gurth
I wandered humply as a sock
To meet bad Bernie Smith

I will however apologize for "I wandered happy as a jew" if any of my readers find it offensive.

4. The blue lyrics book has "the bill and bushes haven't gone."

5. This follows the blue lyrics book except the 'e' in Heh! seems to have a 'k' superimposed.

6. The blue lyrics book has "full of fear of KGB."

7. The blue lyrics book has "flak-commander."

8. Or "tail"? The blue lyrics book has "tale." We have long been aware that "MES" puts variant lyrics in the lyrics books. But if you follow this song along with the lyrics book, it is clear that the latter is a transcription by ear, which is sometimes errant, which is why I have departed from the book (I have noted each place I have done so). It seems to me that, not only does the book vary from the sung lyrics, but at least the blue lyrics book, then, cannot really be considered canonical in any sense.

9. The blue lyrics book has "I found out I'm not allowed."

10. The blue lyrics book has "I got callouses under my skin/I don't know how thin I bin" [sic].

11. The blue lyrics book has "I don't want the kids to keep laughing." The Lyrics Parade had "I don't want Jesus to keep laughing."

12. The blue lyrics book has "Now I'm the ungrateful sinner."

13. The voice in this recording seems to be Kate Hoey, who was UK "Minister of Sport," of all things, from 1999-2001. Danny speculates that she is talking about a school requirement for 2 hours of Physical Education per week.

14. The last part of this line is indecipherable, so I have followed the blue lyrics book here.

More Information

I Wake Up In The City: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 2001

Comments (26)

1. dannyno | 21/12/2013

This song was first played live, apparently, in San Francisco. So are we to take the "city" as an American city, given the "dollar bill" references?

Are they all even MES lyrics? Because when Ed Blaney did it live he missed out the stuff about dollar bills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32HjEf56Pok. Is that significant?

By the way, I don't think it's "euro came out backwards" but "new note" or "you know"

2. Martin | 30/01/2014

dannyno: "This song was first played live, apparently, in San Francisco. So are we to take the "city" as an American city, given the "dollar bill" references?"

Well, maybe, but the first live playing of the song was about three months after its official release, so a bit of a red herring?

3. bzfgt | 15/02/2014

Danny, I just put "new note" in last week, and I neglected to read the comments here so I heard it independently (which adds credence to it, I think). I left some "euros" in but now I'm going to listen again and maybe dump them. But my impression last week was that he doesn't say the same thing every time--maybe I was being influenced by seeing "euro" on the page, though, we'll see.

I'm not sure how many of the lyrics MES wrote or if some are Blaney's. Is there a studio Blaney version?

The lyrics remind me of Bob Dylan a little, with all the God, Jesus, Custer, Deputy Collector, Commander in Chief stuff.

4. bzfgt | 15/02/2014

You're right, "euro"'s gone now.

Man, I don't know why this song isn't more widely praised. The chord change at "I got glasses under my skin/I don't know how thin I been..." That is rock and roll right there.

5. bzfgt | 15/02/2014

If Blaney did write a lot of the lyrics, that is very impressive. I think the lyrics to this one are superb.

6. dannyno | 22/02/2014

Martin: "the first live playing of the song was about three months after its official release, so a bit of a red herring?"

Good point, well made.

Dan

7. dannyno | 23/04/2014

The radio snippet, with reference to "two hours" of curriculum time. I think it's talking about the requirement for two hours Physical Education per week.

Dan

8. dannyno | 23/04/2014

Ah, https://sites.google.com/site/reformationposttpm/fall-tracks/i-wake-up-in-the-city mentions Kate Hooey, Minister of Sport 1999-2001. If it is her talking, then my note above about the subject being P.E. lessons would fit nicely.

9. dannyno | 23/04/2014

Hoey was sacked in June 2001, and the Flitwick 7" version of the song came out in August. So the interview will therefore have been broadcast prior to June, which perhaps gives a clue about when it was recorded, or at least finalised.

10. dannyno | 23/04/2014

Listened to some other recordings of Hoey speaking now: it's definitely her.

11. Martin | 24/04/2014

Kate Hoey's presence in the song was noted in a review of the 2+2G album in City Life magazine (26 June - 11th July 2002):

"Of the new stuff, the amusingly raucous 'I Wake Up In The
City' features a lengthy Kate Hoey sample."

(I found this information on Fallnet, by the way.)

12. dannyno | 25/12/2014

"Even Jesus had a tale". Some have insisted that this is "tail", but Blaney himself says it is "tale": http://z1.invisionfree.com/thefall/index.php?showtopic=15909&view=findpost&p=10477306

13. bzfgt | 24/06/2016

I guess it's a thin connection, hence the placement, but "Commander-In Chief: always puts me in mind of:

Well, John the Baptist, after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero, the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me, great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?"

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And, dropping a barbell, he points to the sky
Saying, "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken"

14. dannyno | 24/09/2016

"The Deputy Collector is the Commander Chief"

'Deputy Collector' is, or was, a Customs & Excise rank:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Customs_and_Excise#Customs_and_excise_ranks

15. Jeff Wheeler | 02/12/2017

it's "tail" - I precogged it (a pointed devil's tail)

16. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

I put Dylan in there, today it seems less tenuous...for some reason.

17. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

Jeff: Well. I do have a note saying maybe "tail." But the blue lyrics book has "tale,"

Speaking of which, I must not have noticed it was in the book before, this has led me to make several corrections where the vocal seems to follow the book.

18. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

Someone with better eyes can check:

This follows the blue lyrics book except the 'e' in Heh! seems to have a 'k' superimposed.

It may just be 'k' as in "HKH." My eyes are going bad...

19. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

Where the diverge, at times I swear the blue book reads just like an errant transcription. It makes me suspect those books.

20. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

Man, this track is the greatest. It mops the floor with "My Ex-Classmate's Kids."

21. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

That "fox cream boat" was just a fanciful error. I have made numerous corrections based on the lyrics book, but it's not a reliable source either. It's the way that it's unreliable, though, that has suddenly opened my eyes--this isn't a case of MES providing variant lyrics, as we've long thought--I'm convinced it's just someone who tried to transcribe the lyrics. What went on here?

22. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

So this means "tail" is still in play.

23. bzfgt (link) | 09/12/2017

It seems to me that, not only does the book vary from the sung lyrics, but at least the blue lyrics book, then, cannot really be considered canonical in any sense.

24. Zack (link) | 22/08/2018

Possible, partial inspiration for the "Jesus" line in this interview with MES and Inspiral Carpets from 1994:

And the rest of us, well, the rest of us are watching 'Brookside', where permed dickhead Terry has just told Barry Grant that he's going to join creepy Simon's Moonies-style religious cult, and Barry has inexplicably replied, 'Think hard, Terry lad. Even Jesus had a trade behind him.'

"Jesus had a trade behind him?", explodes an incredulous Smith, reliable as rain. 'Fucking hell, mon! They're fucking thick, aren't they, Scousers? Fucking mad bastards! I've just finished a residency in Liverpool. I've never seen so many fucking ugly people.

25. bzfgt (link) | 25/08/2018

If he said "trade" that would be decisive, and Blaney claims to have written every word...

26. dannyno | 16/05/2020

Comment #24, Zack.

This is the interview: Melody Maker, 26 February 1994

Seems like we can date the interview exactly, as we're told it was a Saturday and there's a reference to Graham (Lambert of the Inspirals being absent at an Oldham vs Southampton game in order to report for Peel (as Scanlon does on Symbol of Mordgan. That game took place on 5 February 1994: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993%E2%80%9394_Southampton_F.C._season. That was indeed a Saturday.

Confirmatory information at the Peel Wiki: https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/05_February_1994

The problem then is that according to http://www.brooksidesoapbox.co.uk/guide_34.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookside#Scheduling, it seems that Brookside was broadcast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but not on Saturdays.

However, I checked newspaper TV listings for 5th February, and confirmed that an omnibus edition was indeed broadcast on Saturdays, at 5:05pm. And indeed the wiki site mentioned above does refer to the omnibus edition here and there, as does the Brookside site.

So the omnibus on Saturday 5th February would have combined episodes 1365 (Monday 31 January 1994), 1366 (Wednesday 2 February 1994) and 1367 (Friday 4 February 1994).

The line in question originally occurred in episode 1366. It's on YouTube here (starting at 08:45): [url=https://youtu.be/Ahc9eJdjFWU?t=525[/url]

Transcript:

Barry: Well, er, we're not open yet. Anyway, thought your lot were teetotal?

Terry: Yeah, well, it's, er, my lot I've come to talk about.

Barry: Oh, aye.

Terry: Yeah. I er, I got baptised yesterday.

Barry: You what?

Terry: You heard.

Barry: Look, is it the fumes of the ales that're getting you bevvied?

Terry: Mock if you like, but I got baptised.

Barry: Where?

Terry: In Katie Rogers' house.

Barry: Look, I've heard of Tupperware parties, but baptisms... I mean that's for church and priests and all that er...

Terry: As long as you believe, it doesn't matter where it's done or who does it.

Barry: Believe? Oh, I get it, Simon did it.

Terry: Yeah, I'm baptised now, I'm part of something.

Barry: Terry, he works in a petrol station.

Terry: Yeah, and Jesus was a carpenter.

Barry: Well at least Jesus had a good trade behind him.

But, that was 1994 and this is 7 years later. And I don't think he says "trade". But still, I've done the due diligence.

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