Job Search

(1)

They say that sheeps dream
Two (men...)
And cold stone books
From prozac to the internet (2)
Dead stop
I go...
Somebody turns away
I get big shot in
Now is the time of my recompense
Mad 'Arry...   (3)
Long arm with false...
Close
From the mountains of...
Once were peaceful mountains
And...

They are so desperate
But the rhododendrons of the radio
Imitating rhododendrons to get work
Job search
Fooling themselves
Via Mark Lamarr
That they are reggae experts (4)
Job search

Why did he resign from his
In all music
Job search

(...Game dog?)
His eyes and oversized shorts
Must be something to be leaving from

Hi J.P.  (5)
You're out of sight
And mind
I'm coming over to see you
But one step at a time
Job search is every day
From J Whiley to Marc P Riley (6)
Following the gang around
He wants to be on his own again
Job search

Follow carefully
Selection over the phone of questions
Cue-free
Plus words like 'receive', 'submission'
Sight and Sound
Nick James, editor (7)

It's up
Dead staff

Now is the time of his recompense
And mad Harry
The falseness...
I get, were they hot-dogs?

Job search

1. This was recorded at the 24th and final Peel session, subsequently presented to John Peel, in honor of the latter's 65th birthday (August 30th 2004; according to Wikipedia, the acetate was given to Peel on the 31st and played on his program that evening). Just as it is in the USA, 65 is official retirement age in the UK, and the title may be somewhat of a joke on that. 

^

2. Prozac figures prominently in the lyrics of "Feeling Numb." 

^

3. Harry Murray, an Australian war hero in the first World War, was nicknamed "Mad Harry," but I assume there's a more proximate reference. One such possibility is the character that sometimes appeared on Marc Riley's "Mark [Radcliffe] and Lard [Riley]" radio program called "Fat Harry White" (voiced by Radcliffe). Fat Harry was a spoof of American soul singer Barry White. There was also a British children's television show which aired in the 1990s called "Harry's Mad," but this wasn't on radio, and not even on the BBC, so it seems to take us too far afield. 

^

4. Mark Lamarr is an English comedian and radio DJ who, like John Peel, worked for BBC 2. He had several programs, one of which was a reggae show.

^

5. All the evidence would suggest "John Peel."

^

6. Jo Whiley hosted The Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 1 from 2001 to 2009; the show was a mix of news and music. Marc Riley is the former Fall  member and frequent target of derision in Fall lyrics who hosted a series of music shows on BBC radio, mostly with Mark Radcliffe.

From Moob:

Mark's hatred of BBC lackeys: 

"Do you know when I fucking had a go at her [Jo Wiley – Mark told her to “Fuck off” during a television interview at the awards ceremony where he was awarded ‘Godlike Genius’ by NME in 1998] she wrote a letter to everybody, to all record companies… 

I’ve never liked Maconie even when he used to work for NME. It reminded me of being in an Army interrogation centre. I’ve got a very long memory. I remember doing a session for Mark Radcliffe and he thought he was going to depose John Peel. He came along to a session once and I told him to get out because Peel never used to come to a John Peel session and I said to him, ‘what you doing here? Fuck off.’"

^

7. Sight and Sound is a British film magazine that was, and is, indeed edited by one Nick James.

^

The Story of the Fall: 2004

Job Search thread on the Fall Online Forum