Mark'll Sink Us

(1)

The ward was arraigned with spats of blood
The victim, castigate, and yet, part of us  (2)
The thoughts in eyes as seen under a hood
Burned in my own eyes and in my own blood!
Mark'll sink us.

A message mesmerized, on all English breath
The crux pretty grasped, yet mostly misunderstood
Mark will sink us.

I am desolate.
I live the black and blue of the night
Friend depression comes now and again once in a blue moon
He points backwards thus:
Mark will sink us.

1. From Gladys Winthorpe's "Emporium of Particularly Underacknowledged Fall Compositions" (via Reformation):

In some ways, the song is unique within the group's back catalogue. I'm particularly thinking about the melancholy atmosphere of the piece as a whole and particularly the resigned air to MES's vocal performance. There have been a number of theories put forward on the Unofficial Fall Forum as to what the song's lyrics are about. One suggestion was that it was "a nod to Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, one of the baddies in the alleged plot to murder Albino Luciani" (the "Hey! Luciani" play being in production around the time that this song was recorded). Another was that it was some kind of schizophrenic conversation "between the public and private personae of MES". My personal preference is for the suggestion that it is about MES's periodic and willful sabotaging of the group's career and his deliberate retreats from becoming "too popular" (this subject has been covered in a couple of the recent books about The Fall). Whatever the song is about, I would suggest that there are some particularly personal lyrics here, the lines "Friend depression comes now and again once in a blue moon / It points backwards thus" being especially prominent.

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2. The adjectival use of "castigate" is, according to the OED, obsolete. They define it thusly: "Subdued, chastened, moderated; revised and emended."

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Mark'll Sink Us: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 1987