My New House
Lyrics
My new house (1)
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
No rabbit hutch about it
I bought it off the Baptists
I get their bills
And I get miffed
At the damn polyester fills
The interior is a prison unconscious
Interior is a prison unconscious
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Keep away from my new house
Wash the drawers of pills
It's got window sills
With lead centered in the middle of 'em
With lead centered in the middle of 'em
My new house
Is no beatnik hang-out
My new house
You should see my new house
That Halifax copter
Sure dropped me a cropper
That Halifax copter (2)
Sure dropped me a cropper (3)
My new house
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
Somtimes I think I'll ring Swine-Tax
And go back to our flat
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swine-Tax
And go back to our flat (4)
But my new house
I do love the mad things about it
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England (5)
Creosote tar fence surrounds it
Those razor blades eject when I press eject
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Could easy crack a mortal in it
The spare room is fine
Though a little haunted
By Mr. Reagan who had hung himself at number 13
Mr. Reagan hung himself at number 13
It'll be great when it's decorated
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
You should see my new house
Notes
1. As with "No Bulbs," the lyrics are a study in banality. According to Smith, this song is about buying a new house (apparently in Sedgley Park, Bury), no more and no less. Of course, there are still baffling lines like "the interior is a prison unconscious," to remind us that we are listening to the Fall (and which make an annotator tear his hair). The lyrics work perfectly with the music, which is one of the best of the Fall's many great stabs at rockabilly.
Brix provides the context (via Dan):
"According to Brix Smith-Start's autobiography, The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise: 'Our biggest purchase together was a house. It was round the corner from Mark's childhood home, where his parents still lived. It was very comforting to him to live a block away from his mother. We bought the house from a Baptist couple. They had kind, calm energy and there was a good vibe in the house.'"
From Steve:
The sample "Eins!" in the beginning sounds like it's recorded from East German children television show Pittiplatsch & Schnatterinchen, from East German TV (on the first channel of two available), which could be received in West Germany (where the Fall toured in the early 80s), and I faintly remember reading an interview with MES where he said that East German children shows are much better than their Western counterparts."
2. Halifax, England is in West Yorkshire, and is only about 30 miles from Manchester. In the 1980s and 1990s, Halifax Bulilding Society had advertisments filmed from a helicopter (see comment 45 from djbawbag). Stephen Parkin accurately describes them as follows: "I can't find an example on Youtube, but I remember TV adverts for the Halifax Building Society in the 80s that showed a field with 100 or more people standing in the shape of a giant 'X,' shot from a helicopter...The lines suggest that he got a bad deal on his mortgage, which could be why he thinks of going back to renting."
A "Halifax Copter" also sometimes shows up in "Words of Expectation."
A "building society" is more or less the equivalent of what is called a "credit union" in the United States.
3. To "come a cropper" is to go wrong, stray, or fail. Various folk etymologies have been advanced to explain the saying, but it seems to have originally referred to falling off the tail end or "crop" of a horse.
4. Lyrics Parade: "In Swinton, Manchester [Salford in Greater Manchester--bz], the local mini-cab firm was called Swin-Tax." Here MES seems to suggest moments of regret or buyer's remorse, at which times he yearns to return to his old apartment; on the other hand, maybe this thought arises out of (drunken?) forgetfulness. The former flat may be the one immoratalized in "No Bulbs."
5. William Ham suggests that this could be a reference to Jon the Postman. Jon, who was (and apparently still was, as of 2014, a year before his death) an actual postman, became notorious when he used to wait until a local band finished their set, then jump on stage and sing "Louie Louie." Eventually he formed his own band and branched out from "Louie Louie."
In a 1998 interview with the NME, Smith made the following remarks:
[W]hy, according to the postman, was it like the bleeding Bank Of England?
"[I]t's a running joke where I live," Mark explains. "Like, y'know, you hear lads in Salford, they'll go: 'You'll never get in my house, it's like Fort Knox'. Someone tried to break into my house, actually, and the keyboard player said, 'Anyone that tries to break into your house, Mark, they must be insane. Must have a suicidal death wish'."
More Information
Comments (79)
- 1. | 10/03/2013
- 2. | 11/03/2013
Regarding the "Halifax Copter", I'd always thought that MES had got the wrong company. The iconic 1970s TV advert with the helicopter smashing through a hoarding was for Barratt Homes, not the Halifax Building Society:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji0ocbjsgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji0ocbjsgc
- 3. | 24/11/2013
I don't think anyone's brought this up, not to my knowledge at least, but could "the postman" be "the Postman," as in "John the Postman," Manc scenester extraordinare (and performer of two numbers on The Disparate Cogscienti)? I could imagine MES inviting JTP around to see his new place...
- 4. | 22/03/2014
For years I've been hearing "The interior is a prison unconscious" as "Liz Taylor is a prisoner of conscience"!!!
Anyway, the lyrics here are missing verses, there's the odd wrong word etc.
i.e. It's "our flat", not "my flat". As for the Baptists, he gets "their bills", not "the bills".
Here's what I hear:
"My new house
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
No rabbit hutch about it
I bought it off the Baptists, I get their bills
And I get miffed at the damn polyester fills
The interior is a prison unconscious
The interior is a prison unconscious
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Keep away from my new house
Wash the drawers of pills
It's got window sills
With lead centred in the middle of them
With lead centred in the middle of them
My new house
Is no beatnik hang-out
My new house
You should see my new house
That Halifax copter
Sure dropped me a cropper
That Halifax copter
Sure dropped me a cropper
My new house
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat
But my new house
I do love the mad things about it
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England
Creosote tar fence surrounds it
Those razor blades eject when I press eject
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Could easily crack a mortal, it
The spare room is fine, though a little haunted
By Mr Reagan who had hung himself at number thirteen
Mr Reagan hung himself at number thirteen
It'll be great when it's decorated
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
You should see my new house"
Anyway, the lyrics here are missing verses, there's the odd wrong word etc.
i.e. It's "our flat", not "my flat". As for the Baptists, he gets "their bills", not "the bills".
Here's what I hear:
"My new house
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
No rabbit hutch about it
I bought it off the Baptists, I get their bills
And I get miffed at the damn polyester fills
The interior is a prison unconscious
The interior is a prison unconscious
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Keep away from my new house
Wash the drawers of pills
It's got window sills
With lead centred in the middle of them
With lead centred in the middle of them
My new house
Is no beatnik hang-out
My new house
You should see my new house
That Halifax copter
Sure dropped me a cropper
That Halifax copter
Sure dropped me a cropper
My new house
You should see my house
My new house
You should see my new house
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat
But my new house
I do love the mad things about it
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England
According to the postman
It's like the bleeding Bank of England
Creosote tar fence surrounds it
Those razor blades eject when I press eject
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
Could easily crack a mortal, it
The spare room is fine, though a little haunted
By Mr Reagan who had hung himself at number thirteen
Mr Reagan hung himself at number thirteen
It'll be great when it's decorated
My new house
You should see my new house
My new house
You should see my new house"
- 5. | 08/04/2014
Right you are, Danny; I must have imported this whole from the Lyrics Parade. Even though I've listened to it a million times since, I guess I never sat down with it and checked all the lyrics.
One small thing-- is "Swin-tax" pronounced "Swine-tax"? I thought it was a slangy alteration.
One small thing-- is "Swin-tax" pronounced "Swine-tax"? I thought it was a slangy alteration.
- 6. | 08/04/2014
Well, "Swinton", if that's what it is, would be pronounced as spelled. Whether that would translate straightforwardly in local accents into "Swin-Tax" as opposed to "Swine-Tax", I am not in a position to know.
- 7. | 10/05/2014
..halifax building society adverts here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON31__0wSA0 (ffwd to 5:16)
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqLtYmC5ms
...no copter visible...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON31__0wSA0 (ffwd to 5:16)
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqLtYmC5ms
...no copter visible...
- 8. | 15/11/2014
a few things:
I always heard it as "No razor blades eject when I press eject" - as if MES had bought a house with an evil villain-type security system, but finds it doesn't actually work. Now I feel like I can hear it either way?
Also, really think it's "Mr Raven", not "Mr Reagan". Is there evidence otherwise?
Also, the "Swine-Tax" pronunciation: clearly a joke.
I always heard it as "No razor blades eject when I press eject" - as if MES had bought a house with an evil villain-type security system, but finds it doesn't actually work. Now I feel like I can hear it either way?
Also, really think it's "Mr Raven", not "Mr Reagan". Is there evidence otherwise?
Also, the "Swine-Tax" pronunciation: clearly a joke.
- 9. | 11/11/2015
and i always heard
"Is no beatnik hang-out"
as
"It's where the big men hang out"
"Is no beatnik hang-out"
as
"It's where the big men hang out"
- 10. | 23/11/2015
Petey,
I just checked, I hear "beatnik" still...
I just checked, I hear "beatnik" still...
- 11. | 04/05/2016
According to Brix Smith-Start's autobiography, The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise:
Our biggest purchase together was a house. It was round the corner from Mark's childhood home, where his parents still lived. It was very comforting to him to lice a block away from his mother. We bought the house from a Baptist couple. They had kind, calm energy and there was a good vibe in the house.
- 12. | 04/11/2016
Sorry to be an aweful pedant but Sedgley Park is in Bury and not Manchester, it's part of Prestwich, which in turn is part of the wider metropolitan borough of Bury, which in turn is part of the Greater Manchester conurbation.
- 13. | 04/11/2016
Re Point 4 : "In Swinton, Manchester, the local mini-cab firm was called Swin-Tax." Here MES seems to suggest moments of regret or buyer's remorse, at which times he yearns to return to his old apartment; on the other hand, maybe this thought arises out of (drunken?) forgetfulness. "
A few points of clarification
Swinton is in Salford and several miles west of Manchester, and south west of Sedgely Park, in Bury.
The assumption from the proposition above is that MES would ring the taxi firm in Swinton to "go back" to the old flat on Kingswood Road is a little odd given the distance between the New House and the Old Flat is a mere 1.5 miles and the Swinton Taxi firm is based a good 4 miles away around the M60 motorway. This would be a rather strange thing to do as Prestwich has it's own mini-cab services. And why would you ring a taxi company to take you back to your flat?
More plausible I think is the proposition that "Swine-Tax" is MES's "name" for his former landlord at the flat, and that he would be ringing him to ask to rent again.
A few points of clarification
Swinton is in Salford and several miles west of Manchester, and south west of Sedgely Park, in Bury.
The assumption from the proposition above is that MES would ring the taxi firm in Swinton to "go back" to the old flat on Kingswood Road is a little odd given the distance between the New House and the Old Flat is a mere 1.5 miles and the Swinton Taxi firm is based a good 4 miles away around the M60 motorway. This would be a rather strange thing to do as Prestwich has it's own mini-cab services. And why would you ring a taxi company to take you back to your flat?
More plausible I think is the proposition that "Swine-Tax" is MES's "name" for his former landlord at the flat, and that he would be ringing him to ask to rent again.
- 14. | 19/11/2016
Bob, aweful pedantry is the perfect description of what we do here, so your apology is unnecessary (unless I'm being an awful pedant myself by taking you at your word with that spelling...).
- 15. | 19/11/2016
OK I made the corrections but isn't all this in Greater Manchester? Is it really wrong to say these places are in "Manchester"? I'm not sure what, politically, geographically, or culturally, "Greater Manchester" actually means. In the US, we would not say "X, Los Angeles" if a town were in the Greater Los Angeles area, which is more of an informal name for a conurbation, but I don't know anything about Britain...
- 16. | 19/11/2016
And your second note is noted, I'm too confused by it all to do anything about it right now but it's on the record. Do you mean he'd call a more local cab company if it is as I say?
- 17. | 21/11/2016
You don't need to take a position on whether Greater Manchester "is" Manchester. Informally, the terms are often used interchangeably, including by MES, but people are also capable of getting very angry about it. It's good to note the precise geopolitical facts, though.
As for Bob Osborne's #13 speculation about "Swintax", it's good to have the reminder about location and distances, but I take the thought in a different direction, and I certainly see no particular warrant for inventing nicknames for landlords.
Let's remind ourselves of the line:
"Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat"
"Sometimes" seems to indicate that this is not necessarily a serious thought, but the kind of thing people often say off-handedly. And that in turn would allow us to be less literal of the intention and more tolerant of lack of realism. But it's not thatunrealistic.
It's not implausible to consider taxis when moving home, especially if you don't have a lot of possessions and just need luggage space for boxes and suitcases etc. I've moved flats a short distance myself, and a vehicle was definitely required.
But would MES choose Swintax, if there are more local alternatives (although technically the M60 itself, referred to in comment #13, post-dates the song, the component roads existed)? Why not? Maybe he had used the firm before and trusted them. Maybe they were just the bigger firm? Maybe he knew some of the drivers? Maybe the name had the right number of syllables? Maybe they had better sized vehicles?
As for Bob Osborne's #13 speculation about "Swintax", it's good to have the reminder about location and distances, but I take the thought in a different direction, and I certainly see no particular warrant for inventing nicknames for landlords.
Let's remind ourselves of the line:
"Sometimes I think I'll ring Swin-Tax
And go back to our flat"
"Sometimes" seems to indicate that this is not necessarily a serious thought, but the kind of thing people often say off-handedly. And that in turn would allow us to be less literal of the intention and more tolerant of lack of realism. But it's not thatunrealistic.
It's not implausible to consider taxis when moving home, especially if you don't have a lot of possessions and just need luggage space for boxes and suitcases etc. I've moved flats a short distance myself, and a vehicle was definitely required.
But would MES choose Swintax, if there are more local alternatives (although technically the M60 itself, referred to in comment #13, post-dates the song, the component roads existed)? Why not? Maybe he had used the firm before and trusted them. Maybe they were just the bigger firm? Maybe he knew some of the drivers? Maybe the name had the right number of syllables? Maybe they had better sized vehicles?
- 18. | 27/12/2016
Is it not 'caught me a cropper'? that is the usual way the expression is said, and in this case would mean that he was caught out/let down by the building society
- 19. | 04/01/2017
Jim, I only have ever heard "(to) come a-cropper." Maybe in England it's "caught me a cropper"? I am listening now to see if he says this (or if it can be settled by listening; sometimes it can't be).
- 20. | 04/01/2017
I fixed a bunch of stuff! Wow. Anyway, the first time he seems to definitely say "dropped." I can't tell on the second repetition but I think he maybe switches to "caught," but I can't tell for sure--there's definitely no "-ed," but there's a hint of the "dr-" still. I left it as it matches and I'm not sure enough to change it...
- 21. | 04/01/2017
Is it definitely "Mr. Reagan"?
- 22. | 05/01/2017
Note 5
He died in 2015.
Jon, who was (and apparently still is, as of 2014)
He died in 2015.
- 23. | 20/02/2017
"It's like the bleeding Band of England"
Bank?
Bank?
- 24. | 25/02/2017
Yes, typo and off I never noticed. I wonder if the LP had that? (but not enough to go look)
- 25. | 25/02/2017
Typos must be easy as there's one in that comment too...the one thing that annoys is I can't edit my comments, since the site doesn't know me from Adam on this side of things.
- 26. | 25/02/2017
You need to get yourself an account. Although it won't help you edit your own comments.
- 27. | 05/03/2017
Just pondering on the Swin-Tax debate once more I do recall there was a prominent landlord in the Higher Broughton/Prestwich area at the time called Schweinsteiger (or something similar name wise) who owned a serious amount of property and I guess I drew my conclusion from that i.e. MES used a combination of the first part of the name and, in his own unique use of language of turning "rent" into "tax". I appreciate this is speculation, i'll check with Una the next time I see her to she if she recalls who the landlord was.
- 28. | 05/03/2017
So it would just be coincidence, in your mind, that there was an actual taxi firm with that name?
- 29. | 19/03/2017
Yeah I never thought this line was particularly difficult to interpret, but I appreciate the logic and all. It's all here, now, in any case.
- 30. | 29/01/2018
Re Swin Tax and MES' use of taxis: when he recorded "I Want You" with the Inspiral Carpets, he took a taxi from his house to the recording studio in Liverpool and asked the Inspirals to pay the driver. (£60, which must have seen a lot back then for them to mention it.)
- 31. | 13/02/2018
It is actually "Terry is a prisoner of conscience" which is a reference to Terry Wogan, who was then walking a broadcasting tightrope during the Troubles. Imagine the job of speaking daily to a hugely British audience while some of his countrymen were killing his listeners’ brothers and sisters.
- 32. | 13/02/2018
Hexen, that's intriguing, I'm not in a place where I can listen right now and check it. I will look into it, as far as this is possible.
- 33. | 13/02/2018
Is there a particular reason you think he's saying that?
- 34. | 14/02/2018
Terry Wogan couldn't ever be described as walking a broadcasting tightrope.
- 35. | 14/02/2018
I have always thought he was saying that, since I first heard it back in the eighties. I think it was Paul Morley who said that about Wogan in NME (or was it Ian Penman?) Why do you think Wogan hasn't walked a broadcasting tightrope?
- 36. | 14/02/2018
Bearing in mind the "conceptual continuity" in MES's lyrics which became increasingly marked over the last decade (ie references/phrases recurring in more than one song on the same LP), I'm convinced that "Terry is a prisoner of conscience" is in fact an early foreshadowing of Terry Waite Sez.
- 37. | 17/02/2018
I'll be hornswoggled but it does sound like "Terry." What's the connection to the song though?
- 38. | 17/02/2018
Ah John Reardon...more pre-cog? What's he getting at? At least the house has an interior...fuck though, this throws all into doubt. No lyrics book version, not that that would help anyway...
- 39. | 04/03/2018
Hexen Blumenthal, comment #35Why do you think Wogan hasn't walked a broadcasting tightrope
No, it's your claim to provide the evidence for.
But to help, I've got an article from the Daily Mail of 23 December 1975 ("The Two Faces of the Irish", by Joe Steeples), which is full of praise for Wogan, and quotes Wogan himself:
I get 2,000 letters a week from my audience and I have never yet had one which says, "go back to the bogs where you came from."
Wogan was never a controversial figure.
- 40. | 03/06/2018
the sample 'eins' (one) in the beginning sounds like it's recorded from east german children television show 'pittiplatsch & schnatterinchen'. east german tv (mostly the first channel of two available) could be received in west germany (where the fall toured in the early 80s) and i faintly remember reading an interview with MES where he said that east german children shows are much better than their western counterparts.
- 41. | 04/06/2018
Comment #40. Having listened to some clips on YouTube, i think the suggestion is plausible!
Don't know the interview you're referring to, would be good to track that down.
Don't know the interview you're referring to, would be good to track that down.
- 42. | 04/06/2018
I see someone made the same connection a year ago here:
https://tr-tv.net/tv/the-fall-my-new-house-D36kOzop6oo.html
https://tr-tv.net/tv/the-fall-my-new-house-D36kOzop6oo.html
- 43. | 19/06/2018
Re: comment 2; that would make it a "barra-copter" rather than a "hali-copter"
- 44. | 15/07/2018
Steve, is there a way to verify this? If you could find a segment that seems to match, or if anyone has anything to offer in that direction?
Also, was that you at Dan's link? I put it in because it seems more likely if someone else thought so, but "Eins!" isn't much to go on, and if that other comment is you then it doesn't function as corroboration...
Also, was that you at Dan's link? I put it in because it seems more likely if someone else thought so, but "Eins!" isn't much to go on, and if that other comment is you then it doesn't function as corroboration...
- 45. | 25/10/2019
This Halifax add was certainly filmed using a helicopter:
https://youtu.be/GpyEGZliFO0
https://youtu.be/GpyEGZliFO0
- 46. | 09/11/2019
I wonder if Stephen in #1 is right that one has a shot of the copter landing....that would make the connection more solid.
- 47. | 11/11/2019
Some more:
- 48. | 15/11/2019
Ultimate annotation here would be the address of the house. Now, it can be found easily enough using resources available in most uk public !ibraries ( a lot of electoral roll data got sold by councils before the law changed about 2004) but seems a bit infradig to put it here. But who hung himself at no 13? Sounds like mr rayner to me, which fits with the sizeable Jewish populace of prest-wich. Anyone with the time to access old electoral rolls in the MCR archives? I think that line is just reportage of a real incident.
- 49. | 16/11/2019
We need one that shows the damn chopper! Although Stephen Parkin may be misremembering.
Yeah, if we put the address won't the new tenants be deluged with fans making pilgrimages and the like? Could grow to be a bidecadal torrent...is "bidecadal" a word?
Yeah, if we put the address won't the new tenants be deluged with fans making pilgrimages and the like? Could grow to be a bidecadal torrent...is "bidecadal" a word?
- 50. | 19/11/2019
Having lived in Prestwich most of my life I'm surprised to see Sedgley Park categorised as Bury? Both have always been synonymous with Manchester as far as I am concerned. Always got the sense that Mark agreed with this M25 view...as per Bury the song
- 51. | 23/11/2019
Oh for fuck's sake...isn't it just factually one or the other? This is getting to be like soccer, everybody has a theory. Isn't there some kind of borders and censuses, taxes and the like? Mailing addresses? Don't they have that stuff over there?
- 52. | 27/11/2019
Jeez, calm down!
Purely an observation from someone in Mark's homeland.
Prestwich is classified as Manchester under postcode/zip code. Bury is the operating council....provider of public services etc.
Very few people here would ever describe themselves as being from Bury. Only 3 miles up the road, however .different accent and they don't tend to associate themselves with Manc. ..appreciate that this might be difficult to understand and trivial for people from outside but there we go.
Purely an observation from someone in Mark's homeland.
Prestwich is classified as Manchester under postcode/zip code. Bury is the operating council....provider of public services etc.
Very few people here would ever describe themselves as being from Bury. Only 3 miles up the road, however .different accent and they don't tend to associate themselves with Manc. ..appreciate that this might be difficult to understand and trivial for people from outside but there we go.
- 53. | 21/12/2019
It's not you, Condevitto...it's that horrible England! I bet they don't even have post offices.
- 54. | 06/02/2020
The "Halifax copter" discussion here is great, and I find all suggestions to be more plausible than what I am about to share, but I came across a definition of "Halifax Helicopter" in Urban Dictionary, and would be remiss if I did not link it here:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Halifax%20Helicopter
There is more Halifax-related sex slang on UD. I think somebody is enjoying poking fun at the inhabitants of the capital of Nova Scotia.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Halifax%20Helicopter
There is more Halifax-related sex slang on UD. I think somebody is enjoying poking fun at the inhabitants of the capital of Nova Scotia.
- 55. | 06/03/2020
Comment #51. We've been here befoer. Sedgley Park is in Prestwich, and Prestwich is, for political purposes, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester. But local government borders are not the be-all and end-all of local identities.
Comment #48. Obviously whether anyone hung themselves at number 13 on MES's road has been something I've had a go at nailing down in the past. I have been unable to confirm so, despite knowing both the location of MES' new house, and the historic occupants of #13. Thing is, he may have changed the number. MES usually changed numbers.
Comment #48. Obviously whether anyone hung themselves at number 13 on MES's road has been something I've had a go at nailing down in the past. I have been unable to confirm so, despite knowing both the location of MES' new house, and the historic occupants of #13. Thing is, he may have changed the number. MES usually changed numbers.
- 56. | 14/03/2020
54: it sucks that that exists because from Urban Dictionary we can't tell where or when it comes from. There's a chance it's recent, there's a chance it's somebody's inside joke, there's even a chance it's a Fall fan's inside joke. In any case, I can't find another source for it.
51: is it good how it is now?
51: is it good how it is now?
- 57. | 15/08/2020
"Swine Tax" could be a double play on the already mentioned Swinton Taxi company although I'm not sure why he would have bothered with a taxi firm so far from his abode in Sedgley Park.....His home was located amongst a high density of orthodox Jewish homes. I wonder whether he's suggesting playfully a sense of higher taxation due to him being gentile?
Yes the former flat referenced was indeed his place he first took Brix to, located on Rectory Lane in Prestwich.
Yes the former flat referenced was indeed his place he first took Brix to, located on Rectory Lane in Prestwich.
- 58. | 17/11/2020
That Halifax crofter
Sure brought me up proper
(these may not be the lyrics but it is what I always thought it was)
Sure brought me up proper
(these may not be the lyrics but it is what I always thought it was)
- 59. | 27/12/2020
Sometimes I think I'll ring Swine-Tax
And go back to our flat
Which flat?
Not the one on Kingswood Road, as Bob suggests in comment 13. Condevitto is comment #57 is correct.
But let's document this properly.
When MES moved in with Una Baines, it was into her flat - 15a Kingswood Road. Soon, Kay moved in and Una moved out.
c.late 1979/early 1980, Kay and MES moved to a "new flat in a large redbrick Victorian house on Glebelands Road" (source: Hip Priest, by Simon Ford, p.76).
The flat Brix came to England to in 1983, though, was not that one.
Source: Hip Priest, p.120:
Brix arrived in Manchester on 17 May to find that Smith was not kidding about his slender means. The year before, Smith and Carroll had moved out of the Glebelands Road flat into Flat 2, 4 Beech Tree Bank on Rectory Lane, just round the corner. The flat, unfortunately, never really lived up to its attractive name. It was bigger, with a higher ceiling and plenty of space for Smith's cats to roam around, but it was also damp and cold and none of the electric fires worked.
See also Brix's The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise:
We pulled up in front of Mark’s place on Rectory Lane. Suitably, his building was an old rectory. I wasn’t sure what a rectory was, but it looked like a gothic church.
‘Wow,’ I said. ‘This looks so cool. I had no idea you lived in a place this big.’ (At last, I felt a ray of hope starting to glimmer.)
‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t live in the whole building, just one of the flats at the top. It’s only £20 a week.’
My research currently suggests that this building was not in fact the old rectory, which was located 7 minutes' walk away in the vicinity of what is now Rectory Gardens, part of a housing estate.
Anyway, it was from this flat that MES and Brix moved into their "new house".
Brix again:
The house was a massive step up from our shabby apartment on Rectory Lane. This was the first house either of us ever owned and the pride Mark felt at owning a house himself was immortalised in the song ‘My New House’.
Therefore, the "old flat" referred to in the lyric is, all things being equal, the one in the former rectory on Rectory Lane.
- 60. | 27/12/2020
The Rectory which used to be where Rectory Gardens now is, was replaced by a new one built in 1923, at 41 Church Lane. It's still there, a Grade II listed building:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1405179
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1405179
- 61. | 27/12/2020
Comment #59, of course where I said "the one in the former rectory on Rectory Lane", I should have said "the one in what Brix describes as the former rectory on Rectory Lane."
- 62. | 08/10/2021
The house went up for sale earlier this year: https://thequietus.com/articles/30160-mark-e-smith-house-for-sale?fbclid=IwAR3L79GQgvYFVmFlQ573WoUwh_KiO_GIGHFr3iEIeQt_PQA3sUrrU86b8Cs
It's in a terribly delapidated state.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109703012#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://twitter.com/mr_dave_haslam/status/1410492848672227328?s=21
There were some efforts to recover Mark's possessions for their historical value, but I don't know if they were successful.
It's in a terribly delapidated state.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109703012#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://twitter.com/mr_dave_haslam/status/1410492848672227328?s=21
There were some efforts to recover Mark's possessions for their historical value, but I don't know if they were successful.
- 63. | 15/10/2021
I doubt anything left there had any historical value.
- 64. | 16/05/2022
Reminiscent of 'In My House' by Zaar & Evans, who are name-checked by Smith in a later interview.
- 65. | 16/05/2022
Zader & Evans**
- 66. | 20/05/2022
You managed to get their name wrong twice there!
It's Zager & Evans.
I'm not really hearing much similarity to be honest.
It's Zager & Evans.
I'm not really hearing much similarity to be honest.
- 67. | 21/05/2022
Actually, you're right I can hear it now. You were correct, thanks for the comment.
- 68. | 23/05/2022
As will have been noticed by everyone paying attention, comment #67 doesn't have my fact cannon and is not by me.
Poor behaviour.
Poor behaviour.
- 69. | 31/10/2022
Need to review lyrics here in light of 29 November 2022 Omega Auctions Lot 407, which has lyric sheets:
- 70. | 04/11/2022
Another reference to the Prisoner (TV)
And who's Mr Rearden?
And who's Mr Rearden?
- 71. | 05/11/2022
Comment #70
I've done a bit of basic research but so far failed to find any evidence of a Rearden (Reardon) living on Winchester Avenue.
MES might have altered the name, of course. And it might not have been on Winchester Avenue.
I've done a bit of basic research but so far failed to find any evidence of a Rearden (Reardon) living on Winchester Avenue.
MES might have altered the name, of course. And it might not have been on Winchester Avenue.
- 72. | 10/11/2022
OK, so having listened to the studio version, it's very nearly but not quite exactly the lyric that we have in the sheets.
It's definitely "The interior is a prisoner unconscious".
And "Western drawers and pills"
I'd go with "Cropped me a cropper" and then "taught me a cropper" as per the sheet corrections, though it's hard to hear.
I'm not at all sure I'm hearing "creosote hard fence". Still sounds like "tar", but could be "guard".
And it does seem to be "Could easy crack and mottle in it"
And "Mr Rearden" and "number fifteen".
It's definitely "The interior is a prisoner unconscious".
And "Western drawers and pills"
I'd go with "Cropped me a cropper" and then "taught me a cropper" as per the sheet corrections, though it's hard to hear.
I'm not at all sure I'm hearing "creosote hard fence". Still sounds like "tar", but could be "guard".
And it does seem to be "Could easy crack and mottle in it"
And "Mr Rearden" and "number fifteen".
- 73. | 30/12/2022
Swintax advert from Salford Advertiser, 30 May 1991, p.18:
- 74. | 05/03/2023
A few things missing/ wrong from the last few lines:
Penultimate chorus:
My new house
Crazy cracked couple in it! (not 'Could easy crack a mortal in it')
(I Presume this is self referential -Mark and Kay)
Spare room is fine
A little Haunted
Mr Weird done and hung himself at number 13
Mr Weird hung himself at number 13
Both of the above can be seen on the bleed through of lyric sheet from the auction that dannyno posted.
Probably not worth looking through the census for that name!
Also worth noting that the lyric sheet has both
'Its here It is a prison of conscience'
and 'The interior is the prisoner of unconscience'
I can hear both, so a classic brilliant MES swapping sound-a-like words in and out.
Penultimate chorus:
My new house
Crazy cracked couple in it! (not 'Could easy crack a mortal in it')
(I Presume this is self referential -Mark and Kay)
Spare room is fine
A little Haunted
Mr Weird done and hung himself at number 13
Mr Weird hung himself at number 13
Both of the above can be seen on the bleed through of lyric sheet from the auction that dannyno posted.
Probably not worth looking through the census for that name!
Also worth noting that the lyric sheet has both
'Its here It is a prison of conscience'
and 'The interior is the prisoner of unconscience'
I can hear both, so a classic brilliant MES swapping sound-a-like words in and out.
- 75. | 05/03/2023
Just seen the actual back of the sheet.
Mr Rearden is back! (again I think probably both are used)
But I'm sticking with the crazy cracked couple!
Mr Rearden is back! (again I think probably both are used)
But I'm sticking with the crazy cracked couple!
- 76. | 31/08/2023
Following on from the '..like the..Bank of England' line, the description of the fence seems to enlarge on this, security-wise; creosote, sure, wood preservative, but 'creosote tar'? Sounds to me like a home-made concoction of anti-climb paint, stuff to deter intruders, and the following 'razor blades' line could refer to, not actual razor blades, but certainly razor wire or other sharp material for the same purpose. (Cf. the comparable cement-and-broken-glass on back walls in more urban settings). The bit about them 'ejecting' is a fanciful bit of high-tech exaggeration.
- 77. | 12/12/2023
"No rabbit hutch about it"
I suspect it is not a coincidence that on 9 August 1878, Émile Zola wrote to his friend Gustave Flaubert which began:
This roughly translates to:
Source: https://flaubert.univ-rouen.fr/correspondance/correspondance/9-ao%C3%BBt-1878-de-%C3%A9mile-zola-%C3%A0-gustave-flaubert/
Zola's house at Médan:
Source: https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/places/home-of-zola/
I suspect it is not a coincidence that on 9 August 1878, Émile Zola wrote to his friend Gustave Flaubert which began:
Mon cher ami,
J’allais vous écrire, travaillé du remords de ne vous avoir pas écrit plus tôt. J’ai eu toutes sortes de tracas. J’ai acheté une maison, une cabane à lapins, entre Poissy et Triel, dans un trou charmant, au bord de la Seine ; neuf mille francs, je vous dis le prix pour que vous n’ayez pas trop de respect. La littérature a payé ce modeste asile champêtre, qui a le mérite d’être loin de toute station et de ne pas compter un seul bourgeois dans son voisinage. Je suis seul, absolument seul ; depuis un mois, je n’ai pas vu une face humaine. Seulement, mon installation m’a beaucoup dérangé, et de là ma négligence.
This roughly translates to:
My dear friend,
I was going to write to you, feeling remorseful for not having written to you sooner. I had all sorts of worries. I bought a house, a rabbit hut, between Poissy and Triel, in a charming hole, on the banks of the Seine; nine thousand francs, I'll tell you the price so you don't have too much respect. Literature paid for this modest country asylum, which has the merit of being far from any resort and of not having a single bourgeois in its vicinity. I am alone, absolutely alone; for a month, I haven't seen a human face. However, my installation bothered me a lot, and hence my negligence.
Source: https://flaubert.univ-rouen.fr/correspondance/correspondance/9-ao%C3%BBt-1878-de-%C3%A9mile-zola-%C3%A0-gustave-flaubert/
Zola's house at Médan:
Source: https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/places/home-of-zola/
- 78. | 25/01/2024
I used to have a 9 min version of this song on a late 80s CD.
A lot of the songs on some of the Fall CD releases were longer. 9 mins for 'My New House'
'No Bulbs' 17mins. 'Cruisers Creek' 15mins and a nearly 25min version of 'And this Day' (They have cut some Arcade fire and Block Party songs on some releases also)
I shook Mark E Smiths hand after a performance he did in Brighton around 2007/2008 at the Old Market in Hove. He played a few times there. I find the Falls music so artistically monumental that i have avoided influence in my own art. Listening to there music to this day is like listening to an actual physical presence. Truly great band. And very best to Brix and the Extricated i hope they do another tour soon.
Robert Meldrum, Sussex.
A lot of the songs on some of the Fall CD releases were longer. 9 mins for 'My New House'
'No Bulbs' 17mins. 'Cruisers Creek' 15mins and a nearly 25min version of 'And this Day' (They have cut some Arcade fire and Block Party songs on some releases also)
I shook Mark E Smiths hand after a performance he did in Brighton around 2007/2008 at the Old Market in Hove. He played a few times there. I find the Falls music so artistically monumental that i have avoided influence in my own art. Listening to there music to this day is like listening to an actual physical presence. Truly great band. And very best to Brix and the Extricated i hope they do another tour soon.
Robert Meldrum, Sussex.
- 79. | 31/01/2024
Robert, comment #78.
I'm afraid you're misremembering. I can't find any studio version of My New House that's 9 minutes long. Live I know there are 7 minute+ versions. There is no 17 minute version of No Bulbs. There is no 15 minute version of Cruiser's Creek; the "extended version" on the TNSG omnibus edition is 7:35. There is no 25 minute version of And This Day that has been released, either officially or as a bootleg.
Conversely, if you have these, let us know the release details!
Brix and the Extricated are defunct.
I'm afraid you're misremembering. I can't find any studio version of My New House that's 9 minutes long. Live I know there are 7 minute+ versions. There is no 17 minute version of No Bulbs. There is no 15 minute version of Cruiser's Creek; the "extended version" on the TNSG omnibus edition is 7:35. There is no 25 minute version of And This Day that has been released, either officially or as a bootleg.
Conversely, if you have these, let us know the release details!
Brix and the Extricated are defunct.
The lines suggest that he got a bad deal on his mortgage, which could be why he thinks of going back to renting.