O.F.Y.C. Showcase

(1)

The little Baco mongers (2)

There goes old Ginio
There goes Archibald
There goes old Yates, there
There goes that yankee who gets ex-pats to go on Quality Street (3)
In fact, the Earl of Holmes would run to the holy duke (4)
And A Denning in the 30's (5)
Ex-pats!

Your future, our clutter
Your future, our clutter
Our future, your clutter
Toxic, I'll blend
Talk! Complete  (6)
Make your land
A showcase of Fall talent
Of water

Your future, our clutter
Your future, our clutter

There goes Austin down
Completes, what's going down?
Back and around, ink you lot

Our future, your clutter
I am your future
Sit up
A showcase of talent
Of water, of waterfall

Ah-ahh-ah-ah-ahhh

Our future, your clutter
Our future, your clutter

Centre for plain folk
Must be born
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1. O.F.Y.C. stands for "Our Future Your Clutter" which was, according to some accounts, the original name of the album (which became Your Future Our Clutter). Smith talks about this song, and the meaning of the phrase, in an interview with The Arts Desk:

The title of the LP came, then that tune came, then I thought I might as well do the title of the LP over this tune. It was good because I couldn’t really articulate what the title of the LP meant but it’s like, you know – it does fit in with the rest of the songs. What sparked me off was I distinctly remember playing Belfast and coming out and remember saying to the bass player, there were all these posters – it was well before we started recording the LP – all these really massive posters in Belfast and it had like, "Our Equity is Your Future". I remember saying to Dave, "That is really fucking Irish." Our equity is your future. That is like – you can’t say fairer than that, can you? [Laughter]

Sounds like a curse.

That’s right, yeah. [More laughter]

And it is now…

It’s something like a Satanist would say. "Our riches are your soul." It’s hard to explain. That’s what kicked it off a bit.

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2. "Baco" means Bacchus in Spanish. In "Mexico Wax Solvent," we learn that the "ex-pats" in question are in Mexico. Thus, if this phrase has any meaning at all, it's possible that it implies the British expatriates are boozing it up in Mexico. On the other hand, "Baco-" is a brand of aluminum foil in Britain.

Tacos are Mexican cuisine; there is also a taco with a bacon shell called a "Baco," but this apparently wasn't invented until 2013 (in Michigan rather than Mexico), so, unless you're a pre-cog fan, it doesn't get you anywhere. And "Bacos" are a bacon-flavored salad topping made by Betty Crocker (thanks, Zack). Other than that, I can find no clue as to what a "Baco monger" is.

^

3. Quality Street is the name of candies produced by Nestlé in Britain, as well as the name of a 1937 movie starring Katherine Hepburn and Franchot Tone, a remake of a 1927 silent movie that was itself an adaptation of a play of the same name; a Spanish (not Mexican, unfortunately) version appeared on TV in 1980. None of these seem to have much to do with the song. There was also a gang in 1960s-70s Manchester called "The Quality Street Gang," which was apparently either a criminal gang or else merely a social club most of whose members had criminal records (the gang was never actually connected to any definite criminal activity).  Several streets in Britain bear the name, although none appear in MES's bailiwick--but there is one in Edinburgh, where he lived for a time. See also "Mexico Wax Solvent."

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4. Earl Holmes is a former linebacker who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions; he's currently the head coach at Florida A&M. Yep, you're thinking what I'm thinking: the wrong kind of football. Thus, despite the reference to a "yankee" in the previous line, this seems an unlikely connection. And, while the Lyrics Parade indeed has "Earl Holmes," it sounds more like I've rendered it above, "the Earl of Holmes." The 'm' is unmistakeable, so it can't be an obscure pun about "The Earl of Holes/the Holy Duke." That pretty much exhausts all of my firepower; in any case, it's possible that this is another made-up (or at least non-famous) name like "Archibald Yates."

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5. Alfred Denning (1899-1999) was a famous barrister who became King's Counsel in 1938, whatever the hell that is. He went on to become a judge (becoming known as "The People's Judge") and is sometimes said to have been one of the most influential jurists of the 20th century. He traveled quite a bit andis known to have visited Mexico in 1965, although that would be a pretty wide shot, and he never became an expatriate.

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6. Michael Nath think he says "kentledge" here, which is ballast on a ship. It sounds like it could be this, but it's hard to tell for sure.

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O.F.Y.C. Showcase: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 2010