Oh! Brother
Lyrics
Ich hasse, die masse, die kleine, gemeine, die lahme, die zahme, mein herzblut, raubt (2)
Oh! little brother
We are in a mess
Don't look at me that way
Don't put me to the test
When I first saw you
People said:
He scrutinised a little monster
And disappeared through red door (3)
Now what we want is disinformation
Disinformation
Disinformation (4)
He says:
Won't you give me one more chance?
Won't you give me one more chance?
I'm not a communist
Won't you give me one more chance? (5)
Disinformation
Dissolve-amation
Dissolve-amation
Ich hasse, die masse, die kleine, gemeine, die lahme, die zahme, mein herzblut, raubt
Oh! little brother
We are in a mess
Don't look at me that way
Your d-jacket's a mess (6)
There's always
Someone beside you
And there's always
Someone in your arms
Oh! little brother
If only I had known
Then I might not
Be alone (7)
Notes
1. This is a very old song, in Fall terms, dating back to 1977. The original incarnation was very similar lyrically to its 1984 revival, and where it differs I cannot make out what the words are on the horrible Live in 1977 recording. Musically, on the other hand, this changed quite a bit; in 1977 it is a Bo DIddley-type workout, whereas the later version drifts along poppily atop a repeating Steve Hanley bounce, and features syrupy "lalala" backing vox from either a multi-tracked Brix, or some combitionation of Brix and another uncredited female or two. The lyrics remind me of another song, but I can't place which; on the other hand, this may just be an illusion attributable to the fact that the lyrics are more conventionally conceived and structured than is the case with a good many Fall songs (but see below).
From a press release for the "Oh! Brother"/"God Box" single, included in the box set book (thanks to MES Sage):
hey nar - 7" 12" WITH!
Oh! Brother
/GOD-BOX The real monty
A TIGHT TOURNIQUET TWIXT WETPOP
AND BRAINY POP LIES : THE FALL
SAY TO POP IN 'SHOP OF POP' HEY;
POP NOT THAT POP OR THAT incl:
PAPPY POP, POP OVER THE COUNTER : splinter
Sleep
ANTI- The group
QUEEN sound!
OH! BROTHER
WHILST: APPEALING TO BASEST FAMILY INSTINCTS MOTIVE : REVENGE
2. "I hate the masses, the small, mean, the lame, the tame, [who] steal my heart's blood." This baffled us for a long time; MES's German pronunciation is not accurate, but once we found the lines, it was clear that this is what he is saying.
According to Dan (the remainder is his words and quotations):
According to Dave Thompson, on page 76 of A User's Guide To The Fall: "anybody seeking to ascertain how Smith himself would deal with mass popularity needed only translate the pidgin German that echoes through 'Oh! Brother': 'I hate the crowd, the impotent crowd, the pliable crowd... who, tomorrow, will rip my heart out." This translation is taken from the Fall's "Oh! Brother" press release.
The sleeve to the "Oh! Brother" single includes the following credit: "Part Text: B. von Selchow" (you must click on the image of the cover and click through to the second image, of the reverse side).
Bogislav von Selchow, (1877-1943) was a German/Prussian author/poet, navy officer, anti-semitic activist and (although not a party member) national socialist. One of Selchow's poems (published in Völkischer Beobachter, the newspaper of the Nazi party, in 1923, reads as follows: "[Ich hasse die Masse, die kleine, gemeine, den Nacken gebeugt, die isst und schläft und Kinder zeugt.] Ich hasse die Masse, die lahme, die zahme, [die heut an mich glaubt und die mir morgen] mein Herzblut raubt."
Konrad Heiden's A History of National Socialism (Responding to Fascism Vol 2), published by Routledge, (freely) translates this as: "I disdain The profane, Plebeian, And mean, Servile of gait, That eat and sleep and procreate. I disdain The profane, The weak, The meek, That are loyal to-day And tomorrow will swear my life away." [I have given a more literal translation above--bzfgt] You could just as easily translate it as: "'I hate the crowd, the impotent crowd, the pliable crowd... who, tomorrow, will rip my heart out."
Where did MES read this poem? Well, Konrad Heiden's book was originally published in English translation in 1934, so maybe in a copy of that. It also appears in AL Rowse's A Cornishman Abroad, published in 1976.
However, on the basis of the translation that appears in the press release (see above), we can conclude that the most likely source seems to be Heinz Höhne's The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS, which was originally published in German under the title Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf in 1966/7, and first published in English translation by Secker and Warburg in 1969.
The poem appears (in German and English) on p.17 of the Penguin edition of 2000 (searched on Amazon), and on p.15 of the 1972 Pan paperback edition (which I now own) with a citation to p.98 Konrad Heiden's Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus. The translator, Richard Barry, renders it as:
QUOTE |
I hate The crowd The little men The mean men Who bow their heads And eat, sleep and beget children I hate The crowd The impotent crowd The pliable crowd Which believes in me today And tomorrow will tear my heart out |
From Dan:
I tracked down the issue of Völkischer Beobachter in which Selchow's poem originally appeared. It was the issue of Sunday/Monday, 11/12 February 1923.
See "More Information" for the complete story on the Selchow stuff.
3. Compare "Impression of J. Temperance": "Scrutinized little monster/Disappeared through the door." The line seems to have originated, however, in the 1977 version of this song (thanks to Antoine below).
Marvin points out the communist symbolism of the color red (note the "brother" goes on to deny being a communist).
Of course the Rolling Stones wanted to paint red doors black, but there's not much reason to think there's an allusion to that intended here...
4. One or more of these may be "This information." The typewritten lyrics in the blue lyrics book have: "Now what we want is: Information, Information. Left-wing fracture. Left-leg traction. Information. And a groovy nation." See the full blue lyrics book version under "More Information" below. The 1977 version had "What we want is information, information, unmutual, information." These lines echo Number Six's interrogation when he meets the New Number Two each week on the 1960's TV show The Prisoner. (Thanks to Fit and Working Again.)
5. "Out of Control" by the Jefferson Starship may be a source of inspiration here (thanks to Dan):
He said, "You better get with it"
She said, "With what?"
He said, "I'm not a Communist"
She said, "Well, you better get with it"
He said "I am not out of control"
She said, "I tried to warn you
I tried to warn you"
He said "I am not Jesus"
"I am not radiation
I am not a commando
This is not Romper Room
I am not responsible, I'm going to Hollywood"
Shut up!!
The original "Oh! Brother" predates this 1982 song, but it does not have the "communist" lyric yet.
Although the Jefferson Starship is an unlikely source of inspiration for a Fall lyric, it must be remembered that, in Fall lyrics, unlikely sources of inspiration are likely...however, see the very end of note 2 above.
6. Live versions have "donkey jacket": a donkey jacket is a garment associated with British manual laborers. From Dan:
It's possible to read some of the lyrics - those which don't appear in the 1977 version of the song, like this one - as referring to the 1983 UK general election, or early 1980s politics. If d-jacket is "donkey jacket" rather than "dinner jacket", then it is worth noting that Labour Party Michael Foot was vilified for wearing a donkey jacket at the wreath-laying ceremony at the cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday 1981. It wasn't a donkey jacket at all - "disinformation"?. This also makes sense of the "I'm not a communist" line, and also "won't you give me one more chance", perhaps.
Paul Hanley, Have a Bleedin Guess, p.143, note 124:
Oh Brother's 'Your D-Jacket's a mess' was a (well-deserved) snipe at the donkey jacket I wore throughout the early eighties.
7. The lines from "There's always/Someone beside you..." until the end are taken from "Little Baby" by the Blue Rondos, with "little brother" standing in for "little baby" (big thanks to John in the comment section).
More Information
Oh! Brother
Oh: Li'l brother, we are in a mess, Don't look at me that way, Don't put me to the test, When I first saw you, People said: He scrutinised the little monster, And disappeared thru a Red Door. I adopt this child.
Now what they want is: Information, Information. Left-wing fracture. Left-leg traction. Information. And a groovy nation.
Oh! Li'l brother. I want you for my own, But I never see you, you're never home, There's always, someone beside you, Someone, on the end of your arms, Oh! Li'l brother, if only I had known, Then I might not. Be Alone. Be Alone. I rescued you. Not to be alone.
The Long Version: Dan's research on the German passage
Comments (78)
Typo - 1977, surely.
"He says:
"Won't you give me one more chance?"
"I'm not a communist" "
No he doesn't. What he says is this:
"He says, "won't you give me one more chance? Won't you give me one more chance? I'm not a communist. Won't you give me one more chance?"
Which I'm sure you'll agree is a very different kettle of fish.
"...Hey! Scrutinize the little monster
disappearing throught the red door.
And now what they want is information
(then aftr 'give me one...etc.)
disinformation, this old formation, this old formation
Also the fist chanty word i hear is "enhance, the mass..etc" and swear i remember "heart throb, lob" and the word 'clang' in there somewhere. second go round has "land, sand, hot spots, lots"
I'm totally amazed by the blue rondos thing. You wouldn't believe the tortured meaning I'd developed for this song about the alienated labor of the worker or even casual handler of an object haunting and animating that object, and then i had some shit about grave robbing a la 'the doctor and the devils' Ridiculously overwrought, but i was in art school then, so what do you expect?
and note 2:
The Thompson quote comes from p76 of A User's Guide To The Fall:
The sleeve to the Oh! Brother single (see https://www.discogs.com/The-Fall-Oh-Brother/master/186247) includes the following credit:
Bogislav von Selchow (1877-1943) was a German/Prussian author/poet, navy officer, anti-semitic activist and (although not a party member) national socialist. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogislav_von_Selchow
One of Selchow's poems (published in Völkischer Beobachter, the newspaper of the Nazi party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lkischer_Beobachter) in 1923) reads as follows:
Konrad Heiden's A History of National Socialism (Responding to Fascism Vol 2), published by Routledge (at Google books: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_History_of_National_Socialism_Respondi.html?id=CkdZBwAAQBAJ), translates this as:
But a more literal translation would be:
But you could just as easily translate it as:
"'I hate the crowd, the impotent crowd, the pliable crowd... who, tomorrow, will rip my heart out"
I can now hear it more clearly as:
Where I have the elipsis is a couple of lines which don't appear to be in the original.. will listen again.
So what he says is:
Sorted!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Heiden
I also wonder aloud, there, if Thompson knew the source of the lines, since he includes the word "tomorrow", which is not present - as far as I can hear - in what MES recites in the song.
http://thefall.org/news/980118.html#ob
Kudos for this, I doubt anyone thought what we had was accurate. You did a typically superb job with this.
That's the text of the original German poem. But what MES says is:
Still a bit of a puzzle about MES's source, since Höhne has "tear" where the press release has "rip". But the poem can be translated so many ways that this seems close enough and probably just a transcription error, or deliberate alteration. At any rate I have found any other source.
This ought to link to http://thefall.org/news/980118.html#ob
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thefall/mes-lyrical-magpie-list-in-first-posts-t42183.html#p40052571
But I only hear "disinformation" once. I reckon it to be, phonetically;
"now what they want is disinfuation, disinfuation, disinformation"
and then in the break;
"disinfuation, dissolve-formation, dissolve-amation"
I'd dismiss disinfuation as a flub or bad-hearing but it's clear in the Jenson version too, though I'm jiggered on what it meaneth.
"Ich hasse die Masse, die kleine, gemeine, die lahme, die zahme, mein Herzblut raubt"
Selchow's poisonous 'heroic realist' poems are still circulated by far-right groups in Germany, particularly the 'Burschenschaft' organisations at German universities. Selchow was appointed leader of a student group in Marburg in 1920 that wanted to launch a military coup in the city during the Kapp Putsch. (Marburg University is one of my university's partner institutions.)
A German article on Selchow's enduring toxic influence
There's a connection with the 'Thule group' too (see 'Gut of the Quantifier') in that Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, a Nazi eugenicist who had been Selchow's aide-de-camp in Marburg, went on to join the Thule Society.
Thank God, I found an online converter that let me reproduce the lyrics book text and I only had to correct 3 letters...that was a serious time saver
The Selchow text appears on p.62:
No English translation is provided, and no source is given.
Note that the German text here departs from the originals previously cited. Here it's "die gemeine", not just "gemeine". And instead of "und schläft" ("and sleeps"), we have "und frisst". Which is a curious difference, because "isst" comes from "essen" and straightforwardly means "eats", while "frisst" comes from "fressen" and is used for animals eating, or for humans eating like animals - faces in the pig trough, kind of thing, indicating greed or stuffing your face, something like that. So it seems to be used for emphasis in this context. The former is, I learn, polite, the second is derogatory.
Would be interesting to know the origin of this variant text, or if Rowse is reproducing it from memory.
Anyway, this is clearly not MES's source.
hey nar - 7" 12" WITH!
Oh! Brother
/GOD-BOX The real monty
A TIGHT TOURNIQUET TWIXT WETPOP
AND BRAINY POP LIES : THE FALL
SAY TO POP IN 'SHOP OF POP' HEY;
POP NOT THAT POP OR THAT incl:
PAPPY POP, POP OVER THE COUNTER : splinter
Sleep
ANTI- The group
QUEEN sound!
OH! BROTHER
WHILST: APPEALING TO BASEST FAMILY INSTINCTS MOTIVE : REVENGE
Note that the poem is cited as coming from Selchow's book of poetry Der Ruf des Tages ("The Call of the Day"), dated 1922.
Also note that there are more verses than quoted by Heiden (see above). And that if the poem comes from the book, then it can't have been a response to Hitler's article in the 'paper of 27th January 1923, as Heiden implies.
Noooo, this is a translation of the first verse of the full four verse poem as it originally appeared - Portsmouth Bubblejet having helpfully translated the first and second verses for us over on the FOF. But what appears in the lyrics are bits of the third and fourth verses only - I would argue because MES's source only reproduced the third and fourth verses - I haven't found a translation of the poem which consists of all four verse.
Paul Hanley has said, in public conversation about this song, that he thought the song could have been about him (being the younger brother of Steve Hanley). It's worth noting, however, that the song (if not all the text) is a very early one and likely predates MES's familiarity with Paul. Although in Steve Hanley's book he describes first seeing The Fall at the last Electric Circus gig in October 1977, and getting to know the group over the next several months, I've not seen anything suggesting Paul was particularly close to The Fall at that point.
Indeed, in this interview, Paul says that the Electric Circus gig was "slightly before my time", and that he first heard the group on the subsequently released recording which came out in 1978. Also, the first gig he went to was Darts at the Free Trade Hall (25 May 1978).
Which doesn't mean the lyric couldn't have become about him, at least in part.
https://data.hexencyclopedia.xyz/2020/02/ich-hasse-die-masse-uncovering-oh.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_G%C3%B6ring
It's interesting, anyway.
Open Library
archive.org
In the "recorded/presentable" category falls "Oh! Brother (Information)":
This supports the theory that however the song evolved and whatever else it contains, it was always strongly linked to The Prisoner.
Oh, Brother! was also the name of a British situation comedy shown on BBC television starring Derek Nimmo, which was broadcast between 1968 and 1970. About monks.
+A 1976 song by Joan Baez (O Brother!).
I am sure there is no obvious connection however.
(It was the same for English editions, I think)
And the film too:
Just trying to find some meanings in this line.
Might it be something to do with the green/red door/channel customs system at international airports, where the green door or gate is for those with nothing to declare, and the red door is for those with something to declare?
There's a red door in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame too.
Might be worth checking Victor Hugo...