Mountain Energei

(1)

Mr Blairstowe and Mr Partridge (2)
They said to me
To get a mortgage
You need an income lid;
I thought it was free  (3)

Dolly Parton and Lord Byron
They said patriotism is the last refuge
But now its me  (4)

And water's flowing down the mountain
But a tree is blocking the water flowing

So I went fishing
A note from a fish said:
"Dear dope, if you wanna catch us
You need a rod and a line
Signed, the fish." (5)

Water is flowing down the mountain
But a tree is blocking the water flowing

Went to the car rental
They said to me
You need a log book and licence, son (6)

Water's flowing down the mountain
But a tree is blocking the water coming
Mountain energei

And water's flowing down the mountain

1. The word, as sung, is clearly "energy." "Energei," as far as I can discover, is not a word in any language; there is an Italian "Gruppo Energei," where the word is apparently a combination of "energia" and G.E.I., an acronym for a company name (however I haven't found any information about this in English so the details remain obscure). TamFG submitted an excellent comment about the word:

"With regards to note (1), it's probably worth pointing out that the German word for 'energy' ('Energie') is very nearly 'energei,' having only the last two letters exchanged. This would of course change the pronunciation of the German word entirely, but given Mark E. Smith's well documented fondness for bastardised German ("Bremen Nacht," "Reformation!" and "Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain" being prime examples), there must be at least an outside chance that we have a similar situation here, even if there's nothing in the actual sung lyrics to suggest this."

The song is built around a Gary Glitter-style riff (see also "New Big Prinz" and "Glam-Racket"). However, the music was written by drummer Dave Milner, and in its original incarnation (an engaging recording in its own right) it doesn't have the Gary Glitter feel to it yet.

Rema999 captures a theme of the song in a very pithy remark: "I always thought the song is about repressed or inexpressed potential, on how society’s rules and mundane tasks can cripple or obstacle the free flowing of ideas."

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2. I could not ascertain who, if anyone in particular, these two gentleman are. MES is asked about it in a 2004 interview with Left of the Dial:

Blairstone and Mr. Partridge...is that Blair? Is that a political song?

No, not really. It's an objective song. Started off with, mmm, seeing Britain, and I think you have it here [in the US], as well....you get it on TV, y'know, "you can have endless credit" and all that. (Pause) Where I live, and I'm sure everywhere, there's people who actually believe it, y'know. But also...for instance, in Manchester, you probably get that here as well, "Water was always free" where I live, y'know. [Did MES do that thing with his hands? Or did the interviewer think it was a banal statement, and tried to rescue it by putting it in quotes? There's no telling.] 

So that's just metaphorical? It's not directly political?

It turns into a political song in America. [...] Yeah, I just think of it like, uh, your average fellow approaching...

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3. From the titanic 2006-08-11 rendition in Oslo, "How many techinicians/Does it need [sic]/To set up a mic stand/I thought it was three."
The idea in the previous lines seems to me just to be "You need an income"; I don't know what "income lid" is. Charlie Hughes suggests MES is using Liverpool slang for "friend" or "mate"; the question then becomes whether MES would use "lid" in this sense. It's hard to endorse the idea, but I can't reject it either, and it does make sense of the lyric in just the way it seems to want to be made sense of...

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4. They must have been quoting Samuel Johnson, who famously said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Bob Dylan also (slightly mis-) quoted this line in "Sweetheart Like You": "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings/steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king." The original Country On The Click version runs: "Lord Byron and Parton/They used to say/A scoundrel is patriotic/Now it's me they're blaming."   

Dan: "In November 2003 Parton released For God and Country, an album of religious/nationalistic songs, apparently written in the wake of the plane attacks on New York and elsewhere in September 2001; maybe there was some comment by her in the press that year."

It is just possible, Dan points out, that MES is conflating Dolly Parton with Emmylou Harris, who said "Patriotism can be good or bad. Knee-jerk patriotism can be very bad. I'm patriotic almost to the point of self-consciousness, but I love my country the way I love a friend or a child who I would correct if she was going the wrong way" ("What I've Learned," Esquire, June 2004).

And he found the following quote from Lord Byron, in an 1823 letter: "Though I love my country, I do not love my countrymen."

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5. In Warner Brothers' 1950 cartoon, "A Fractured Leghorn," a cat is fishing with no bait. The fish attach a note to his hook which reads: "Dear Dope--You can't catch us Fish without a Worm on the hook. signed, The Fish."

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6. Sark/Smirk contends that the line is "...a license SORN." In England, a SORN, or statutory off-road notification, may be obtained if one has a vehicle that is kept off public roads, in which case one does not have to obtain insurance or pay tax on the vehicle. It seems unlikely that one would get one of these for a rental vehicle, though, and it sounds like "son" to me...

See the comments below for remarks about MES not being a driver...

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Mountain Energei: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Left of the Dial interview has interesting bits about several songs