Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes

Lyrics

(1)

Parmesan carrots with mushrooms
Frankly that I've never been keen
It's pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
That's for my Hallowe'en tea
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
That has always been my dream

Physicians moan about the guarantees of vegetables
But to be frank what I'm keen on is that same old scene
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
That is my Hallowe'en tea
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
That's why I'm always keen
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
They'll keep me clean
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes

I'm old, not much, but I'm going mad
Because of the starvation that I've had
Clouds rush by
But I always have my dream

Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes
That is my hallowe'en tea
Pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes

Notes

1. This song, which is kind of a novelty for the Fall, is done in a lounge jazz style.

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More Information

Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 2000

Comments (10)

dannyno
  • 1. dannyno | 04/05/2014
"Parmesan carrots", not "Parmesian"?
dannyno
  • 2. dannyno | 04/05/2014
"never been keen", not "never been keen on".
Martin
  • 3. Martin | 08/10/2015
The line "Physicians moan about the guarantees of vegetables" puzzles me slightly. Do they? Did they? And what is meant exactly by "guarantees"? Sell-by dates, eat-by dates or is it some kind of reference to the goodness (or otherwise) contained therein?

Also, it's interesting that Mark E Smith uses the word "physician" instead of the far more common (British English) word "doctor. Though to be fair he does the same in Mexico Wax Solvent and Rowche Rumble.
bzfgt
  • 4. bzfgt | 23/11/2015
Yeah, they might be pissed that the costermongers are not being cautious enough with the dates...
Antoine
  • 5. Antoine | 04/09/2016
A little self-deprecating laugh at the dental transitions Smith was undergoing around this period? I think his entire top row was gone circa Real New Fall LP.
Zack
  • 6. Zack | 30/10/2016
MES is a proud carnivore and has said nasty things about vegetarians in the past, so it is interesting to hear him espousing the virtues of a vegetable dish.

Martin, I think "guarantees of vegetables" means the health benefits. It's an odd choice of words in an otherwise straightforward song. (Unless the song, as I believe someone on the FOF once surmised, is a metaphor for sex.)
bzfgt
  • 7. bzfgt | 28/01/2017
This always puts me in mind of this number from the Morton and Hayes show, at 8:50-ish, but I guess the connection is kind of loose, a big band number about potatoes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRUOXn22Eg
dannyno
  • 8. dannyno | 02/04/2017
Martin: comment #3.

I think the use of "physician", which as you say is unusual, probably has to do with the number of syllables. Perhaps there's a bit of work for a Fall Science intern to look into it in more detail.
junkman
  • 9. junkman | 17/01/2020
Two quotes may be relevant here:

"How is it even possible to take health tips from a man who, in all the years I've known him, I've never once seen eat a vegetable, unless you count pickled onions?"

Steve Hanley - The Big Midweek

"TH: The 'I' in your songs is very rarely you, I say.

MES: Right, well done, someone's got it. I find it very stimulating, writing for characters. It's a good way to filter ideas. It gives you a new slant. I feel a lot freer headwise now, so that I have time for such thoughts, odd things. Explaining it to everybody else is a pain in the arse. But why should you have to explain it?"

The Wire - May 1999
Alan Taylor
  • 10. Alan Taylor | 12/10/2023
Does anyone know who plays the flute on this track?

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