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The Annotated Lyrics
- (Birtwistle's) Girl in Shop
- (Jung Nev's) Antidotes
- (We Are) Mod Mock Goth
- (We WIsh You) A Protein Christ
- 15 Ways
- 2 x 4
- 2nd Dark Age
- 4 1/2 Inch
- 50 Year Old Man
- 986 Generator
- A Figure Walks
- A Lot of Wind
- A Past Gone Mad
- Afternoon Disco
- Age of Chang
- All Leave Cancelled
- Alton Towers
- Amorator!
- An Older Lover Etc.
- And Therein...
- And This Day
- Anecdotes+Antidotes in B#
- Arid Al's Dream
- Arms Control Poseur
- Assume
- Athlete Cured
- Australians in Europe
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- Backdrop
- Bad News Girl
- Barmy
- Before the Moon Falls
- Behind the Counter
- Bill is Dead
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- Birmingham School of Business
- Birthday Song
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- Blindness
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- Bound
- Bournemouth Runner
- Breaking the Rules
- Bremen Nacht
- Brillo De Facto
- British People in Hot Weather
- Bug Day
- Bury Pts. 1+3
- Butterflies 4 Brains
- C'n'C-S Mithering
- C.R.E.E.P.
- Cab It Up
- Calendar
- Can Can Summer
- Carry Bag Man
- Cary Grant's Wedding
- Cheetham Hill
- Chicago, Now!
- Chilinism
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- City Hobgoblins
- Clasp Hands
- Clear Off!
- Cloud of Black
- Coach and Horses
- Contraflow
- Copped It
- Cosmos 7
- Couldn't Get Ahead
- Couples vs Jobless Mid 30s
- Cowboy George
- Cowboy Gregori
- Crackhouse
- Craigness
- Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow
- Crew Filth
- Crop-Dust
- Cruiser's Creek
- Cyber Insekt
- D.I.Y. Meat
- Das Boat
- Das Katerer
- Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wai
- Dead Beat Descendant
- Dedication Not Medication
- Deer Park
- Detective Instinct
- Devolute
- Dice Man
- Disney's Dream Debased
- Distilled Mug Art
- Dktr Faustus
- Dog is Life/Jerusalem
- Don't Call Me Darling
- Don't Take the Pizza
- Dr. Bucks' Letter
- Draygo's Guilt
- Dresden Dolls
- Early Days of Channel Führer
- Eat Y'Self Fitter
- Ed's Babe
- Edinburgh Man
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- Elves
- English Scheme
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- Entitled
- Everybody But Myself
- Everything Hurtz
- Exploding Chimney
- Extricate
- Fall Sound
- Fantastic Life
- Feeling Numb
- Fibre Book Troll
- Fiery Jack
- First One Today
- Fit and Working Again
- Flat of Angles
- Fol de Rol
- Fortress
- Free Range
- Frenz
- Frightened
- Futures and Pasts
- Garden New
- Gentlemen's Agreement
- Get a Hotel
- Get A Summer Song Goin'
- Gibbus Gibson
- Glam-Racket
- God Box
- Gramme Friday
- Green Eyed Loco Man
- Greenway
- Gross Chapel-British Grenadier
- Groundsboy
- Guest Informant
- Guide Me Soft
- Gut of the Quantifier
- H.O.W.
- Haf Found Bormann
- Hands Up Billy
- Happi Song
- Happy Holiday
- Hard Life in Country
- He Pep!
- He Talks
- Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot
- Hey! Fascist
- Hey! Luciani
- Hey! Marc Riley
- Hey! Student
- High Tension Line
- Hilary
- Hip Priest
- Hit the North
- Hittite Man
- Hollow Mind
- Hostile
- Hot Aftershave Bop
- Hot Cake
- Hot Runes
- Hotel Bloedel
- How I Wrote Elastic Man
- Hurricane Edward
- I African Mancunian
- I Am Damo Suzuki
- I Come and Stand At Your Door
- I Feel Voxish
- I Wake Up In The City
- I'm Frank
- I'm Into C.B.
- I've Been Duped
- I've Seen Them Come
- Ibis-Afro Man
- Iceland
- Idiot Joy Showland
- Immortality
- Impression of J. Temperance
- In My Area
- In The Park
- In These Times
- Industrial Estate
- Inevitable
- Insult Song
- Irish
- Is This New
- It's A Curse
- It's The New Thing
- Ivanhoe's Two Pence
- Jam Song
- Janet, Johnny + James
- Jawbone And The Air-Rifle
- Jazzed Up Punk Shit
- Jetplane
- Jim's "The Fall"
- Job Search
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- Kicker Conspiracy
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- L.A.
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- Last Commands of Xyralothep Vi
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- Lay of the Land
- Leave the Capitol
- Levitate
- Lie Dream of a Casino Soul
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- Light/Fireworks
- Live at the Witch Trials
- Living Too Late
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- Look, Know
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- Ludd Gang
- M5 #1
- Mad.Men-Eng.Dog
- Mark'll Sink Us
- Marquis Cha-Cha
- Married, Two Kids
- Mask Search
- Masquerade
- Medical Acceptance Gate
- Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
- Mess of My
- Mexico Wax Solvent
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- Middle Mass
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- Midwatch 1953
- Mike's Love Xexagon
- Mister Rode
- Mollusc in Tyrol
- Monocard
- Mother-Sister
- Mountain Energei
- Music Scene
- Muzorewi's Daughter
- My Condition
- My Door Is Never
- My Ex-Classmates' Kids
- My New House
- Nate Will Not Return
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- New Big Prinz
- New Face in Hell
- New Facts Emerge
- New Formation Sermon
- New Puritan
- Nine Out Of Ten
- No Bulbs
- No Respects Rev.
- No X-mas for John Quays
- Noel's Chemical Effluence
- Noise
- North West Fashion Show
- O! ZZTRRK Man
- O.F.Y.C. Showcase
- Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun
- Oh! Brother
- Ol' Gang
- Oleano
- On My Own
- One Day
- Open The Boxoctosis
- Oswald Defence Lawyer
- Over! Over!
- Overture From "I Am Curious, O
- Oxymoron
- Pacifying Joint
- Paintwork
- Papal Visit
- Paranoia Man/Cheap Sh*t Room
- Pat-Trip Dispenser
- Pay Your Rates
- Pearl City
- Perverted by Language
- Petty (Thief) Lout
- Pilsner Trail
- Pine Leaves
- Pittsville Direkt
- Pledge
- Plug Myself In
- Ponto
- Pop Stickers
- Portugal
- Powder Keg
- Pre-MDMA Years
- Printhead
- Prole Art Threat
- Proteinprotection
- Psycho Mafia
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- Psykick Dancehall #2
- Pumpkin Head Xscapes
- Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potato
- Put Away
- Putta Block
- Quit iPhone
- R.O.D.
- Race Hatred
- Rainmaster
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- Recipe for Fascism
- Recovery Kit
- Reece Stick
- Reformation!
- Rememberance R
- Repetition
- Reprise: Jane--Prof Mick--Ey B
- Return
- Riddler
- Ride Away
- Room to Live
- Rose
- Rowche Rumble
- Rude (All The Time)
- Scareball
- Scenario
- Secession Man
- Second House Now
- Segue
- Senior Twilight Stock Replacer
- Serum
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- Shift-Work
- Shoulder Pads
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- Sir William Wray
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- Sleep Debt Snatches
- Smile
- Smith and Mark
- Snazzy
- So What About It?
- So-Called Dangerous
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- Sons of Temperance
- Spectre vs. Rector
- Spencer Must Die
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- Stepping Out
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- Surmount All Obstacles
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- Symbol of Mordgan
- Systematic Abuse
- Taking Off
- Telephone Thing
- Tempo House
- Ten Houses of Eve
- Terry Waite Sez
- That Man
- The 500 Dollar Bottle of Wine
- The Acute
- The Aphid
- The Ballard of J. Drummer
- The Book of Lies
- The Boss
- The Classical
- The Coliseum
- The Container Drivers
- The Crying Marshal
- The Joke
- The Knight, the Devil and Deat
- The League of Bald-Headed Men
- The Littlest Rebel
- The Man Whose Head Expanded
- The Mixer
- The N.W.R.A.
- The Past #2
- The Quartet of Doc Shanley
- The REAL Life of the Crying Ma
- The Reckoning
- The Remainderer
- The Steak Place
- The Usher
- The War Against Intelligence
- The Wright Stuff
- Theme From Error-Orrori
- Theme From Sparta F.C.
- Time Enough At Last
- To Nk Roachment: Yarbles
- Tom Raggazzi
- Tommy Shooter
- Totally Wired
- Touch Sensitive
- Touchy Pad
- Town Called Crappy
- Trust in Me
- Tuff Life Booogie
- Twister
- Two Face!
- Two Librans
- Two Steps Back
- U.S. 80s-90s
- Underground Medecin
- Unutterable
- Van Plague?
- Various Times
- Venice With The Girls
- Victoria Train Station Massacr
- Victrola Time
- Vixen
- W.B.
- W.M.C.--Blob 59
- Way Round
- Weather Report 2
- What About Us?
- What You Need
- Where's the F***in Taxi? C**t
- Whizz Bang
- Who Makes the Nazis?
- Win Fall CD 2088 AD
- Wings
- Winter (Hostel-Maxi)
- Wise Ol' Man
- Wolf Kidult Man
- Words of Expectation
- Wrong Place, Right Time
- Xmas With Simon
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- Yes O Yes
- You Don't Turn Me On
- You Haven't Found It Yet
- You're Not Up To Much
- Your Heart Out
- Youwanner
- Zagreb
- Zandra
-
Arranged By Album
- Live at the Witch Trials
- Dragnet
- Grotesque (After the Gramme)
- Slates
- Hex Enduction Hour
- Room to Live
- Perverted by Language
- The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall
- This Nation's Saving Grace
- Bend Sinister
- The Frenz Experiment
- I Am Kurious, Oranj
- Extricate
- Shift-Work
- Code:Selfish
- The Infotainment Scan
- Middle Class Revolt
- Cerebral Caustic
- Light User Syndrome
- Levitate
- The Marshall Suite
- The Unutterable
- Are You Are Missing Winner
- The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)
- Fall Heads Roll
- Reformation Post TLC
- Imperial Wax Solvent
- Your Future Our Clutter
- Ersatz G.B.
- Re-Mit
- The Remainderer
- Sub-Lingual Tablet
- Wise Ol' Man
- New Facts Emerge
- 2014
- O! ZZTRRK Man
- New Facts Emerge
- Segue
- Ponto
- Smith and Mark
- Afternoon Disco
- Reece Stick
- Home /
- The Annotated Lyrics /
- Spencer Must Die
Spencer Must Die
Lyrics
JJK Mel
Scent of Vichy (2)
....expensive
JJK Mel
A.K.A. M.E.L.P/B.L.E.
Speciality
Superb sunflowers
From the outskirts
The melodic experience
Amplified
Over centuries
Raspberries in tins (3)
M.E. M.E.L.
Speciality
Superb sunflowers
From the outskirts
Melodic experience
Amplified
Over centuries
Raspberries
Ordinance special extra (4)
Radiator
Sean Connery
Mine zine
To purchase with its compliments
Violence goes all fragmented zinc slinip
Amberdash
Je que attacks
JJK Mel
Speciality superb sunflowers
From the outskirts
Amplified up the centuries
Raspberries intense
Spence
Thoughts on the antique
Grade road fast
Bungee jumping
In so.....
Notes
1. This was co-written with the Simon Spencer of the Manchester production duo Inch (sometimes incorrectly called D.O.S.E., which is, however, a title Spencer sometimes used for his own productions), who is presumably the "Spencer" of the title. Sadly, he actually did die in 2003, by choking on vomit, à la Jimi Hendrix, at the Glastonbury festival. Smith's relationship with D.O.S.E. was (perhaps predictably) rocky, and they seem to have broken with one another fairly quickly.
Antoine comments: "This was first played live as 'Spencer Must Die' on September 24th, 1997, less than a month after Princess Diana Spencer died. On top of the beef with Inch, this may also have inspired the title change? Pre and post-cog!"
I have no idea what's going on in the lyrics and, as if this wasn't enough, here's the Peel version, courtesy of Reformation, complete with a couple of notes:
And den zinc
Grab yer
Uh... am bedang
Coup de gart
Dat
The house that crack built (i)
Den all pig pig pig
Zarquag
Bend zinc
Aaaaaaahhhhh!
Ahhh-aaaaaaahhhhh bedaz!
Yer bedang hub-a-gehalser
The house that crack built
Yeah, yeah
Mum
Mum le mum
He mumbled... mumbled
Ig! Neeh!
Summer
Gale
A force ten depressive gale
A force ten pressive - uh! - depressive gale (ii)
Uh!
Spencer!
[Threatening voice] Spencer...
Zarquag
Den-den-den-din-den-den
Ig
Howzer
Ig
The Fall
The Fall
D. O. S... (iii)
(Inaudible talking during the longest fade-out *ever*)
And Zack took a stab at the "Masquerade" single (live) version:
Amberdash [And for that?]
Specialty
And refined
Bungee jumping
Mumble mumble
A W L
You make me smile
Once in a while
Flowers in apprehence
Raspberry sunset
Force ten gale approaching
Twig like
Turn back
Turn back
Four half inch
Turn back
Four half inch
Shout back
Tag zap
Spence
2. Vichy is a brand of deodorant.
7 December 97 Junction, Cambridge:
- "Agent Mulder. Raspberries in tins and strawberries." (amended lyrics to "Spencer Must Die")
Agent Mulder is a character on TV show The X-Files.
And according to Dan, Season 2, episode 7 of The X-Files, first broadcast in 1994 and titled "3," has Mulder examining a tin of raspberry sauce at one point.
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Comments (16)
The song was called "Spencer" on the 1996 Peel Session and "Spencer Must Die" on the Levitate album the following year. Perhaps the change in title reflects MES's frustration with his erstwhile producer.
Amberdash [And for that?]
Specialty
And refined
Bungee jumping
Mumble mumble
A W L
You make me smile
Once in a while
Flowers in apprehence
Raspberry sunset
Force ten gale approaching
Twig like
Turn back
Turn back
Four half inch
Turn back
Four half inch
Shout back
Tag zap
Spence
Just listening back to an old live version and I believe he sings...
Raspberries in tents
7 December 97 Junction, Cambridge:
- "Agent Mulder. Raspberries in tins and strawberries." (amended lyrics to "Spencer Must Die")
Interesting. Season 2, episode 7 of the X-Files, first broadcast 1994 and titled "3", has Mulder examining a tin of raspberry sauce at one point.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170614060523/http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/3.
There's a link to a BBC news story about his death in my comment #3, if you want to cite something other than "one Fall online forum member"!
Here it is again: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3224860.stm
In "The Fallen", Dave Simpson writes: "In 2003, Simon Spencer died of respiratory failure while waiting for a lift at the end of the Glastonbury Festival." This is not quite right according to the inquest verdict recorded in the BBC piece.
I also needed commas, the original comment could have been interpreted as saying Jimi Hendrix died at the Glastonbury festival...