Tuff Life Booogie

Lyrics

You let me down again
And then your goth, slag brain says
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff Life yeah baby!

All you ever say
Is round revival boogie
It's a revival boogie
It's a
It's a small flat baby (2)
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!
All you ever need
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!

With the balding man
You went to the Netherlands
And with a pernicious refrain
You return and say the same
Give it to me baby one more time
Give it to me baby one more time
Give it to me one more time
Give it to me one more time
Give it to me one more time!

You forever say
Tuff life yeah baby!
Tuff life yeah baby!

Notes

1. "Booogie" is not a typo, unless it was one on the original single, but it seems more likely it was intentional. The lyrics are uncharacteristically conventional, probably intentionally so. The music is also conventional, but very catchy. Reformation calls these "some of the more obscure of Fall lyrics," but I don't think that's so. The only really puzzling thing is "All you ever say is 'round revival boogie'".

2. Dan points out that a lot of songs from the early 90s are speculated to be about Brix, but he thinks this one is a decent candidate. In Brix's autobiography, The Rise, the Fall and the Rise, she talks about the culture shock of moving to Salford in the early days of her marriage to MES, and how tiny their flat was.

More Information

Tuff Life Booogie: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 1988

Comments (8)

1. Martin | 16/02/2014

Presumably the reference to the Netherlands was brought about by The Fall's playing of 5 gigs in that country in 1987 (the song debuted live in the same year):

https://sites.google.com/site/reformationposttpm/gig-reviews/the-fall-live/1987

2. TLB | 08/10/2017

I've just been playing a Richard and Linda Thompson live album and there's a track on that, Hard Luck Stories, that reminded me a lot of Tuff Life Boogie lyrically - "Those hard luck stories, it's all I ever get from you". Not sure MES has ever admitted to being into the folk revival, but maybe it's the sort of LP that sneaked on to his turntable in the late 70s.

I think this song is another of the anti-Brix songs that pre-figured their break up, the clincher for me is when it got revived in the live set a couple of years ago, co-inciding with the emergence of Brix and the Extricated.

3. dannyno | 09/10/2017

I'm usually sceptical that all the songs that are supposed to be about Brix actually are about her (clearly there are songs which reference their relationship, but not as many as is sometimes claimed - and MES has had other wives and girlfriends that he may have written about - or that we know he has written about).

But this one is a plausible candidate. After reading Brix's autobiography, you can imagine her complaining about what a hard life she was living in Salford in "a small flat".

And then

With the balding man
You went to the Netherlands

Which looks like a Hanley reference.

4. bzfgt (link) | 18/11/2017

Right, that's from Pour Down Like Silver (I don't know what live album you have).

Why Hanley/Netherlands?

5. bzfgt (link) | 18/11/2017

I can't find anything on the internet for "round revival". There is a maybe recurring event of that name but no evidence it goes back the requisite distance.

6. bzfgt (link) | 18/11/2017

Of all the Fall songs there are, this gets singled out as one of the most obscure? That is truly curious, to me.

7. Karlb | 05/04/2019

Maybe its just me but this seems to be about one party in a disintegrating relationship trying to resuscitate it.Revival meaning bringing something back to life/ sense. ..give it to me baby one more time! doesnt really need any clarification in this context. A last/desperate final shag to try recapture whats dead or gone. Any way it all seems to irk the wrter.