Lyrics
Lonnie Irving (1960)
[Spoken Intro]
This story's about an ex-truck driver, being named John James Wall, before his friends blackballed him and nicknamed him Pinball. I gathered this story from a truck stop in Gallipolis, Ohio, when this old feller - I'd say seventy years old - asked me to buy him a strong cup of coffee and a piece of good apple pie. 1
I bought the coffee and the pie for the old feller, and I'm awful glad I did, because he winked his eye, and smiled, and says, "My, my!" Then I noticed in a few minutes, with trembling hands, he pushed a part of his pie and coffee back, and looked at me with tears running down his poor old weather-beaten cheek, and this is what he said...
I'm an old hog-hauler, I drove a big truck 2
I shot the pinball machine, but it caused me bad luck
Put all I ever made in a pinball machine
I'd get four catty-cornered, then I'd miss the sixteen 3
I wish they'd outlaw them old pinball machines
Many weeks they have caused me to live on sardines
Last time I called my wife on the 'phone
The first thing she says, "John, when can you come home?"
"I've got a load of hogs, and they've got to go"
"I'll see you when I get back from Chicago"
She says, "John, you know I love you, I wished you wouldn't go"
"Send your babies some money, they're hungry and cold"
The last thing she said, and then she hung up
"John, you give up my loving, and just to drive an old truck"
I made my trip on to Chicago
I was gone two months, 'cause I shot up my dough
When I got home, my family was gone
The best friend I had rung my telephone
He says, "John, I guess you wonder about your babies and wife"
"Pneumonia got your babies, and your wife took her life"
I lost all my friends, I can't sleep for bad dreams
I dream about an old truck and a pinball machine
[Spoken Outro]
I never will forget the last words that that old man said
"Oh Lord, if I could live my life over," and then he fell dead
They tell me John was a clean-cut young man at the age of nineteen
But now he's in his grave, a victim of a big old truck and a pinball machine
Seminal Live
I'm an old road-hog, I drove a big truck
Shot the pinball machine, but it brought me bad luck
If oceans was whisky and I was a dove
I'd dive into it and never come up
I wish they'd outlaw them old pinball machines
Many weeks they have caused me to live on sardines
Last time I called my wife on the phone
The first thing she said was, "John, can you come home?"
"I got a lot of lodgers and they've got to go"
I said, "I'll see you when I get back from the depot"
She said, "John, you know I love you, I wish you wouldn't go"
"Send your babies some money, they're hungry and cold"
The last thing she said, and then she hung up
Was, "John you gave up my loving to drive an old truck"
I made my trip up to the depot
I was gone two months 'cos I shot up my dough
When I got home my family was gone
The best friend I had rung my telephone
He said, "John, I guess you wonder 'bout your babies and wife"
"Pneumonia got your babies and your wife took her life"
I've lost all my friends, can't sleep for bad dreams
I dream about a old truck and a pinball machine
I never will forget the last words that old man said
"Oh Lord, if I could live my life over"
And then he fell dead, the victim of an old truck
He was a clean-cut young man, age of nineteen
But now he's in his grave, the victim of an old truck and a pinball machine
Commentary
Footnotes
- For more on Gallipolis, Ohio, see Wikipedia. ↩︎
- A “hog hauler” is a US-English phrase that means a vehicle or trailer for transporting pigs. ↩︎
- “Catty-cornered” (or “kitty-cornered”) means to be positioned diagonally from someone or something. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: the story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet. pp.230-231.
- Hanley, Steve and Piekarski, Olivia (2014). The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall. Pontefract: Route.
- Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
- Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
- Smith, Mark E. (2008). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith. London: Penguin.
- Thompson, Dave (2003). A User’s Guide to the Fall. London: Helter-Skelter Publishing.
- The Track Record: “Pinball Machine”
- Wikipedia: Pinball
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide. London: Strata Books.
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