Lyrics
A figure walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
Days of booze and roses
Shine on us, free us all
Who is not irascible
He is no genius
A figure walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
The old golden savages killed their philosophers
Thought brought the drought about 1
Something followed me out
Goes out again
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
And if it grabs my coat-tail
I will turn and hit it
It may remove the pegs
Keeping my eyes open
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
It's got eyes of brown, watery
Nails of pointed yellow
Hands of black carpet
It's a quick trip to ice house
Quick trip to ice house
Quick trip to ice house
Quick trip to ice house
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
You
You
You
You
You
You
You
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
A figure walks behind you
A shadow walks behind you
You
You
You
And tales of terror which my father told me
They never scared me
But not only is it the blind who cannot see 2
That figure behind you
Behind you
Behind you
Behind you
You
You
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking behind you
Behind you
Behind you
Behind you
There's a man on my trail
There's a man on my trail
There's a man on my trail
There's a man on my trail
And he's also behind you
Behind you
Behind you
Behind you
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking
That figure kept on walking behind you
Behind you
Behind you
A figure walks
A figure walks
A figure walks
A figure walks
Commentary
< post in progress >
Footnotes
- Note that “thought” and “brought” rhyme, but that “drought”, despite the similarity of spelling, does not. But “drought” does rhyme with “about”.
“Life is short and full of thought”, according to “Before the Moon Falls” from the same album. ↩︎ - A line that also appears in the following verse from the song “Let Me Rock You”, by soft-rock band Oscar (formed in Manchester, extant c1969-1978 – some sources say they started in 1973, but press coverage in 1978 gives them an eight-year history): “It’s not only the blind who cannot see / These chains you hang around me / As big as the mountains, as high as the sky / Over the rainbow our love will fly” [Link to YouTube]. The song originally appeared on their 1977 album Cobblestone Heroes, and was their final single in 1978 [Discogs – album] [Discogs- single]. The single was not a hit, but several years later it was covered by British comedy double-act Cannon and Ball on their 1982 album Together [link to Comedy Kings: an unofficial Cannon and Ball website: Together album]. Promotion for the single included an appearance on the Granada TV pop programme, Get It Together, on 10 January 1978. I don’t know whether this is MES’ source, if we think he needed one, but it could have been. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “A Figure Walks” [Archived]
- Artistinfo: Oscar
- Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
- Manchester Beat: Oscar
- Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
- The Track Record: “A Figure Walks“
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