Lyrics
Unfortunately I'm coming from a bad end
And I'm destined for the bad end
But hanging round with you is like blood outta stone 1
Getting stuff outta youse is like blood outta stone 2
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
You're history
You've quit existation 3
You're green grub 4
Because hanging around with you is like getting blood out of a stone
And getting stuff outta you is getting blood out of a stone
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
And if I had any guts I'd turn those money tables up 5
You dis-corporate bore 6
You make me tired to the bone
Cos getting things outta you is like getting blood out of a stone
And hanging round with you is like getting blood out of a stone
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
When all your friends have dissolved
And you're yakking on the phone
You're techno grounded
You're blood out of a stone
Might appear deranged
But you're blood outta stone
You're mutton dressed as lamb 7
Cos you're blood outta stone
At least I've got an aim, chick
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
Blood outta stone
But I'm working to a aim
But you're blood out of stone
Getting stuff out of you is like getting blood out of a stone
Commentary
O.S: … NME said that when you and Marcia left The Fall two songs were scrapped because you were involved.
M.B: No, I think you’ll find that they all come out as B sides. (Reels off titles of songs.) Then there was ‘Blood Outta Stone’ which I wrote.
O.S: That’s a great song. They played that long after you left. (Norwich Sound City ’92, for example.)
M.B: I thought it should have been the A side. (Instead of White Lightning.)
O.S: Yeah, I’ve played that single to mates and they think so, too. I remember it was very high in the Festive Fifty that year.
M.B: That single was recorded while we were falling out. I thought the production could have been better… but so what.
Odran Smith interviewing Martin Bramah for The Biggest Library Yet fanzine, November 1994. See Smith (1994, [p.8])
“Blood Outta Stone” was co-written by Mark E. Smith and Martin Bramah (using the name “M. Beddington”). It first appeared as the second track on The Dredger E.P. (Limited Edition 12″ and CD) and White Lightning single (7″ and 12″), released in August 1990. It reached #56 in the UK charts in September 1990 (see Official UK Charts). By the time of its release, Bramah was out of the group, having been sacked along with Marcia Schofield at the end of the Australia/New Zealand tour back in July.
The Blue Orchids track “Dream Boat” (from the 1993 album The Sleeper) seems to owe something to this song.
The release date of the single and EP was 13 August 1990; there are no known live performances of “Blood Outta Stone” before the Reading Festival on 26 August (which was the first gig after The Fall returned from Japan – no recordings have emerged of any of the group’s Japanese gigs). There are gaps in the documentary record, but it seems to have remained in setlists until June 1991 when it was dropped before being resurrected for the final two gigs of the year at Stockport Town Hall on 18 and 23 December. It was then played during the first half of 1992, its final sighting being in Hamburg on 12 June.
The song title is based on the proverbial phrase “you can’t get blood out of a stone”. Idiomatically, to say that doing something is “like getting blood out of a stone” means that it is extraordinarily difficult (see Phrase Finder, Sources/Links section below).
There are mixed but generally positive views of “Blood Outta Stone”.
For Tommy Mackay it’s a “conventional ‘rock’ song”, albeit a “bloody good one”. He thinks it displays “glossy production values” and “deliberate clichés”, and concludes that it is a “slice of normality” which “proves to be a blip”. (2018, pp.115-116). Dave Thompson says it’s a “should’ve-been-an-a-side b-side: that “suggests that Smith was paying more attention to the admittedly hateful Madchester scene than he was willing to admit, as a ferocious barrage of guitar and drums drives him towards one of his most patently ‘modern rock’ performances ever – no bad thing.” (2003, p.116). Steve Pringle finds it more interesting than “White Lightning” (the A-side), describing it as “… a 60s-style psychedelic jangle with all manner of odd background sound effects.” (2022, p.230).
Contemporary music press reviewers were not keen on the single, finding it “negligible and pointless” (Andrew Mueller in Melody Maker), and “too short and lazy for words” (Barbara Ellen, hosting Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain in New Musical Express). Only Lisa Tilston in Record Mirror had anything positive to say (“An utterly cool response to Manchester’s bowlhead clones.”. None of them mention “Blood Outta Stone” at all.
“Blood Outta Stone” reached #30 in the John Peel Festive Fifty of 1990 (voted for by Peel’s listeners – see Keeping It Peel: Festive 50s – 1990), ranking below “Bill Is Dead” (#1) and “White Lightning” (#15), but above “Telephone Thing” (#35) and “Chicago, Now!” (#41).
Versions and Variations
Over thirty bootleg recordings of “Blood Outta Stone” exist, which reveal few significant changes between performances. On at least one occasion, M.E.S. sings the opening lines as “Unfortunately, I’m coming from a good end / And I’m destined for a great end.” (St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, 10 December 1990). “Unfortunately, I’m coming from a good end” is also heard at the gig on 12 December at the Institute, Birmingham, but the second line is as standard.
There are three officially released versions: the original studio recording, an alternate studio version, and a live recording.
- Original studio version: “White Lightning” / The Dredger E.P. (Cog Sinister/Phonogram, 1990: “White Lightning”, 7″: SIN6; 12″: SINX612; The Dredger E.P., 12″: SIN612; CD: SINCD6). c.3:33 – 3:36 long. The Track Record notes that there is an edit c1:03, “completely changing the timbre of the guitars.” Apart from its “White Lightning”/The Dredger release, the original version has been included as one of the bonus tracks on the Cog Sinister/Voiceprint reissue of Shift-Work (2002: COGVP134CD ); the Cog Sinister/Voiceprint double-CD reissue of Shift-Work and Code: Selfish (2003: VP241005CD); the 2xCD Universal/Fontana reissue of Shift-Work (2007: 9847464); and the three-expanded-albums 6xCD Fontana box set, The Fontana Years (2007: 5742692). It also appears on the compilations A World Bewitched: Best Of 1990-2000 (Artful, 2001: 2xCD ARTFULCD35; reissued 2006); Listening In (Lost Singles Tracks 1990-92) (Cog Sinister, 2002: COGVP132CD); The War Against Intelligence – The Fontana Years (Universal Music, 2003: 0770002); and the Cherry Red 7xCD Singles 1978 – 2016 box set (2017: CRCDBOX30).
- Alternate studio version: Sinister Waltz. (Receiver Records, 1996: RRCD209 / RRLP209; re-issued by Trojan, 2001: 06076 80247-2). Sinister Waltz is one of the notorious series of compilations of outtakes, alternate versions and live performances, shoddily and shamefully issued by Receiver with zero accompanying documentation. The provenance of this version of “Blood Outta Stone” is therefore unknown, but it is shorter at c.3:29. The Track Record quotes Bob Osborne’s assessment in the fanzine The Pseud Mag (#15, April/May 2007): “Pretty true to the original… Significant differences however in production values – none of the synthesizer of the original and Smith’s voice is a lot lower in the mix. Hasn’t got the annoying synth drum sound of the original either.” The original version begins with a synth tone; the alternate version launches straight in with the drums. There are some lyrical variations, a few of which are recorded in the footnotes. The alternate version also appears on The Other Side Of… – which repackages the first three Receiver compilations, Sinister Waltz, Fiend with a Violin, and Oswald Defence Lawyer (Receiver, 1996: 3xCD, RRXCD 506); The Fall (Rialto, 1997: RMCD214); The Less You Look The More You Find (Recall/Snapper, 1997: 2xCD SMDCD132).
- Live version: Nottingham ’92. (Cog Sinister, 1998: COGVP110CD). Recorded at Nottingham Polytechnic (formerly Trent Polytechnic, 1970-1988; subsequently Nottingham Trent University, 1992-) on 15 March 1992. Live versions of “Blood Outta Stone” usually exceed four minutes, and there are a few five-minute-plus renditions: this version comes in at c.4:17. This version hasn’t had any other official release.
Footnotes
- I would normally ‘correct’ “outta” to “out of”, but instead I’ve followed the song title’s spelling where it’s not distinctly “out of”. ↩︎
- Standard English does not have a distinct second person plural pronoun – “you” can refer to an individual, or to two or more people. This fact bothers some people, since many languages do have such a distinction (e.g. in French “tu” is singular (and informal) and “vous” is plural (and formal)). See Braier (2015). “Youse” is a dialect second person plural pronoun commonly found throughout Britain (it is not geographically confined). In the southern states of America, “y’all” has the same function. Phrases like “you guys” are often used. Smith’s intermittent use of “youse” in the lyric is interesting because it suggests a shifting target.
In the alternate Sinister Waltz version of the lyric this line becomes “Getting shit outta you is like blood outta stone.” ↩︎ - An odd way of saying that someone no longer exists – presumably dead by suicide, given the word “quit”, but maybe not. In the Sinister Waltz version, “You’re piss poor” follows this line. ↩︎
- “Grub” can mean food, or it can mean the larval stage of an insect. It is not completely clear what sense M.E.S. intends. ↩︎
- A reference to the New Testament story of the “Cleansing of the Temple”, in which Jesus forcibly expels money changers and other merchants from the temple in Jerusalem. The story appears in all four of the Gospels. ↩︎
- From the Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention song, “Absolutely Free” (We’re Only In It For The Money, 1968): “The first word in this song is ‘discorporate.’ It means to leave your body”. That first line is: “Discorporate and come with me”. There’s then the repeated line, “Discorporate and we’ll begin…” ↩︎
- The third proverbial phrase in the lyric (after “blood out of stone” and “turn those money tables up”. “Mutton dressed as lamb” is an insulting comment made about an older woman trying, or allegedly trying, to appear younger (see Phrase Finder, below). This use of multiple proverbs in a song seems uncharacteristic of M.E.S. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Blood Outta Stone” [Archived]
- Braier, Rachel (2015). “Oi, you – yes, youse lot – I’m talking to you, y’all.” The Guardian, 5 June. [Available online] [Archived]
- Ellen, Barbara and Reid, Jim (1990). “The Fall: White Lightning.” New Musical Express, 25 August. p.15.
- The Fall Online – Discography: White Lightning/The Dredger E.P.
- Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: the story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet Books.
- Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
- Mueller, Andrew (1990). “The Fall: White Lightning”. Melody Maker, 1 September. p.35.
- Phrase Finder: “Mutton Dressed as Lamb” [Archived]
- Phrase Finder: “You Can’t Get Blood Out Of A Stone”. [Archived]
- Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
- Smith, Odran (1994). “The Odran Smith Interviews: I Was a Teenage Fall Singer.” The Biggest Library Yet, #2, November. No page numbering [pp.4-9].
- Thompson, Dave (2003). A User’s Guide to the Fall. London: Helter-Skelter Publishing.
- Tilston, Lisa (1990). “The Fall: White Lightning.” Record Mirror, 1 September. p.16.,
- The Track Record: “Blood Outta Stone”
- Wikipedia: Cleansing of the Temple