Commentary

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“Bombast” was before the first Gulf War, and the first line was, “Baghdad eat death.” His lyrics are full of such premonitions.

Brix Smith Start, quoted by Simpson (2019, p.93).

It doesn’t seem plausible to me that the lyrics are supposed to predict a Gulf War, when the song was written during the Iran-Iraq War (1980 – 1988).

Sometimes it takes a little something to remind you that the guy on the stool opposite writes songs with titles like ‘Gut Of The Quantifier,’ ‘Mollusc In Tyrol’ and ‘Mere Pseud Mag Ed’.

In this case the little something is Mark’s cigarette box, 20 B&H; with a single word written in capitals on the top: BOMBAST.

This is not Mark’s preferred mode of interview, but a reminder to sort out the Fall song of the same name.

Andrew Harrison, Select magazine (1990, p.49). I’m not sure what “sort out” means, but The Fall did revive “Bombast” for their performance at the Reading Festival on 26 August 1990 – it had not been played since May 1988. It was subsequently played at a gig in Athens, Greece, 6 October 1990. The Select profile refers to “White Lightning” as the “current single”, which dates the interview to mid-August at the earliest.

“Bombast” first appeared on the 1985 album The Nation’s Saving Grace, but had been played live for a few months before the record was released. It was credited to Steve Hanley and Mark E. Smith.

According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the word “bombast” can be traced back to the mid-16th century, meaning raw cotton or cotton wool, used as padding. By the late 16th century it had acquired a figurative meaning: “inflated, turgid, or high sounding language; empty rhetoric.” In other words, grandiloquence.

Lyrically, the song is not a major statement, but musically it has been well thought of. Brix Smith says that it has “one of [Steve Hanley’s] most amazing bass lines.” (2016, p.209). Dave Thompson describes it as “as spiky a statement of perceived intent as Mark E Smith has ever wrapped his bellow around.” (2003, p.83). For Tommy Mackay the song is a “succinct slice of bombastic brilliance… an almost effortless but vital meisterclass in what I imagine is most people’s perception of what The Fall sound like.” (2018, p.79). Steve Pringle also approves: “… an absolute marvel. It’s like Steve Hanley came up with three great riffs and then thought, what the hell, let’s weld them all together and see what happens. It clashes, it grinds, it thrashes; it almost feels as if the song itself is threatening to punch you in the face. There’s no real song as such here, but it’s a glorious slab of noise.” (2022, p.166).

“Bombast” was a live favourite. Debuting at Underground, Croydon, on 18 July 1985 it remained in the set list all the way through to the Pine Street gig in Portland, Oregon, on 22 May 1988 – over 100 performances. It was then resurrected twice in 1990 – for the Reading Festival on 26 August and for its final ever outing at Aliki, an open air theatre in Pedion Areos park, Athens, Greece, on 6 October.