Lyrics
Said I ain't no millionaire, but I spent more money than one ever seen 1
I'm gonna change that scene one day, it's what you're supposed to say 2
Hey hey hey hey
(Hey hey hey)
(Hey hey hey)
Can't get far in land of immovable frogs
Can't get far in home of horrible hoax
And you don't last long on a diet of tea and toast
(Hey hey hey)
(Hey hey hey)
And I'm singing the song cos I copped it baby
I'm singing the song cos I copped it baby
Singing the song cos I copped it baby
(I steal what I have)
Fascist confessions bring detractors
Keeping schtum brings dough and attractions
Costello, ideas trenchant borrows
New song benefactor is the past tomorrow
(Sing, sing a song)
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
Don't last long, there's guns behind you
Aura of desperate rough bootlicker
And you can't hang on with a cuff of him and girl
(Hey hey hey)
(Hey hey hey)
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby, yeah
Taking out a policy for love and destruction
Can't operate with this vexation
Say it again, real real gone
I know I've copped but I'm not the only one
(Sing, sing that song)
I'm singing this song cos I copped it baby
Singing this song cos I copped it baby
Singing this song cos I copped it baby
Singing this song cos I copped it baby
It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it
Commentary
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Footnotes
- This line is adapted from Howlin’ Wolf’s “Goin’ Down Slow” (written by Willie Dixon): “I did not say I was a millionaire / But I said I have spent more money than a millionaire!”ย โฉ๏ธ
- “I’m gonna change that scene one day” is borrowed from the Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind” (1966): “Nothing else that bugs me / More than working for the rich man / Hey, I’ll change that scene one day…” Presumably it is no coincidence that Gavin Friday contributes vocals to this song on the album. โฉ๏ธ
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Copped It” [Archived]
- 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.
- Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
- Smith, Mark E. (1985). The Fall Lyrik & Texte Von Mark E. Smith. In Deutsch & Englisch. With Drawings by Brix. Berlin: The Lough Press. [AKA The Orange Book. Available online in The Internet Archive]
- Smith, Mark E. (2008). vII. The Lough Press & AMarquisManipulationProductions. [AKA the Blue Lyrics Book]
- Smith Start, Brix (2016). The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber. [Text available online in archive.org]
- The Track Record: “Copped It”
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Canโt Hide: a memoir. Trowbridge: Strata Books. (2nd edition published by Route Publishing, 2017).
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