Lyrics
The chief elf Norman said 1
Gutter sweat 2
Splendid droplets on strings
His toes were cloven 3
His teeth were squirly and pointy 4
Knee cups curly 5
Ding click rings on ears
Norman jumped about
On all four corners
Norman twirled around his golden thrones
Whitewall tyres were a lifetime from his thoughts 6
Commentary
An amusing oddity. Portentous MES vocals over what sounds like guitar noises.
“Elf Prefix” – this will not surprise the attentive reader – was a taped prelude to “Elves” at certain gigs from the autumn of 1984. “Elves” itself was only played about 36 times 1984 – 1985, and “Elf Prefix” doesn’t seem to have accompanied it every time. But it is hard to be definitive when relying on audience recordings. The earliest outing I have been able to document with any certainty is at the Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes, on 6 October 1984.
Strangely, the tape would be officially released five years later. On the studio/live hybrid contract-terminating Seminal Live (1989) it is attached to the start of “L.A.”, even though it wasn’t played at the gig “L.A.” was recorded at (which was the Fritz Club, Vienna, 16 April 1988).
Footnotes
- I always thought elves had names like “Galadriel” or whatnot. You live and learn. ↩︎
- Gutters can indeed “sweat”. “Gutter sweat” is the name sometimes given to the small water droplets that run down the front of guttering, either due to condensation or just rain landing on the lip of the gutter. ↩︎
- Two toes per foot, is that what this means? ↩︎
- A “squirl”, according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is “a flourish, a twirl, esp. in handwriting.” They don’t mention teeth, but I guess we can understand what MES is getting at. ↩︎
- I know little of elven anatomy. Maybe elves have knee cups instead of knee caps. ↩︎
- Whitewall tyres (“whitewall” is generic, not a brand name) have white banding or sidewalls. Seems to be a vintage thing. See Wikipedia: “Whitewall tire”. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Elf Prefix” [Archived]
- The Track Record: “Elves”
- Wikipedia: “Whitewall tire”