My face is slack And kidneys burn in the small of my back Will never learn Well I'm not going back to the slow life 'Cos every step is a drag And peace is a kite of materials you never catch Come up for a snatch Up from hell once in a while 1
Cos I am Jack from a burning ring 2 My face is slack and I think think think I just think think think Too fast to write Too fast to work Just burn burn burn
I sat and drank for three decades, I'm forty-five Cos I am Jack from a burning ring And my face is slack and I think think think I just drink drink drink Too fast to work Too fast to write I just burn burn burn
I eat hot dogs, I live on pies, I'm forty-five Cos I am Jack from a burning ring My face is slack and I think think think Just think think think Too fast to write Too fast to work Just burn burn burn
And put down left-wing tirades And the musical trades And/or free trade I say eat this grenade to defend free trade I said eat this grenade 'Cos I am Jack Some men from the docks, they are smart, their brains are half They never end, just follow trends
But I am Jack from a burning ring My face is slack and I think think think Just think think think Too fast to write Too fast to work I just burn burn burn
But I am Jack from a burning ring My face is slack, and I think think think I just think think think Too fast to write Too fast to work Just burn burn burn
And put down left-wing tirades and the musical trades And/or free trade I said eat this grenade I said eat this grenade I said eat this grenade And all free trade I said eat this grenade I said eat this grenade I said eat this grenade I said eat this grenade
Commentary
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Footnotes
The lyric suggests that Jack is demonic, at least, but this line appears to be referencing the infamous “From Hell” letter, purporting to have been written by ‘Jack the Ripper’ in 1888 (see Wikipedia). ↩︎
This line and “I burn burn burn” are obviously quoting Johnny Cash’s song “Ring of Fire”. ↩︎
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]
Any thoughts on whether the short intro on Totale’s Turns should go here as a Fiery Jack variant? The original vinyl release treats it as one song on the record label and, by implication at least, on the sleeve where they are hyphenated together in contrast to other titles being separated by a “/“.
It looks like they got separated out for the later CD version, maybe something to do with publishing rights (the Fiery Jack single being Step Forward and the Intro not appearing until Totale’s Turns on Rough Trade).
Either way though, it does have a few lyrics that I guess need catching.
“Intro” is a “Crap Rap” variant, and is covered in the entry for that. It’s not a variation on the “Fiery Jack” lyric. On the original record, if not all subsequent reissues, it is a single track, but I have a choice to make about whether to create a redirection entry to here for “Intro – Fiery Jack” or just to split them and create a redirection entry to “Crap Rap” for “Intro”. I’m leaning towards the latter.
I was thinking in terms of the “Totale’s Turns version” of Fiery Jack with the Intro lyrics at the beginning but I can see that would be cumbersome and I take your point that they’re really not the same song.
I’ve got the 2004 Castle CD and, on that, they are explicitly: 1. Intro; 2. Fiery Jack, and they’ve probably been set up like that on streaming services too, so I would guess most visitors to the site will be familiar with them, and searching for them, as separate tracks and your second option would be the most “user friendly”.
Any thoughts on whether the short intro on Totale’s Turns should go here as a Fiery Jack variant? The original vinyl release treats it as one song on the record label and, by implication at least, on the sleeve where they are hyphenated together in contrast to other titles being separated by a “/“.
It looks like they got separated out for the later CD version, maybe something to do with publishing rights (the Fiery Jack single being Step Forward and the Intro not appearing until Totale’s Turns on Rough Trade).
Either way though, it does have a few lyrics that I guess need catching.
Ken
“Intro” is a “Crap Rap” variant, and is covered in the entry for that. It’s not a variation on the “Fiery Jack” lyric. On the original record, if not all subsequent reissues, it is a single track, but I have a choice to make about whether to create a redirection entry to here for “Intro – Fiery Jack” or just to split them and create a redirection entry to “Crap Rap” for “Intro”. I’m leaning towards the latter.
I was thinking in terms of the “Totale’s Turns version” of Fiery Jack with the Intro lyrics at the beginning but I can see that would be cumbersome and I take your point that they’re really not the same song.
I’ve got the 2004 Castle CD and, on that, they are explicitly: 1. Intro; 2. Fiery Jack, and they’ve probably been set up like that on streaming services too, so I would guess most visitors to the site will be familiar with them, and searching for them, as separate tracks and your second option would be the most “user friendly”.