You wanna do what? You wanna do what? I told you what I told you what You wanna do what? You wanna do what? I told you what I told you what
Go to school Go to school Go to school Go to school
Just can't Just can't Just can't Just can't
Dropout Dropout Dropout Dropout
Can’t get a job Can’t get a job Don’t know what it Don't know what it What it’s all about What it’s all about
You told her you love her So bring her to mother You love her, adapt her You love her, adapt her Adapt her, adapter Adapt her, adapter And what about after that? What about after that?
Support her Support her She says you’d support her Get a job Get a job Get a job Get a job You gotta support her
You told her you love her So bring her to mother You love her adapt her You love her adapt her Adapt her, adapter And what about after that? And what about after that?
The Fall
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Commentary
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“Dropout Boogie” originally appeared on Safe As Milk (1967), the debut album by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. It is credited on the record sleeve to Don Van Vliet (i.e. Beefheart) and Herb Bermann (the notes in Bermann, 2021, confirm that it was a collaboration, p.14).
The Fall performed the song live on three occasions – all during 2015 – but to date there has been no official studio or live release.
Footnotes
Sources / Links
Bermann, Herb (2021). The Mystery Man from the Magic Band: Captain Beefheart’s Writing Partner Revealed. Los Angeles: Brass Tacks Press. [First edition, 2015]
Smith, Mark E. with Austin Collings (2009). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith. London: Penguin. (Originally published by Viking, 2008). [Available online in the Internet Archive]
