Lyrics
Tied up to posts
Blindfold so can't feel maintenance
Kick-back art thou that thick?
Death of the dimwits
Businessman hits train
Businessman hits train
His veiled sex seeps through his management sloth
The journey takes one hour
And it's a hexen hour
Hexen school
Hexen cursed
Hexen bowl boils
Hexen rule explain the mood harm
The DDR scene
Alpine pullovers
Alpine give over
You can clutch at my toes
You won't drive me insane
You know nothing about it
It's not your domain
Don't confuse yourself with someone who has something to say
Cos it's a hexen rain
You're hexen fodder
Hexen cursed
Hexen bowl boils
Hexen rule explain the mood harm
While Greenpeace looked like saffron on the realm
Brown, shrivelled
A Kellogg's peace
The opposition was down
Red church on a hill
Red church on a hill
Styrofoam insides
Aluminium tiers
Louis Armstrong tapes waft down the aisles
And it's a hexen hour
Hexen bile
Hexen rule
Hexen bowl boils
Hexen rule in the hour of the fall
It takes grace to play the second fiddle well
Scab-ridden physog, the crusty knife
Beware of the one whose knees you wet
Goes with you down, and pats your head
That's strife knot
Strife knot
Strife is life and don't forget it
Strife is life, you don't wanna hear it
Could be thirteen or thirty-one of this mob
Could be thirteen or thirty-one of this mob
Could be thirteen or thirty-one of this mob
Could be thirteen or thirty-one of this mob
Strife knot
Strife knot
Life is strife but you don't wanna hear it
Strife is life and that's it
And that's it, and that's it
And that's it
Commentary
< Post in progress >
One song or two? The Track Record has separate entries, and a case for doing so can certain be made. But I think the argument for treating them together is stronger in my opinion. As far as I know, “Strife Knot” – though a later development – never appeared on setlists without “Hexen Definitive” preceding it.
Footnotes
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot” [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: “Hexen Definitive”
- The Track Record: “Strife Knot”
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide: a memoir. Trowbridge: Strata Books. (2nd edition published by Route Publishing, 2017).
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