Hate wide for dog breeder in the town of the port A never seen dog breeder This is the tale of his replica
Name was J Temperance Only two did not hate him Because peasants fear local indifference Pet shop and the vet, Cameron
One night, vet is called out from his overpaid leisure To Temperance household Delivered, ran out, and phoned his wife in terror
The next bit is hard to relate (There are no read-outs for this part of the track) The new-born thing hard to describe Like a rat that's been trapped inside A warehouse base, near a city tide Brown sockets, purple eyes And fed with rubbish from disposal barges Brown and covered Brown and covered
No changeling, as the birth was witnessed Only one person could do this Only one person could do this "Yes", said Cameron "And the thing was in the impression of J Temperance"
His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica
Scrutinised the little monster Disappeared through the door 1
His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica His hideous replica
Commentary
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Footnotes
“Oh! Brother” contains the line, “He scrutinized a little monster / And disappeared through red door” (borrowed from Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Although “Oh! Brother” did not appear on record until 1984, it was one of MES’ earliest songs and was performed by the first incarnation of the group in 1977. The lines are inspired by – and specific wording borrowed from – Book 4, Chapter 1 of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (specifically the 1888 translation by Isabel F. Hapgood). ↩︎
Sources / Links
The Annotated Fall: “Impression of J. Temperance” [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]
