Everybody's telling me do this do that 
They're trying to run my life for me
I'm gonna tell, I'll tell 'em, their time's up 

They've just given me their last orders 
Last orders
Last orders

Everyone's in prison or in the army
All sincere, all phoney
Reading all the books, taking in the news

They've just given me their last orders 
Last orders
Last orders

I don't dig their dead-end options
I'm not hurt by their rejections
I'm no sell-out, and they've found out

They've just given me their last orders 
Last orders
Last orders

Everybody's telling me do this do that  
They're trying to write my life story
Joke's on them, it's the year of the rat 

They've just given me their last orders 
Last orders
Last orders

Commentary

2. I’m interested to know if you wrote any of the early Fall lyrics. (Race Hatred in particular has been rumoured to be at least partly penned by you). I’m also interested in knowing if there were many other songs from the early days otherwise unreleased and if it’s possible to describe them: punk thrashes or something more subtle?

“Last Orders” (with a few lines from Mark), I’ve never been any good at lyrics! You should know that it was not punk thrash – Karl Burns and myself brought quite some “musical ability” to the mix. My musical goal was, (and still is), to be innovative and exciting, without compromise – I leave the ‘thrash’ to others.

Tony Friel, interviewed by Martin Peters in The Pseud Mag, no. 11, August/September 2006, pp.17-18.

“Last Orders” was one of the first songs to emerge from the group’s formative months. It was listed among “RECORDED/Presentable” tracks in “The Outsiders Group” (in other words, prior to the group being renamed “The Fall”) canon in a letter from MES to Friel dated 25 January 1977.

“Last Orders” first appeared on record (with “Stepping Out”) on the live various artists compilation, Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus. Short Circuit was recorded at the ‘last night’ of The Electric Circus, Manchester, on 2 October 1977, but not released until June 1978. The Short Circuit performance is the source of the transcription of the lyrics given above.

No studio recording has emerged, but in addition to Short Circuit live renditions can be found on a couple of other official releases:

• 13 November 1977. Manchester Musician’s Collective, Band on the Wall, Manchester. (Released as disc 6 of Cherry Red’s 2022 box set The Fall: 1970s).
• 23 December 1977. Civic Theatre, Stretford. (Released as disc 7 of Cherry Red’s 2022 box set The Fall: 1970s).

The song was played at most of 1977’s gigs, on the evidence of set lists and/or official or bootleg gig recordings. The earliest documented performance was at North West Arts, Manchester, 13 June 1977, but it was most likely played prior to that.

Tony Friel departed The Fall after the Stretford Civic Theatre gig on 23 December 1977, and “Last Orders” was unsurprisingly dropped from the set. It was resurrected on two occasions that we know about: on 22 September 1978 at the Harp Lounge, Belfast and for the final time on 23 March 1979 at Kings Hall (no apostrophe), Belle Vue, Manchester (supporting Buzzcocks). If there’s a particular reason why it was played on those occasions (i.e. was Friel in attendance?), I don’t know what it is.

It’s a song about insubordination, sung from the point of view of someone who has finally decided to reject authority. That’s clear, but it’s a deceptively straightforward lyric. I think there’s more to it than there appears to be at first glance. “I won’t do what you tell me to do” is a common punk theme, of course, but this is more of a “that’s the last time you tell me what to do” message, which makes it a bit more interesting. This is rebellion in the making, the narrator apparently a future rebel. What, after all, about those last orders? Is our narrator going to carry them out this final time, and then refuse to take any more?

In the quotation at the beginning of this post, Friel says he wrote the lyrics to the song, “with a few lines from Mark.” Thanks to the cache of letters that were briefly available on Friel’s website, it is possible to shed some light on MES’ contribution.

In a letter from MES to Friel dated 11 January 1977, MES writes:

Due to my lack of time you will probably have to wait awhile for the copies of lyrics you asked for.

To compensate, i’ve just worked out a 2nd verse for your ‘newie’ :

'Everybody's tellin me do this do that
How to live and skin the cat
They'd better cry for their last refrain
Cos they've just given me their LAST ORDERS.'

Source: ‘Dear Monsieur Hatbox‘. Letter from Mark E Smith to Tony Friel, 11 January 1977. Originally part of a set of letters uploaded by Friel to his now defunct website atomicsoup.co.uk, but quickly removed.

As the saying goes, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”. This verse was unused.

And in a letter to Friel dated 21 January 1977, MES says:

… My hobbies are 1. picking my arse 2. collecting old calenders [sic] 3. Writing verses for a song called ‘Last Orders’ here is my latest:

3rd verse;

'Everybody's tellin me do this do that
They wanna know my life story
Jokes on them as it's the year of the Rat
And they've just given me their LAST ORDERS'

You will have heard that before you receive this.

Source: ‘Dear Pen-pal‘. Letter from Mark E Smith to Tony Friel, 21 January 1977. Originally part of a set of letters uploaded by Friel to his now defunct website atomicsoup.co.uk, but quickly removed.

“Last Orders Half Past Ten”

… so says MES before the group launch into “Rowche Rumble” on Totale’s Turns (1980). Recorded at a gig at Bircotes Leisure Centre (just over 10 miles from Doncaster, in a different county), the comment may have been a response to someone in the audience shouting a request for “Last Orders”. Or it may have been MES providing a public service announcement on behalf of the venue. Either way, I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable to address it here, just in case.

“Last orders” has a double meaning, and it would have been difficult for Friel and Smith to write this song without being aware of that. Although it literally means being told what to do for the last time, the phrase carries a distinct cultural resonance which may need some contextual explanation for anyone unfamiliar with the peculiar details of the history of English licensing laws (applying also to Wales). For useful overviews see the article by John Greenaway (2007) and the book by Paul Jennings (2021).

According to Jennings,

Until the First World War pubs were open most of the time. Restrictions imposed during the preceding century covered only Sunday and opening during the night. Historically, closing during the hours of divine service was the only limitation.

Jennings, 2021, pp.119-120.

Jennings devotes an entire chapter to the regulations brought in during the First World War, which he says “radically transformed” pub use (p.183). Drinking was restricted to mealtimes: lunchtime and supper/dinner time, with some local variation. Pubs were shut for most of the morning, for much of the afternoon, and in the late evening.

By the time that “Last Orders” was written, the legislation that applied was the Licensing Act 1964, which had represented the first significant change since World War I (although measures such as the 10 minute drinking up time were actually introduced in 1961). Part III of the legislation covered “Permitted Hours” and section 60 (paras 1 – 4) stated (“the metropolis” means London):

60 Permitted hours in licensed premises

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, the permitted hours in licensed premises shall be –

a) on weekdays, other than Christmas Day or Good Friday, the hours from eleven in the morning to half past ten in the evening, with a break of two and a half hours beginning at three in the afternoon; and

(b) on Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday the hours from twelve noon to half past ten in the evening, with a break of five hours beginning at two in the afternoon.

(2) In relation to the metropolis, and to any licensing district wholly or partly outside the metropolis for which this subsection is adopted, subsection (1)(a) of this section shall have effect as if the hours specified therein ended at eleven in the evening.

(3) The licensing justices for a licensing district wholly or partly outside the metropolis may by order adopt subsection (2) of this section if satisfied that the requirements of the district make it desirable.

(4 )The licensing justices for any licensing district, if satisfied that the requirements of the district make it desirable, may by order modify for the district the hours specified in subsection (1)(a) of this section, within the following limits –

(a) the total number of hours on any day shall be nine (ending at half past ten in the evening), or, where subsection (2) of this section applies or is adopted, nine and a half (ending at eleven in the evening), and the hours shall not begin earlier than ten in the morning; and

(b) there shall be a single break of not less than two hours in the afternoon.

Licensing Act 1964, c.26, section 60: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/26/section/60/enacted

Note the requirement for an afternoon break is the reason why the line “The pubs were closed / It was three o’clock” (from “Futures and Pasts”) refers to 3 pm and not 3 am.

So there was room for local variation, but the latest a pub could (normally) stay open was 11:00 pm.

The legislation went on to set out some exceptions which constituted “drinking up time”. See Section 63:

63 Exceptions from prohibition of sale, etc. of intoxicating liquor outside permitted hours

(1) Where any intoxicating liquor is supplied in any premises during the permitted hours, section 59 of this Act does not prohibit or restrict –

(a) during the first ten minutes after the end of any period forming part of those hours, the consumption of the liquor on the premises, nor, unless the liquor was supplied or is taken away in an open vessel, the taking of the liquor from the premises;

(b) during the first half hour after the end of such a period, the consumption of the liquor on the premises by persons taking meals there, if the liquor was supplied for consumption as an ancillary to their meals.

Licensing Act 1964, c.26, section 63: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/26/section/63/enacted (section 59 contains the provision making it illegal to sell or supply alcohol outside the permitted hours)

In other words, so long as a customer had bought their drink before the permitted hours were up, they would be allowed to finish it within a 10 minute window after the the bar had closed. 30 minutes was allowed if the drink had been supplied with a meal.

So if “opening hours” ended at 11 pm, customers could be served up until 11 pm, and would not be asked to leave until 11:10 pm. To avoid an unmanageable rush at the bar at closing time, to ensure serving had ceased before the end of permitted hours, and to make sure customers had time to drink up, and of course to encourage more beer to be bought and maximise takings, publicans would call “last orders!” some time – often between 10 and 20 minutes – before closing the bar, at which point “time, please!” would often be shouted. In many pubs a bell would be used.

There were liberalising amendments to the law after 1964, but “permitted hours” remained unchanged until 1988, when the Licensing Act 1988 allowed pubs to stay open continuously – i.e. without being forced to close in the afternoon – from 11 am until 11 pm, and drinking up time was extended to 20 minutes. In 2005 (under the Licencing Act 2003) all statutory limits on opening hours were abolished, and pubs can now apply for licences for whatever opening hours they wish to operate, including 24 hour licences. There are a small number of 24 hour licences in operation, but the majority of pubs have been mainly happy to add an hour or two onto their opening hours and apply for extended licences only for special occasions. And of course applications can be rejected. “Last orders!” can therefore still be heard across the land.

Notable cover versions

• Rättens Krater. From Fagersta, Sweden. Originally released (as “En Sista Order”) on their debut LP, Bygga Upp Ett Stort Berg (Dead Beat Records: DB 108, 2013). [Discogs] [Soundcloud]

Footnotes

1. Earlier transcriptions of the lyrics had this as “Everybody’s telling me to listen up”. ↩︎
2. Earlier attempts at transcribing the lyrics rendered this as “term’s up”. ↩︎
3. The double meaning of the phrase “last orders” (final commands vs drinks bought just before the bar closes) has been exploited by other artists.
   
   It was the title of Graham Swift’s Booker-Prize-winning 1996 novel (a film adaptation starring Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings and Bob Hoskins, was released in 2001. It was written and directed by Fred Schepisi). See Wikipedia: Last Orders (novel) and Wikipedia: Last Orders (film).
   
   There is also a Brian Aldiss short story entitled “Last Orders”. It was first published in S.F. Digest #1, 1976, and reprinted in the collection Last Orders and Other Stories (1977). “Last orders” is a common enough phrase that we surely don’t need to look for a source, but given their literary interests Friel and/or Smith are not unlikely to have been aware of the recent Aldiss title. ↩︎
4. Again, when annotatedfall.doomby.com first started, this was rendered as a repeat of the line “Everybody’s telling me to listen up”. ↩︎
5. Originally, transcribers thought this was “it’s the end of the rap” rather than “it’s the year of the rat”. The year the song was released, 1978, was not the year of the rat. The year the song was first performed, 1977, was not the year of the rat. Nor was 1976. In Chinese astrology the nearest Years of the Rat were 1972 and 1984. So perhaps “year of the rat” is meant metaphorically – “rat” as in betrayal. ↩︎

Sources / Links

• Aldiss, Brian (1976). “Last Orders”. SF Digest, #1, pp.31-35. [Available online at archive.org].
• Aldiss, Brian W. (1977). Last Orders, and other stories. London: Jonathan Cape. [Available online at archive.org, login required].
• The Annotated Fall: “Last Orders” [Archived]
• Discogs: The Fall: 1970s (disc 6: Band on the Wall, Manchester, 13/11/1977, and disc 7: Stretford Civic Theatre, 23/12/1977. Cherry Red: CRCDBOX121.
• Discogs: “Various Artists: Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus” (1978). Virgin: VCL 5003.
• Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: The Story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet.
• Greenaway, John (2007). “Calling ‘Time’ on Last Orders: the Rise and Fall of Public House Closing Hours in Britain”. Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique / French Review of British Civilisation, Vol. XIV (1). pp.181-196. [Available online at: https://crecib.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/11john-greenaway.pdf]
• Jennings, Paul (2021). The Local: a history of the English pub. Cheltenham: The History Press.
• Licensing Act 1964, c.26. Text as originally passed available online at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/26/enacted.
• Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
• Savage, Jon (1978). “Conurbation Rock, Or: Circus turkeys and geek chic.” Review of Various Artists, “The Akron Compilation” (Stiff) and “Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus” (Virgin). Sounds, 24 June, p.41.
• The Fall Online Gigography: 1977
• The Track Record: “Last Orders”
• Wikipedia: Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom
• Wikipedia: Last call
• Wikipedia: Rat (zodiac)