The tables covered in beer Showbiz whines, minute detail 1 Hand on the shoulder in Leicester Square It's vaudeville pub back room dusty pictures of white frocked girls and music teachers The bed's too clean Water's poisonous for the system
And you know in your brain Leave the capitol! Exit this Roman shell! Then you know you must leave the capitol Straight home, straight home, straight home One room, one room Then you know in your brain You know in your brain Leave the capitol! Exit this Roman shell! Then you know you must leave the capitol
Straight home, straight home, straight home One room
Then you know in your brain You know in your brain Leave the capitol! I live with cancer death wife Then you know you must leave the capitol
It will not drag me down I will leave this ten times town I will leave this fucking dump One room, one room
Hotel maids smile in unison Then you know in your brain You know in your brain Leave the capitol! Exit this Roman shell! Then you know you must leave the capitol
I laughed at the Great God Pan I didnae, I didnae I laughed at the Great God Pan I didnae, I didnae, I didnae, I didnae
Leave the capitol! Exit this Roman shell! Then you know you must leave the capitol
Pan resides in Welsh green masquerades On Welsh cat caravans But the monty hides in curtains Grey blackish cream All the paintings you recall All the side-stepped cars All the brutish laughs from the flat and the wild dog downstairs
Commentary
< Post in progress >
“I Laughed at the Great God, Pan!” Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, drawn by Jack Kirby. Tales to Astonish, Vol 1. (6), November (1959). (See Marvel Database)
Footnotes
“Showbiz” is Grant Showbiz, on those credited with production on Slates, and for this song in particular. ↩︎
Sources / Links
The Annotated Fall: “Leave the Capitol” [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]
