Studio was a hexagon Old men were sat on one side Opposite three bored triplets I stood in the middle Fumbling with two tin packets
Listen while I tell this tale of woe The worm in the bacon of B.B. His name was Love But how were they to know Mike's gift was only poison
When I died, love was all around When I died, love was in the air When I died, love was everywhere When I died, captain, eye, peculiar wind
So hoist the cats away And the mouse he did play The plots came thick and fast Satanic meditations, shadowy missions So hoist his music on the mast So look at the worm in the bacon Good vibrations, man
When I died, love was all around When I died, love was in the air When I died, love was everywhere When I died, captain, eye, peculiar wind
Well, then I died Turned the beat to the brink To post his name high Thick and fast on the mast Sail is all broken
The story of love The story of love The story of love
When I died, love was all around When I died, love was in the air When I died, love was everywhere When I died, captain, eye, peculiar wind
When I died, love was all around When I died, love was in the air When I died, love was everywhere When I died, captain, eye, peculiar wind
Commentary
< Post in progress >
Footnotes
Sources / Links
The Annotated Fall: “Mike’s Love Xexagon” [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]
Just spitballin’ here, regarding the possible levels/angles to the title.
The original site mentions a pulp romance novel called The Love Hexagon. This riff on the idea of the love triangle could here be a reference to the Beach Boys themselves, a band often consisting of 6 members between whom there was a lot of love and closeness – except, arguably, in the case of the one member whose name was Love, who was actually an asshole – the “worm in the bacon”.
The song portrays Mike Love as a curse on the Beach Boys, and it was MES’ own history with / sensitivity to the word Hex that may have led him to corrupt the word Hexagon as Xexagon. The additional X can be seen as both a symbolic reference to Love himself, and also an “X” marking the spot, telling us “(Mike) Love was the curse”.
Or to put it another way – the X in Xexagon is a substitute crucifix for Mike Love.
Just spitballin’ here, regarding the possible levels/angles to the title.
The original site mentions a pulp romance novel called The Love Hexagon. This riff on the idea of the love triangle could here be a reference to the Beach Boys themselves, a band often consisting of 6 members between whom there was a lot of love and closeness – except, arguably, in the case of the one member whose name was Love, who was actually an asshole – the “worm in the bacon”.
The song portrays Mike Love as a curse on the Beach Boys, and it was MES’ own history with / sensitivity to the word Hex that may have led him to corrupt the word Hexagon as Xexagon. The additional X can be seen as both a symbolic reference to Love himself, and also an “X” marking the spot, telling us “(Mike) Love was the curse”.
Or to put it another way – the X in Xexagon is a substitute crucifix for Mike Love.