Inadequate writers, methadone stubbies You got energy vampires More hands on the tranquillisers
An unholy alliance And jokes about faith Oh, give me another drink You're as strong as your weakest link
A mess of my age A mess of my youth A mess of our radio
I remember the times this was a beginning of a permissive new age But it's the same old cabbage
A mess of my age A mess of our race A mess of our, our, our, our
The dream was about taking some terrorists out, y’know, bombs etc But the targets could well be your own There are no graves There is an end to nuisance and retribution
I don't look at myself I have no health Take no notice of me I probably work for a record company
A mess of our age A mess of my taste A mess of our nervous systems
Cowering mockers The company money's ran out No longer hot properties Get back in their closets
A mess of my age A mess of my race Fill the rest in yourself
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]
I don’t hear the word ‘youth’ in the first chorus. But I can’t tell what he’s actually saying because of the backing vocal that obscures it. It sounds to me like ‘data’ – or more likely ‘date’ with the MES ‘ah’ sound but I can’t be sure.
The ‘megaphone bit’ is tricky and I know there’s been a fair bit of debate about it already. I certainly don’t have definitive answers! I can’t help hearing ‘graves’ as ‘grazed’, but ‘there is no grazed’ doesn’t make any sense. I feel fairly confident that the last line of that section begins ‘There is an end to nutriment’… and then I think the last word is something MES made up – to my ears it sounds like ‘rationibutriment’ – a kind of mash up of ‘rationing’, ‘retribution’ and ‘nutriment’.
R J
25 March 2025 4:02 PM
Also I just can’t help hearing ‘methadone snobbies‘ – I don’t want to hear that, because I prefer ‘stubbies’! But he could be saying that the inadequate writers are snobs who take methadone??
I don’t hear the word ‘youth’ in the first chorus. But I can’t tell what he’s actually saying because of the backing vocal that obscures it. It sounds to me like ‘data’ – or more likely ‘date’ with the MES ‘ah’ sound but I can’t be sure.
The ‘megaphone bit’ is tricky and I know there’s been a fair bit of debate about it already. I certainly don’t have definitive answers! I can’t help hearing ‘graves’ as ‘grazed’, but ‘there is no grazed’ doesn’t make any sense. I feel fairly confident that the last line of that section begins ‘There is an end to nutriment’… and then I think the last word is something MES made up – to my ears it sounds like ‘rationibutriment’ – a kind of mash up of ‘rationing’, ‘retribution’ and ‘nutriment’.
Also I just can’t help hearing ‘methadone snobbies‘ – I don’t want to hear that, because I prefer ‘stubbies’! But he could be saying that the inadequate writers are snobs who take methadone??