Lyrics

Serial killers were always a bore in my book
Along with Spangles and soccer books
Rid us of old fogeys scuttling and swerving over the roads
Comma, kids in pubs
Passable
Why is Pete Gabriel always following us? 
Passable
And before the grub comes a moralist 
Dissonance of infotainment
A past gone mad
Alive and well, he is on all channels
Kiki Dee
Dwelling in craven environment
Passable
If I ever end up like Ian McShane slit my throat with a kitchen tool 
And if I ever end up like U2 slit my throat with a garden vegetable 
A past gone mad
Passable
Passable
Passable
Take a look back
Rear-view mirror - it's all behind you
A present gone mad
Tra tra la, follow, track that lava
Past, present gone mad
Passable
A past gone mad
Passable
Passable
Passable

Roaming over the road
Camper van
Serial killers were always a bore in my book

Passable
Passable

Roaming around they go down the deep deep deep streets
What is he talking about now

Passable

Fucking square meals are useless for you
Out of thin air, big night, old house
It's that time again
It's the time of the fall

Bowing to a tyrant, incorrigible horrible hotel
In a suit marked 1948
Indicative of a blinkered attitude
That suit is now in the bucket

If I ever end up like Ian McShane cut my throat with a garden tool 
If I ever end up like Ian McShane cut my throat with a kitchen tool

It's a good life in Europe
Passable
Passable

If I ever end up like that twat from Points of View I'll cut my throat with a tool 
If I ever end up like Richard Madeley cut my hands off with a axe-wheel 

Passable
Passable
?Passable
Ahh Ah ah ahh
?Passable
Ahh ah ah ahh
?Passable

"See, the rocks in Spain look like the ones 'round the lochs in the Highlands"

Commentary

< Post in progress >

Passable

Footnotes

1. It isn’t clear what this means. I can find no evidence, for example, that Peter Gabriel used the same recording studios as The Fall in the early 1990s, or played a venue shortly after The Fall had played there. ↩︎
2. Ian McShane is a British actor, best known for his roles in Lovejoy (BBC: 1986, 1991-1994), Deadwood (HBO: 2004-2006) and the John Wick movie franchise. I don’t know what McShane had done to rub Mark E. Smith the wrong way, but it might be that M.E.S.’s target is the eponymous antique-dealer character he plays in Lovejoy, which was current at the time the song was written. ↩︎
3. Points of View is a long-running (it began in 1961 and is still going, but it was mothballed between 1971 and 1979) BBC audience-reaction programme, featuring viewers’ feedback (praise, criticism and other comments) about BBC TV and radio shows. It has had many presenters in its history; at the time the song was written the host was Anne Robinson, preceded by Robert Robinson (two stints: 1961-1965 and 1969-1971), Kenneth Robinson (1965-1969), Barry Took (1979-1986) and a number of temporary guest presenters including Tony Robinson (there’s a lot of Robinsons associated with the programme!), Alan Titchmarsh and Chris Serle. ↩︎
4. Richard Madeley is a British TV presenter, probably best known for co-hosting This Morning (ITV: 1988-2001, 2019-2020) and Richard & Judy (Channel 4: 2001-2008) with his wife Judy Finnigan. See also Wikipedia: Richard and Judy. ↩︎

Sources / Links

• The Annotated Fall: “A Past Gone Mad” [Archived]
• Smith, Mark E. (2008). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark  E. Smith. London: Penguin.
• The Track Record: “A Past Gone Mad”
• Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide. London: Strata Books.