Lyrics
This is an attempt at a worthwhile tape
The cad, he 1
The cad, he
He no longer denies or hides his enfondness for mech 2
What is unequalled
Unsure, he writhes
Built up to twelve
Burnt at the crease 3
The little he'd learned was of no concern
To topics of condition to me
All virtue of permeation
Fine tuning, fine tuning
Commentary
Credited only to Mark E. Smith.
According to Daryl Easlea (see his notes for The Fall Box Set 1976-2007) this song was supposed to be the title track of what instead turned into the album Levitate.
Shades of “Who Makes the Nazis”, but the lyric is even less clear about the origins of fascism than the former song was about Nazism.
The following extract from a Maximum RockNRoll interview with Mark E. Smith was originally posted by me to annotatedfall.doomby.com:
MRR: Reading a bit about UK politics from over here, there’s a sense that the Tories are going to worm their way back into power. Not that it makes much of a difference, since Labour are essentially Tories now anyway…
In 1997 I said they were a recipe for Fascism.
MRR: The Tories
Labour. I thought that in 1997 and I think that now. The BNP (British National Party, a National Front offshoot) where I live are winning elections left right and center.
MRR: That’s what I’ve been hearing. It’s crazy.
It was obviously going to happen because this government is so stupid. I mean why did they go into the Iraq war? America’s got their own concerns, but…
MRR: So do you think the policies of Labour alienated people to the extent that they turned to the BNP?
Turned to fucking fascism. That’s what I always thought… I knew it was going to happen. Cos they’re idiots. It’s just a middle-class party. Supposed to be a Labour party, for the working class. They’ve all got three houses, three cars, people see that.
MRR: So people see the BNP as an answer?
Yeah, normally sensible people. My friends, friends of mine. It’s awful.
MRR: But if you don’t vote Labour, who else is there to vote for?
That’s what they say to me. But I’ll tell you this Allan, my father, my grandfather, fought against the fucking Nazis so you could do what you wanted….
McNaughton, Allan (2006). “The Fall: Mark E. Smith on drugs, fascism & lazy musicians.” Maximum RockNRoll, #279, August. No page numbering, how very punk.
Footnotes
- The relevant definition of “cad” in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is “a man who behaves in a dishonourable or ungentlemanly way, esp. towards a woman.” ↩︎
- “Enfondness” appears to be an MES coinage. “Mech” might possibly be an abbreviation signifying mechanical things, or machinery. ↩︎
- Potentially a cricketing reference, to “the ashes” [See Wikipedia: The Ashes]. I’m thinking that “the crease” is the word for the marked area within which the batter has to stand, and at which (at the opposite end) the bowler has to let go of the ball. See Wikipedia: Crease (cricket). ↩︎
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Recipe for Fascism.” [Archived]
- Discogs: The Fall: Levitate. 2 x CD special edition (1997). Artful: CDX9.
- McNaughton, Allan (2006). “The Fall: Mark E. Smith on drugs, fascism & lazy musicians.” Maximum RockNRoll, #279, August. [4pp].
- Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: entry for “Cad”
- The Track Record: “Recipe for Fascism”