I used to believe everything I read
I used to believe everything I read
I used to believe everything I read
But that's all changed and now I'm stepping out
That's all changed and now I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out

I used to stay in the house and never go out
But now I'm stepping out, stepping out
I used to stay in the house and never go out
But now I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out

I used to stay on my feet all twenty-four hours 
But now I'm stepping out, stepping out
The light'd be on twenty-four hours
But now I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out

So people get ready, strip down your houses 
'Cos I'm stepping out, stepping out
So people get ready, strip down your houses 
'Cos I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out

I used to believe everything I read
I used to believe everything I read
I used to believe everything I read
But that's all changed cos now I'm stepping out
That's all changed cos now I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out
Stepping out
Stepping out
Stepping out
Stepping out

Commentary

I am still in a real situation, in a music situation, so I’m not going to write about oppression, stuff like “Steppin’ Out”, that I used to write about work, and how I resented it. When you get in different situations you should write about them.

Mark E. Smith, interviewed in Lowenstein, 1978, p.43.

“Stepping Out”, credited to Mark E. Smith and Tony Friel, was among the batch of songs that emerged from the group’s formative months. It appeared on a list of “RECORDED/Presentable” tracks by “The Outsiders Group” (in other words, prior to the group being renamed “The Fall”) in a letter from MES to Friel dated 25 January 1977. It was spelled “Steppin Out”, which is also how it appears on all the set lists I’ve seen. But I’ve adopted the spelling used on the song’s first official release.

“Stepping Out” first appeared on record (with “Last Orders“) on the live various artists compilation, Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus. Short Circuit was recorded at the ‘last night’ of The Electric Circus, Manchester, on 2 October 1977, but not released until June 1978. The Short Circuit performance is the source of the transcription of the lyrics given above.

There’s no known studio recording, but in addition to Short Circuit live renditions can be found on several other official releases (note that some of the recordings have been released under multiple different guises, and I haven’t attempted to be exhaustive; I’ve listed some but not others):

• 13 November 1977. Manchester Musician’s Collective, Band on the Wall, Manchester. (Released as Live 1977, Cog Sinister, 2000; Rock Against Racism Xmas Party, Ozit/Dandelion, 2021; Disc 6 of Cherry Red’s 2022 box set The Fall: 1970s)
• 23 December 1977. Civic Theatre, Stretford. (Released as disc 7 of Cherry Red’s 2022 box set The Fall: 1970s)
• 22 July 1978. People’s Free Festival, Deeply Vale. (Released as Bingo Masters at the Witch Trials, Ozit/Dandelion, 2016 and Live at Deeply Vale, Ozit/Morpheus, 2005. Listed as “Steppin Out”)
• 21 August 1978. Tower Club, Oldham. (Released as Live from the Vaults – Oldham 1978, Hip Priest/Voiceprint, 2005)
• 22 August 1978. Mr. Pickwick’s, Liverpool. (Released as Liverpool 78, Cog Sinister/Voiceprint, 2001)
• 3 November 1979. JB’s, Dudley. (Released as disc 12 of Cherry Red’s 2022 box set The Fall: 1970s)
• 14 December 1979. Anticlub, Los Angeles. (Released as Live from the Vaults – Los Angeles 1979, Hip Priest/Voiceprint, 2006)

There are also a lot of bootleg versions available.

But although “Stepping Out” was one of The Fall’s earliest “presentable” songs, the Electric Circus gig is its first documented appearance in The Fall’s live set.

Unlike “Last Orders” (for which Friel had written most of the lyrics), “Stepping Out” survived Tony Friel’s departure from The Fall after the Stretford Civic Theatre gig on 23 December 1977. It was often (if not always) to be found in The Fall’s live set through to 1979. Its last documented performance was at the Anticlub, Los Angeles, on 14 December 1979.

According to Julian Cope (see the “Read it in Books” section below), however, the music for “Stepping Out” was written by Martin Bramah, notwithstanding the stated credits (nobody will be surprised to learn the Fall credits may not be entirely accurate). Cope was in a position to know, but this hasn’t been confirmed by anyone who was in the group. If true, that would explain why Bramah’s band Factory Star (in its first formation before Tim Lyons and Brian Benson were replaced by Steve Hanley, Paul Hanley and John Paul Moran) performed it at a gig in Anglesey in September 2009.

“Steppin’ Out was the title of Sounds magazine’s gig listings c.1976-1980.

The lyrics to “Stepping Out” are notably straightforward, and there has been speculation MES may not have written them. This mistakenly assumes that MES arrived fully formed as a lyricist, whereas it is clear that his writing style evolved, albeit quickly. Also, the fact that the song stayed in the live set so long suggests that they were his words.

According to Mick Middles:

‘Steppin’ Out’ was a song about growing awareness and seemed to centre on Mark’s having moved away from the kind of sheep-like closeness that was prevailing in Manchester. “I used to believe, everything I read… but that’s all changed, now I’m steppin’ out,” he sang, firmly establishing his ferocious independence.

Middles & Smith (2003/2008), p.93

However, it seems from the Lowenstein interview quoted above that MES may have been writing more out of resentment at the “oppressive” drudgery of work, or that was his original motivation.

Certain live performances of “Stepping Out” suggest another way to see the song, which is as a sort-of sequel or flipside to “Frightened“, in which the narrator wants to go home and doesn’t know “how to use freedom”.

At Stretford Civic Theatre on 23 December 1977, the Marquee, London, on 29 July 1979, and JB’s, Dudley, on 3 November 1979, there is an extra verse:

I'm not frightened any more
Now I'm stepping out, stepping out

I'm not frightened any more
Now I'm stepping out, stepping out, stepping out

At the Tower Club, Oldham, on 21 August 1978, MES introduced “Stepping Out” (which followed “Frightened” on the set list) with the words, “This next song is a sequel to the last one, ‘Stepping Out’.”

The idea (or ideas, since the phrase has a variety of meanings) of stepping, or steppin’, out is thematically popular in the arts. Here’s a selective list of songs with the same title:

• “Steppin’ Out” by Memphis Slim (1959) (covered by Eric Clapton several times)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Paul Revere and the Raiders (1966)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Joan Armatrading (1975)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Neil Sedaka (1976)
• “Stepping Out” by the Dictators (1977)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Electric Light Orchestra (1977)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Kool and the Gang (1981)
• “Steppin’ Out” by Joe Jackson (1982)

There’s no obvious lyrical or musical influence on The Fall’s song from any of the pre-1977 songs in that list.

On 17 March 2020, at 10:17 am, Una Baines posted a YouTube link of “Stepping Out” to her Facebook page. At 12:38 pm, Facebook user John Howard replied, “I have always loved the Paul Revere and the Raiders reference in the title, Una. Were you guys fans of theirs?” Una did not respond, but at 4:48 pm, Martin Bramah responded, “nope!”

On annotatedfall.doomby.com, I noted that “nope!” was ambiguous. Was it only a denial that the group were fans of Paul Revere and the Raiders, or was it also a denial that any reference was intentional? But on reflection, since the title is a common one in pop and rock music, this is all probably a red herring.

Lyrical variations

The “not frightened any more” variation is noted above.

Sometimes “stepping out” would be substituted with “stretching out”.

“The brain was switched off for twenty-four hours” is heard in the third verse at the 23 December 1977 gig at Stretford Civic Theatre.

At the Marquee, London, 29 July 1979, MES can be heard to sing, “I was pretty shagged, but now I’m back / I was pretty shagged, but now I’m back” etc.

Live, the song sometimes ends with the line, “Our affections are turning grey”, which also turned up in the lyrics to “Music Scene” on record. For example, Mr. Pickwick’s, Liverpool, 22 August 1978 (where MES says, “The last line of that song was ‘Our affections are turning grey,’ so it’s all slow.”), and JB’s, Dudley, 3 November 1979.

“Read it in Books”

For a few weeks in May and June 1977, Julian Cope (later of The Teardrop Explodes), Ian McCulloch (later of Echo & The Bunnymen) and Pete Wylie (later of Wah! Heat etc), with not-famous drummer Stephen Spence, played in a band together called The Crucial Three. Cope and McCulloch in particular were close to The Fall and Mark E. Smith for a while.

One of the songs they wrote during this period was Cope/McCulloch’s “Books”. On The Teardrop Explodes’ 2004 compilation Zoology, there is a rehearsal recording of the 1978 Cope/McCulloch band A Shallow Madness (which would become The Teardrop Explodes after McCulloch left/didn’t turn up for rehearsals and was replaced on vocals by Cope) performing the song. They would go on to record versions for the debut albums of their respective later bands: Cope kept the title the same for The Teardrop Explodes’ Kilimanjaro (1980), and Echo & The Bunnymen renamed it “Read It In Books” for the US and UK cassette editions of Crocodiles (1980). Both credited it to Cope/McCulloch.

In his autobiography, Head On ([1994] 1999), Cope wrote about how “Read it in Books” was written:

We played each other’s songs or beat new ones together. Mac started playing ‘Stepping Out’ by The Fall. I improvised a melody for it. Next day, Mac had written words. “It’s called ‘I’ve Read It in Books’,” he said. Shit, we thought, this is easy.

Cope, 1999, p.61.

During Julian Cope’s 2020 solo tour, he incorporated an explanation of the origins of “Read it in Books” into his performance of the song, showing how it evolved from The Fall’s “Stepping Out”.

(Rough) Transcript

… Now admittedly I’m doing it more folky than The Fall do it. It’s a song called “Stepping Out”.

<Sings “Stepping Out”>

So this one day, me and Ian were in rehearsal and I start jamming “Stepping Out”.

<Sings “Stepping Out”>

So two days go by. Come back to rehearsal. Mac’s written a new song. “Can you play this?” I said, “What, ‘Stepping Out? The one you were doing the day before yesterday?” “Oh no, this is my song, but it goes like this…”

<Sings “Read it in Books”> I like it <resumes singing>

OK, fair enough, you’ve inherited it, well. But, what’s the credit? Because when the Bunnymen, the Bunnymen run to record it first. I get a phone call from Bill Drummond, and he said, “you know that song you wrote with Ian? Ian wants to, he wants to credit it to Echo & The Bunnymen, just Echo & The Bunnymen. I said, “Well, nooooo” [etc etc – plays off audience]. And I come to the conclusion that really the credit should be McCulloch/Bramah, because Martin Bramah wrote that music, I was just jamming it.

<Plays the tune again>

But I’m not going to tell anybody.

Julian Cope, “Stepping Out” / “Read it in Books”, at the Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, 15 February 2020. Transcribed by dannyno.

Sounds like…

According to Martin Ryan (who was editor of the Manchester punk fanzine Ghast Up! with Mick Middles), “Stepping Out” owes a debt to The Stooges’ “1970” (which it does seem to) via (if I’m reading Ryan correctly) The Damned (whose version, included on their 1977 debut Damned Damned Damned, was titled “I Feel Alright”):

Of the current breed Smith described The Adverts as “psychedelic”, the Pistols’ “Holidays In The Sun” as having great lyrics but no tune, noting “I wish I could write lyrics like that” and The Damned’s version of “I Feel Alright” as being vastly inferior to the Stooges original. A point raised when he conceded the likeness of the recurrent riff of “I Feel Alright” to that used in The Fall’s “Stepping Out”. Borrowing a riff was okay but covering The Stooges was better left well alone as Smith illustrated with The Vibrators’ reading of “No Fun”.

Ryan, 2018, pp.149-150

Footnotes

1. This line could be interpreted as a reference to amphetamine use, but should probably be seen in the context of work or slavery, or wage slavery. ↩︎
2. Is “people get ready” a reference to The Impressions’ 1965 hit single, written by Curtis Mayfield? In the 1978 Lowenstein interview, MES referred to songs about oppression; Mayfield’s song is in a tradition of politicised gospel-influenced songs, and was adopted by the American civil rights movement. MES’ annoyance at having to work for a living is, objectively, not comparable to slavery and racial segregation, but perhaps he was drawing a broad thematic link between “People Get Ready”‘s boarding-a-train metaphor and the notion of “stepping out”. ↩︎
3. At 8:02 am on 25 October 2025, Paul Hanley posted the following to X, formerly Twitter: “I’ve been listening to this recording for 40 odd years and it’s only just occurred to me what a weird line ‘strip down your houses’ is” [link to post available on X]. He’s right; it is weird, isn’t it? ↩︎

Sources / Links

• The Annotated Fall: “Stepping Out” [Archived]
• Cope, Julian (1999). Head-On: memories of the Liverpool punk scene, & the story of the Teardrop Explodes (1976-82). [Omnibus edition with the sequel Repossessed (1999) published as Head-On/Repossessed]. London: Thorsons. [Note, Head-On was originally published in 1994 by Magog Books (a division of K.A.K. Ltd). Second edition, also 1994, by K.A.K. Ltd. Third edition published by Head Heritage, 1995 (also part of K.A.K. Ltd.]
• Discogs: The Fall: 1970s (disc 6: Band on the Wall, Manchester, 13/11/1977, and disc 7: Stretford Civic Theatre, 23/12/1977. Cherry Red: CRCDBOX121.
• Discogs: “Various Artists: Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus” (1978). Virgin: VCL 5003.
• Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: The Story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet.
• Lowenstein, Oliver (1978). “A New Career in a New Town”. Melody Maker, 18 November. p.43. [Text available online via The Fall Online – Bibliography]
• Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
• Middles, Mick & Smith, Mark E. (2003). The Fall. Updated edition, 2008. London: Omnibus Press. [Available online via the Internet Archive]
• Ryan, Martin (2018). Friends of Mine: Punk in Manchester, 1976-1978. Manchester: Empire Publications.
• Savage, Jon (1978). “Conurbation Rock, Or: Circus turkeys and geek chic.” Review of Various Artists, “The Akron Compilation” (Stiff) and “Short Circuit – Live at the Electric Circus” (Virgin). Sounds, 24 June, p.41.
• The Track Record: “Stepping Out”
• Wikipedia: “People Get Ready” (The Impressions)
• Wikipedia: The Crucial Three (band)