In year one nine nine six O one (the last numeral was upside down) Johnny Drummer came to the outskirts of town
People came out and shouted at him Some people came out and shouted dead at him, "Say, show us your sticks" Then they went back to their computer tricks
He'd hit a town with no life, to begin, where they forgot the facts Two sticks make up a cross Why is it always this way? Why do they always have to say, "Hey, Johnny, get out of the way"
He looked in the mirror and said, "I am not him" He stood outside a bar and raised the nerve to go in The window hosted at least forty-five men Wondered which one was waiting for him And the boy at the machine meant him no harm But to him the boy was staring again at him The rhythm over in his head again
Men, boys and girls! Don't ever follow the path of being hard and tough when your heart is soft
Commentary
< Post in progress >
Footnotes
Sources / Links
The Annotated Fall: “The Ballard Of J. Drummer” [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]
