Lyrics
The conference is over 1
Peace is the plan
I wonder how long will it last
When Izzy and Bizzy and Boney began 2
We wondered how long they would last
Chuff had a cough 3
And cold in his snout
Letter
Horror error
Error horror
Horror error
Horror error
Man's prog fanatic 4
Or as Italians say it
Error orror
Error orror
Please take our three morons 5
And give us old Prussia 6
And we'll take the Shakespeare with us 7
Horror error
Horror error
Horror error
Horror error
Give them our hybrids 8
Give us the birds 9
What they moan on about
The Hippocritic oath 10
Give them our sun and we'll take the Shakespeare 11
Orror orror
Commentary
< Post in progress >
“…he [Bramah]… told me that they had recorded about seven versions of the song round at his house on a cassette recorder. Mark had suggested they give Sheer Joy one of them for a compilation (“Home”).”
Odran Smith, interviewing Martin Bramah in The Biggest Library Yet, #2 (Smith, 1994, p.7)
“Theme from ERROR-ORRORI” was first released on the Various Artists compilation Home, the debut release on the West Didsbury (Manchester)-based label Sheer Joy on 23 April 1990. Initially described in press news items as a Mark E. Smith solo track (see for example New Musical Express, 14 April 1990, p.4), on the record sleeve it was credited to Mark E. Smith, M. Beddington (i.e. Martin Bramah), Steve Hanley and Simon Wolstencroft, rather than The Fall, presumably for contractual reasons.
It is not known when the track was recorded, but presumably it was early 1990.
The Home version has been collected as follows:
- A World Bewitched: Best of 1990-2000 (2001). 2 x CD. Artful Records: ARTFULCD35. [Discogs] [The Fall Online Discography: Compilations] (note: listed as “Theme from ERROR-ORROR!”)
- Extricate (2007). 2 x CD reissue, CD 2. Fontana/Universal: 9847463 [Discogs]
- The Fall Box Set 1976-2007 (2007). 5 x CD box set, disc three. Castle/Sanctuary: CMXBX1558. [Discogs]
- The Fontana Years (2017). 6 x CD box set, disc 2 (Extricate additional tracks). Mercury Records Ltd: 5742692.
The Track Record has 21 documented outings for “Theme from ERROR-ORRORI”, all between March – June 1990. The debut was at Poole Arts Centre, 1 March, and the last time it was heard was in Canberra on 24 June. It is not surprising, given the track was co-written with Bramah, that it didn’t survive his sacking from the group at the end of the Australia/New Zealand tour. When it was played, it was almost always the first song of a gig. The live versions I’ve heard don’t feature the lyrics above; it’s more of a “Good evening, we are The Fall” kind of thing.
Shift-Work & Holidays
A shorter version of “Theme from ERROR-ORRORI” (titled “Error-Orror”), noisy and distorted with completely buried vocals and the music and other sounds dropping in and out, can be found on the Shift-Work & Holidays video (Universal Music/Phonogram, 1991: 083.590-3, re-released on DVD in 2008 by Pearson Productions Ltd/Cherry Red Films: PPCR 003).
The accompanying film is just as strange, featuring footage of Venice (including the Errori-Orrori poster discussed below) and images of a child in a red coat (a clearly deliberate call-back to the 1973 Nicolas Roeg- directed film Don’t Look Now – see Wikipedia), which is set mainly in Venice. See Bradshaw (2011).
In his autobiography, Simon Wolstencroft writes about going on holiday to Venice with M.E.S. early in 1996: “We walked past the Bridge of Sighs along the near empty streets. Mark said he’d taken a photo on the bridge on a previous visit and when the picture was developed there was a girl in a red coat who he swore wasn’t there when he took the shot.” (Wolstencroft, 2014, p.160).
Reception
Contemporary reviews of Home seem to mention “Theme From ERROR-ORRORI” positively. Penny Anderson in New Musical Express thought the track a “return to their [The Fall’s] vociferous past.” (Anderson, 1990). JHR in the Manchester Metro noted that “Theme..” “won’t disappoint Fall fans”, describing it as “as doleful as ever” (JHR, 1990). I’m not entirely sure how a song can be both vociferous and doleful, but there we are.
Retrospectively, Dave Thompson (2003, p.117) describes “Theme from ERROR-ORRORI” (which he incorrectly spells “Theme from ERROR-ORROR!”) as “an earthquake drum-and-bass workout beats around a semi-slurred Smith vocal that ultimately threatens more than it delivers.” Tommy Mackay (2018, p.113), also spelling the title “Theme from Error Orror!” has a similar assessment to Thompson’s: “A rumbling, percussion heavy affair with, surprisingly, enigmatic lyrics about Izzy, Bizzy, Shakespeare, free morons – you name it. Amid the admittedly powerful drums n bass backbone, there’s a nice wee guitar solo bit by Martin Bramah… and a natural laugh at the end as Bramah plays a bum note.” (Mackay’s transcription of the lyrics differs from mine). Steve Pringle regards it as an “obscure gem”, noting that the song is “dominated by a heavy, ponderous bass and drums pattern, with Bramah contributing the occasional bit of understated bluesy soloing.” For Pringle, the song’s “heavy, doomy shuffle” is “reminiscent of Slint or Fugazi.” (Pringle, 2022, p.225).
Themes Found in the Lyrics #1: Venice is (Not) Sinking
Venice was one of M.E.S. favourite cities. See also “Venice with the Girls“.
In her autobiography, Brix tells the story of visiting Venice with Mark in the 1980s, commenting that, “even though we toured non-stop, he was so oddly out of place in so many locales, like the beach and Venice. But he fell in love with the city and it became one of his favourite places.” (Smith Start, 2016, p.226). According to Simon Wolstencroft, “Mark preferred Venice in the winter to the summer, when he said it stank of sewage and was overcrowded with fat American tourists in shorts.” (Wolstencroft, 2014, p.160). It is possible, therefore, that M.E.S. might have been on holiday in Venice in late 1989/early 1990, and that it was fresh in his memory when composing these lyrics – but even if he hadn’t, we know he was familiar with the city.
“Error Orrori” is only slightly mangled Italian. “Errori” is Italian for “errors” or “mistakes”; “orrori” is Italian for “horrors”. So “errori orrori” means “errors and horrors”. The phrase “errors and horrors”, or vice versa, is not uncommonly found in both English and Italian (and no doubt other languages). There are many examples; here’s one from Tennyson:
‘Lightly step over the sands! the waters - you hear them call!
Life with its anguish, and horrors, and errors - away with it all!'
From Despair: a dramatic monologue (IX, lines 47-48) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1881). First published in The Nineteenth Century, 10:57, 629-640, November 1881. [see Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry: Despair: a dramatic monologue]
As noted above, the “Error-Orror” film included on Shift-Work & Holidays has some3 footage of a poster display featuring the words “Errori Orrori”.
A user called Bambino Tostare (“child toast”!) posted the following to The Story of The Fall website, which eventually became 40 Odd Years of The Fall (Mackay, 2018):
"I've still got a poster somewhere that I pulled off a wall in Venice, for a public building project called "Errori Orrori", which I think was something to do with saving some bit of Venice from sinking into the sea. Given that the video for this (or was it something else around that time) was similar to 'Don't look now', which is set in Venice, I reckon this very poster was the inspiration for the song."
(The Story of The Fall is still at http://www.dailyreckless.com, and archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (https://web.archive.org/), but comments don’t seem to have survived so I am unable to cite the comment more fully. The quotation above comes from The Track Record, .)
“Bambino Tostare” gets things precisely backwards. “Errori Orrori” was not a building project aimed at saving Venice from sinking, but a slogan opposing such a project.
Themes Found in the Lyrics #2: The Past and Future of Germany
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Footnotes
- In 1981, Mark E. Smith told Ewald Braunsteiner of Sounds: “I also like John Cale, I really like the album ‘Helen of Troy’, particularly one track on it: ‘Sudden Death’.” (Braunsteiner, 1981). The first line of “Sudden Death” is: “The conference is over and they’re calling out the guard.” A weak echo; half an echo perhaps. But an echo nonetheless.
Dubious echoes aside, these opening lines are I think best understood in the context of German reunification, which was in the news at the time (see Commentary, above). ↩︎ - I cracked this line on 13 July 2014 (see comment #1 at annotatedfall.doomby.com’s archived entry for this song). “Izzy, Bizzy and Boney” are the contemporaries Queen Isabella II of Spain (1830 – 1904, on the throne 1833 – 1868), Count Otto von Bismarck (German politician notable for his key role in unifying Germany, and first Chancellor of Germany, 1871 – 1890) and Napoleon Bonaparte III (1808 – 1873, commonly nicknamed “Boney”. President of France, 1848 – 1852 and Emperor of France, 1852 – 1870). The overthrow and eventual abdication of Isabella was manipulated by Bismarck and led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 (Bonaparte unable to accept a German – Prince Leopold – on the Spanish throne). ↩︎
- “Chuff” (transcribed as it sounds) might be a name or nickname. If it isn’t, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary lists several meanings, of which these are possibly relevant:
“A rustic, a boor, a churlish person, a miser; gen. a person of the specified unpleasant kind.” (noun); “Surly, gruff, morose.” (adjective).
“A chubby cheek; An animal’s muzzle.” (noun); “Chubby, fat; Pleased, happy.” (adjective). [the next line of course being “cold in his snout”]
“A person’s buttocks or anus.” (noun) [and therefore used as an insult sometimes, in fact that’s probably the only usage I’ve ever heard in the wild, as in, “Oi, dannyno, you pedantic chuff!”]
But it might not even be “chuff”. It might be “chough”, a species of crow. ↩︎ - “Prog” here might mean “progressive rock”, which might then link to the potential Desert Island Discs interpretation of the later line “we’ll take the Shakespeare”. But it seems possibly more likely to be a reference to “Progetto Nicolazzi” (see Commentary, above). Or perhaps M.E.S. enjoyed the double meaning. ↩︎
- I’m not completely sure the word is “morons”, but if it isn’t I don’t know what it should be instead. There haven’t previously been any completely convincing theories about what this line is referring to, either. I have a suggestion: the not-entirely-successful sci-fi comedy film Morons from Outer Space (dir. Mike Hodges, 1985) (See Wikipedia), written by and starring British double act Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, was shown on Granada TV in the early hours of 28 December 1989. The plot involves three stupid aliens accidentally crash-landing on Earth.
↩︎ - Prussia was a German state, which under Bismarck led the unification of Germany and dominated the creation of the German Empire in 1871. It was replaced by a Republic at the end of the First World War. (See Wikipedia) ↩︎
- This line is hard to heard, but I think this is about right. ↩︎
- As noted elsewhere “hybrids” may be linked to contemporary discussion of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. And perhaps that same discussion also prompted the BBC to repeat the three part series First Born (1988), starring Charles Dance, from 8 December 1989. In the series, scientist Edward Forester creates a human/gorilla hybrid (see Wikipedia). I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know if there is anything of lyrical relevance in it, but it’s further evidence of what was in the social and cultural air at the time. ↩︎
- “Birds” could be actual avian animals, or British slang for women. However, annotatedfall.doomby.com transcribed this as the singular “bird” – being “given the bird” in British slang means to be booed, hissed or jeered, or to be rudely ridiculed or have disparaging or contemptuous vocal disapproval directed at you. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase originated in theatre, where from the 1860s an actor getting “the big bird” meant being hissed: the “big bird” being a goose. The OED cites an 1825 actor’s biography referring to “the attacks of the big birds”, and you can see how the phrase would have evolved from something like that. In the U.S., as as I can tell, “flipping the bird” more specifically refers to the raised middle finger gesture. “Flipping the bird” would be understood in the U.K. as well, I think.
Hitchcock’s film The Birds (1963) was broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 3 December 1989. Like Roeg’s Venice-set Don’t Look Now (1973), it is based on a story by Daphne du Maurier [Wikipedia]
Finally, it’s hanging way too much significance on a single word but I can’t resist mentioning an article I found in the Manchester Evening News dated 8 February 1990, about cocaine dealers supposedly using homing pigeons to import drugs into Manchester from the continent (there doesn’t seems to be much by way of substantiating evidence that it was a widespread practice, just that the police had “heard of it” and that it was “possible”). The article claims, “Top-class birds can easily fly into Britain from Amsterdam – the drugs capital of Europe.” (Watson, 1990, p.3). I can see the story appealing to M.E.S. ↩︎ - I’ve transcribed this as “Hippocritic”, which isn’t actually a word. But it is what I’m hearing. The Hippocratic Oath is an ancient Greek system of medical ethics, commonly but mistakenly thought to be something that doctors/physicians still sign up to, which hasn’t been the case for a very long time. So, assuming I’m hearing the line correctly (which I may not be), is this a deliberate mangling of the word or an accidental mispronunciation? Is it an intentional (perhaps satirical) portmanteau of “Hippocratic” and “hypocritical”?
Note that the apparent mention of the archaic Hippocratic Oath follows the earlier line about “hybrids” – which suggests that this part of the lyric does concern medical ethics in some way. So it surely isn’t a coincidence that in late 1989 – early 1990 Parliament was discussing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which introduced measures to license human embryo research. It contained provisions – mentioned in contemporary newspaper coverage – to regulate the creation of “hybrids”. The Bill was eventually passed and became the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (see Wikipedia), receiving Royal Assent on 1 November 1990. It has been subsequently amended. So Hippocratic Oaths, hybrids, and related matters were very much in the news around the time that this song emerged. See for example Fletcher (1989), Looch (1989), Williams (1989) and Wintour (1990).
It seems that M.E.S. (like some opponents of embryo research, see the Looch (1989) headline) saw a connection between medical research on embryos, and Nazi-era ‘experimentation’, and therefore to the lyrical theme of German reunification. ↩︎ - The multiple references to Shakespeare (fairly well-known English Elizabethan/Jacobean playwright and poet) are puzzling. However, he did write the plays The Comedy of Errors (first performed c.1592) and The Merchant of Venice (written c.1596-1598), which are linkable to the lyric. Dustin Hoffman had recently been in the news for his portrayal of Shylock in Sir Peter Hall’s production of The Merchant of Venice at the Phoenix Theatre, London, from 1 June – 23 September 1989 (transferring to New York in 1990).
Mention of “taking the Shakespeare” makes me think of the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs (first broadcast in 1942 and still going, see Wikipedia). The format of the show is that a guest (or “castaway”) is interviewed about their life and achievements, but structured around their choices of eight songs or pieces of music (technically any audio recording will do, but guests usually do choose music), a book and a luxury item which they would want with them were they to be stranded on a desert island. The book is actually a third book, since guests are automatically allowed to have the complete works of Shakespeare and usually either the Bible or other relevant religious or philosophical text according to the guest’s background/beliefs.
John Peel was Desert Island Discs‘ guest on 19 January 1990. But I have listened to the episode and cannot hear any connection to the lyrics of this song. One of Peel’s musical choices was The Fall’s “Eat Y’Self Fitter“. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- Anderson, Penny (1990). “Home for Heroes: Various – Home“. New Musical Express, 21 April. p.34.
- The Annotated Fall: “Theme from Error Orrori” [Archived]
- BBC Radio 4: Desert Island Discs: John Peel
- Bradshaw, Peter (2011). “Don’t Look Now and Roeg’s Red Coat”. The Guardian, 18 January. [Available online]
- Braunsteiner, Ewald (1981). “Pink Proleten und psychologischer Purpur.” Sounds [Hamburg], #149, [July]. pp.40-42. [Reprinted in The Biggest Library Yet, #13, October 1998. No page numbering. [pp.16-18]. Translation by Jakob Boysen.]
- Fletcher, David (1989). “Bill to outlaw baby cloning experiments.” The Daily Telegraph, 22 November. p.10. [Text available from newspapers.com].
- JHR (1990). “Sheer Joy is Found at Home”. Manchester Metro, 27 April.
- Learning on Screen: “Merchant of Venice, The” [online].
- Looch, Anthony (1989). “Embryo Bill compared to justification for Nazi medical atrocities.” The Daily Telegraph, 8 December. p.16. [Text available from newspapers.com].
- 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, Odran (1994). “I Was a Teenage Fall Singer.” The Biggest Library Yet, #2, November. pp.4-9.
- Smith Start, Brix (2016). The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber. [Text available online in archive.org]
- Thompson, Dave (2003). A User’s Guide to the Fall. London: Helter-Skelter Publishing.
- The Track Record: “Theme from Error Orrori”
- Various Artists – Home (1990). Sheer Joy (LP: Sheer 001 / CD: Sheer CD001) [Discogs]
- Watson, Janine (1990). “High flying drug barons home in on pigeon post.” Manchester Evening News, 8 February. p.3. [Available from newspapers.com]
- Wikipedia: Franco-Prussian War
- Wikipedia: German reunification
- Wikipedia: Hippocratic Oath
- Wikipedia: Isabella II
- Wikipedia: MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico)
- Wikipedia: Napoleon III
- Wikipedia: Otto von Bismarck
- Wikipedia: Prussia
- Williams, Nigel (1989). “Research ‘at stake’”. The Guardian, 24 November. p.8. [Text available from newspapers.com].
- Wintour, Patrick (1990). “Lords vote for embryo research.” The Guardian, 9 February. p.1. [Text available from newspapers.com].
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide. London: Strata Books.