Commentary

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Footnotes

1. Not “Wino” as many transcriptions of the lyric would have it; this is one of my research discoveries from 2021. In Greek mythology, Oeno, Spermo and Elais were the daughters of Anius, the son of Apollo and Rhoeo. The three are known as the Oenotropae (which literally means “winegrowers”). According to Robert Graves in his The Greek Myths (s.160, u, p.645):
   
   “By his wife Dorippe, Anius was the father of three daughters: Elais, Spermo, and Oeno, who are called the Winegrowers; and of a son, Andron, king of Andros, to whom Apollo taught the art of augury. Being himself a priest of Apollo, Anius dedicated the Winegrowers to Dionysius, wishing his family to be under the protection of more than one god. In return, Dionysius granted that whatever Elais touched, after invoking his help, should be turned into oil; whatever Spermo touched, into corn; and whatever Oeno touched, into wine. Thus Anius found it easy enough to provision the Greek fleet.”
   
   The story of the Oenotropae (see Wikipedia) is also relatively easily found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. ↩︎
2. If we think of this song as partially inspired by experiences while touring America (June – July 1981 and/or previously), then I have identified a likely real-world reference for this line.
   
   A series of attacks at motels in Chicago commenced in February 1981, attributed to “the motel rapist”. Timothy Mabe, age 22, was indicted for these crimes in June that year, which brought an end to the crimes.
   
   At least three attacks took place at the Spa Motel, Chicago.
   
   The Fall played at Tut’s, Chicago, in July 1981, and may have stayed at one of the motels involved, spoken to people who knew of the case, or read about it in the newspapers.
   
   Mabe was eventually convicted in September 1982 and imprisoned. ↩︎

Sources / Links

• The Annotated Fall: “Who Makes the Nazis?” [Archived]
• Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: the story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet Books.
• Graves, Robert (2017). The Greek Myths: the complete and definitive edition. London: Penguin. [This is a reissue of the combined single volume edition of 1992. First published in two volumes, 1955; reprinted with amendments, 1957; revised editions of both volumes, 1960; single volume edition, 1992]
• 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]
• Smith Start, Brix (2016). The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber. [Text available online in archive.org]
• The Track Record: “Who Makes The Nazis?”
• Wikipedia: Oenotropae
• Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide: a memoir. Trowbridge: Strata Books. (2nd edition published by Route Publishing, 2017).