Lyrics
Another day stuck here with you
Bored with you baby
And don't know what to do
Your beard don't hide
Your ugly mind
I'm going down town 1
See what I can find, 'cos
You just don't turn me on
You can't tell right from wrong
You just don't turn me on 2
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Commentary
Lyrics by Una Baines. Music by Martin Bramah.
One of the small batch of lyrics not written by Mark E. Smith that he nevertheless sings; he seems to have been generally uncomfortable singing words written by other group members. I think the fact that he does so here changes the impact of Una’s lyrics somewhat.
Baines told the old Reformation Post TPM website that this was one of the first songs she ever wrote. It was in response to an email enquiry from Reformation Post TPM that she supplied the lyrics above, from memory. They are incomplete.
It makes me laugh now. That was a very young me with attitude and not about anyone in particular but a pop at the prog rock brigade who were very up themselves.
Una Baines, quoted by Reformation Post TPM / The Track Record (see Sources / Links, below)
“You Don’t Turn Me On” was titled “It Don’t Turn Me On” on setlists for gigs on 13 and 18 June 1977. On 25 June it was listed as “Don’t Turn Me On”, and that’s how it was titled on all subsequent setlists through to 1978.
The first documented performance of “You Don’t Turn Me On” was at North West Arts, Manchester, 13 June 1977.
For many years, the only available recording was from Huddersfield Polytechnic, 13 January 1978, which also happens to be the song’s last documented outing (titled on the setlist as “Don’t Turn Me On”). It’s not on the setlist for the next gig at Eric’s, Liverpool, on 24 February or the one after that at Rafter’s, Manchester, 3 March 1978. Una Baines left the group around this time; Yvonne Pawlett’s debut was at The Greyhound, Croydon, 7 May 1978.
It’s very difficult to make out the lyrics on any of the three extant recordings of the song (North West Arts, [23 May] 1977; Band on the Wall, 13 November 1977; Huddersfield Polytechnic, 13 January 1978).
Footnotes
- I’m reminded of the (obviously much later) song “Yo Mama” by Peggy Sue, which has the lines, “I’m gonna go downtown / I’m gonna find myself some fun / I’m gonna go downtown / I’m gonna find myself someone” [Lyrics from Genius.com] (from their 2010 album, Fossils and Other Phantoms. [Discogs]. ↩︎
- Is it too much of a stretch to see this line as a reference to the last line of The Beatles’ A Day In The Life: “I’d love to turn you on”? Probably. See the entry here for The Fall’s cover of The Beatles’ song. ↩︎
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “You Don’t Turn Me On.” [Archived]
- Discogs: The Fall: 1970s (disc 5: North West Arts, Manchester, 23/5/1977 (probably incorrectly dated); disc 6: Manchester Musicians Collective – Band On The Wall – 13/11/1977). Cherry Red: CRCDBOX121.
- Reformation Post TPM: “You Don’t Turn Me On”. [Archived]. Reformation was replaced by The Track Record website. Note that the information on this page is out of date.
- The Fall Online Gigography
- The Track Record: “You Don’t Turn Me On”