There has always been, in The Fall’s work, a great deal of self-referencing, whether in the way in which the group itself or group members are mentioned in the lyrics; or the relatively large number of times that a song is reprised, sometimes with no more than minor differences, often radically altered. Cross-fertilization is a common practice in Fall songs, with lyrical themes reappearing across the years, songs referring to other songs, the back catalogue being used as a reinforcing tool and not merely, as in other cases, as an instrument of nostalgia or laziness. Of course, there are times when this approach works, and those when the criticism of self-indulgence is a valid one. But it’s not my intention to provide value judgements in this round-up, merely to provide some sort of checklist of how “repetition, repetition, repetition” has been, in more ways than one, a central thrust in more than 30 years of Fall sound.
The Fall mentioned in Fall songs:
Fall Sound, Pat-Trip Dispenser, So What About It?, Crap Rap 2, Before The Moon Falls, In My Area, Jim’s “The Fall”, The N.W.R.A., Neighbourhood of Infinity, Reformation, Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot (Peel session version)
Fall members mentioned in Fall songs (in titles or in lyrics):
Rob Barbato – Insult Song
Spencer Birtwistle – Reprise: Jane-Prof Mick -Ey Bastardo, (Birtwistle’s) Girl in Shop
Karl Burns – Visit of an American Poet (MES solo), O.F.Y.C. Showcase,
Brian Fanning – Reprise: Jane-Prof Mick -Ey Bastardo
Pete Greenway – Greenway, Noise
Steve Hanley – North West Fashion Show, The Quartet of Doc Shanley, Stephen Song, Guest Informant
Orpheo McCord – Insult Song
Elena Poulou (referred to as Mrs. Smith) – Latch Key Kid
Tim Presley – Insult Song
Marc Riley – Bonkers in Phoenix, Hey Marc Riley
Brix Smith (referred to as Mrs. Smith) – Slang King
Mark E Smith – Last Commands of MES via Xyralothep, Paintwork, Mark’ll Sink Us, Visitation of an American Poet (MES solo), Reckoning, Shoulder Pads, Slang King (referred to as Mr. Smith), Devolute, Latch Key Kid
Craig Scanlon – Craigness, Guest Informant
Dave Spurr – Insult Song, Latch Key Kid, Noise
Steve Trafford – Clasp Hands
Neville Wilding – (Jung Nev’s) Antidotes
Jim Watts – Jim’s “The Fall”
Simon Wolstencroft – Xmas With Simon
Pete Greenway – Greenway (as yet not officially released)
Kick The Can was referred to in set lists as “Ben’s” when it was joined with F-Oldin’ Money.
The lyrics of original version of Simon’s Dream (released officially as Arid Al’s Dream) referred to Simon Wolstencroft.
Yvonne Pawlett is referred to obliquely in the line “We were six like dice, but now we’re back to five” from Before The Moon Falls.
What do all these mentions reveal? One, a sense of fun, piss-taking, a playful attitude; but secondly, the implication that, despite protestations over the years to the contrary, Mark E Smith takes his musicians and their contributions extremely seriously, so that the name checking is actually a kind of praise, of acknowledgment.
Various versions of the same song, reprises, snatches of songs used elsewhere, etc:
If a song is good, then use it again. Status Quo did, after all! But seriously, MES has never been averse to releasing reprises, instrumental versions of songs, using extracts from old tracks in different ones (self-sampling, we might call this). Here’s a run through, of Fall songs where this has happened. Obviously there are differences between many of the versions released on record and (mainly John Peel) radio session tracks, but only those with significant changes are recorded below. The list doesn’t include tracks released on compilation albums such as those on the Receiver label, but only those where Mark E Smith, either at the time of the original release or, in some cases years later, decided that a rewrite, a re-recording, a sampling, or an alternative version would fit the bill for one reason or another.
1980: Putta Block (on the Totally Wired single) contains live extracts from The N.W.R.A., Rowche Rumble, and Cary Grant’s Wedding.
1980 : New Puritan was recorded in two very different versions, the first appearing on Totale’s Turns in 1980, and the second – in the same year – on a John Peel radio session.
1981: The Stars on 45 version of I’m Into C-B. uses the following snatches of Fall tracks: Psykick Dancehall -> Fiery Jack -> Rowche Rumble -> Leave The Capitol -> Psykick Dancehall.
1982: Winter (Hostel-Maxi) finishes side one of the vinyl release of Hex Enduction Hour; side two begins with Winter 2.
1985: Mansion (This Nation’s Saving Grace) is the instrumental version of To Nkroachment – Yarbles on the same album.
1986: Shoulder Pads (Bend Sinister) is divided into parts 1 and 2 on the album. Shoulder Pads #1B appears on the Hey Luciani single.
1986: Living Too Late and Living Too Long (first released on a single) are varying versions of the same song.
1987: Guest Informant (The Frenz Experiment) and Guest Informant (Excerpt).
1988: Bremen Nacht (The Frenz Experiment) begat Bremen Nacht Alternative and Bremen Nacht Run Out and was subsequently rejigged as Last Nacht for I Am Kurious Oranj.
1988: Hip Priest (Hex Enduction Hour) was famously rewritten as Big New Prinz and New Big Priest for I Am Kurious Oranj. On the same album, CD Win Fall 2088 (alternate title: Acid Priest) is formed of samplings and voice effects based on Hip Priest. There are samples from Hip Priest in Guide Me Soft.
1988: The musical break in Wrong Place Right Time is the same music as in Van Plague.
1990: Butterflies 4 Brains, which appeared on the Popcorn Double Feature single, was a remake of Whizz Bang, which was recorded the previous year for a John Peel session though Mark E Smith refused permission for it to be broadcast at the time.
1990: The Funeral Mix, an instrumental on the White Lightning single, was used in Movement III of Zagreb on the same record. It is also a slowed down version of the music from Black Monk Theme 2 on Extricate.
1992: Crew Filth, the closing track on Code; Selfish, begins with 55 seconds, wholly instrumental, of So What About It?, released on the previous year’s Shiftwork album.
1993: Kimble contains a small sample from the Sinister Waltz, released two years earlier on Shiftwork.
1993: Light/Fireworks (The Infotainment Scan) contains an extract from The Legend of Xanadu, released a year earlier on Ruby Trax, an NME compilation.
1994: Glam Racket (first released on Why Are People Grudgeful?) was reworked into Glam Racket – Star with the return of Brix Smith.
1994: Middle Class Revolt was reworked into Simon, Dave and John with the return of Brix Smith.
1994: Hey! Fascist, first played live in 1977, was recorded in as Hey! Student for Middle Class Revolt.
1994: Cab Driver, released on Behind The Counter in 1993, is the forerunner to City Dweller, which appeared the following year on Middle Class Revolt.
1996: The live version of Bombast (date and venue unknown) first collected on the compilation album Fiend With A Violin includes the refrain from Wrong Place Right Time. The previous line, “Move fast and move me” is from Race With The Devil, a cover version played only once by The Fall, in 1989, a year in which there is no evidence of Bombast having been played live.
1997: The Early Life of The Crying Marshall (The Marshall Suite) is a tape collage of the track proper, The Crying Marshall. The single F-‘oldin Money featured another revamp called The Real Life of the Crying Marshall.
1997: Interferance (Live Various Years) consists of tape samples from Hurricane Edward, which appeared on Levitate.
1997: Christmastide, on the limited edition of Levitate, is a reworking of Xmas With Simon, which appeared 7 years earlier on the High Tension Line single.
1997: Powderkex, on the bonus edition of Levitate, uses the same beat as Ten Houses of Eve on the same album.
1997. E.S.P. Disco, released on the compilation album Oxymoron, is a reworking of Psykick Dancehall (Dragnet, 1979) with new lyrics.
1997: Spencer Must Die appears in two very different versions; as Spencer on a John Peel session in 1996, and a year later on Levitate.
1998: The single version of Masquerade is probably a re-recording of the album version from the previous year.
1999: Everybody But Myself (Levitate) was redone as On My Own for The Marshall Suite.
1999: (Jung Nev’s) Antidotes is a close relation of Anecdotes + Antidotes in B on The Marshall Suite.
1999: This Perfect Day(The Marshall Suite) was redone for the F-‘oldin Money single, on which the title was slightly altered to Perfect Day.
1999: The Real Life of The Crying Marshall (The Marshall Suite) was redone for the F-‘oldin Money single.
2000: Das Katerer, released on The Unutterable, is a musical retread of Free Range, which first appeared as a single in 1992. The Caterer, from the MES solo album The post Nearly Man, also recalls Free Range.
2001: My Ex-Classmates Kids (Are You Are Missing Winner) is a close relation to I Wake Up in the City on the Rude (All the Time) single.
2001: Gotta See Jane is reprised in Reprise: Jane/Prof Mick/Ey Bastardo on Are You Are Missing Winner.
2003: Protein Protection (The Real New Fall LP) was rewritten for a single as Protein Christmas.
2004: Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. (Hex Enduction Hour) was re-recorded for Interim.
2004: Spoilt Victorian Child (This Nation’s Saving Grace) was re-recorded for Interim.
2004: The riff from Elves (The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall) was used on the John Peel session version of Clasp Hands.
2005: Midnight in Aspen is followed by Aspen Reprise, with a couple of tracks between the two on Fall Heads Roll.
2005: Walk Like a Man, only played live by the group, was rewritten as Breaking The Rules for Fall Heads Roll.
2005: There is a version of I Can Hear The Grass Grow on the US release of Fall Heads Roll entitled I Can Hear The Grass Grow (Slow Version).
2005: Blindness was re-recorded for Fall Heads Roll, a year after it appeared on Interim.
2007: The Fall Box Set included alternate versions of both Blindness and Fall Sound.
2010: OFYC Showcase is partly reprised in YFOC/Slippy Floor on Your Future Our Clutter.
2010: There is a short blast of 986 Generator (released only on the vinyl version of Your Future Our Clutter) at the end of YFOC/Slippy Floor on the same album.
2010: Cowboy George (Our Future Your Future) and Cowboy Gregori (from the Bury! Single) are obviously related, though the similarity lies more in the lyrics than in the riffs used, which are quite different.
2011: There is a different version of Monocard (Lunatic Mix) on the Laptop Dog 7” release3.
2013: On the Re-Mit album, No Respects (an instrumental) starts the ball rolling and later on the same record we hear No Respects Rev, which has vocals.
2013: Hittite Man received an alternative “release” on Facebook, as well as a single mix on the single Sir William Wray.
Lyrical references to other songs:
1979: Various Times (Live At The Witch Trials) contains a reference to the title track itself.
1979: Choc Stock (Dragnet) uses lyrics from Pop Stickers, which was never recorded in the studio.
1979:”Nervous system” appears in both Underground Medicin (Live at the Witch Trials) and Mess Of My (an early live number never recorded in the studio).
1980: C’N’C-S (Grotesque) has a reference to Crap Rap.
1980: Container Drivers (Grotesque) contains a reference to Fiery Jack.
1980: WMC – Blob 59 (Grotesque) has a reference to Gramme Friday on the same album.
1981: Surrogate Mirage, a never-released song, contains lyrics from Last Orders, which was debuted at gigs four years previously.
1982: I’m Into CB refers to New Face in Hell.
1988: In Overture From I Am Curious Oranj there are references to Yes, O Yes, Bad News Girl, Bremen Nacht, Frenz and An Older Lover.
1988: In Win Fall CD 2088 (I Am Kurious Oranj) there are references to Hip Priest and Guide Me Soft.
1990: The phrase “behind the counter” is used in the song of the same name and on Zagreb (from the White Lightning single).
1992: Kimble, recorded for a John Peel radio session, refers to Why Are People Grudgeful?, which was released on single the following year.
1992: The only recorded performance of Just Waiting, released later on the compilation album Oswald Defence Lawyer, contains the line “bargain vampire hunters”, the first two words of which were used in It’s a Curse on the following year’s The Infotainment Scan.
1993 etc: The line “insect posse will be crushed” is used in Free Range, So-Called Dangerous, a remix of So What About It? and the John Peel session version of The Mixer.
1993: The lyrics spoken in Greek at the beginning of the B side Happy Holiday are from English Scheme, released 13 years earlier on Grotesque.
1996: Oxymoron (The Light User Syndrome) shares lyrics with He Pep! on the same album.
1999: Spencer (John Peel session version) quotes from Crackhouse, an unreleased Fall song.
1999: “The marshall cries again” in Bound is a reference to The Crying Marshall on the same album, The Marshall Suite.
2002: Segment 1 of the MES solo album Pander Panda Panzer uses the same line as the opening one of the 1992 cover version The Legend Of Xanadu: “You cannot legislate against wrongful encouragement.”
2003: Last Commands of MES via Xyralothep (The Real New Fall LP) contains a reference to Mountain Energie on the same album.
2004: The “Do you work hard?” lyrics from Chicago Now (Extricate) are used in the John Peel session version of Blindness.
2010: Mexico Wax Solvent (Your Future Our Clutter) contains a reference to Cowboy George on the same album and also echoes the title of the precious Fall album, Imperial Wax Solvent.
2010: Hot Cake (Your Future Our Clutter) refers to Chino on the same album.
1982 and 2010: The phrase “Brown bottles” appears in both Hip Priest (Hex Enduction Hour ) and Cowboy George (Your Future Our Clutter).
2011: Nate contains a reference to Hot Cake (both appear on Ersatz GB).
2013: Pre-MDMA Years contains lyrics from Victrola Time.
2013: Victrola Time mentions Pre-MDMA Years.
Lyrical references to other Fall songs in live performances:
The following selection of quotes is inevitably is inevitably incomplete but does give some indication of how Mark E Smith reuses (and in some cases anticipates) songs other than the actual one the group are playing on stage at the time:
17 February 1979 Polytechnic, Manchester:
Music Scene includes a couple of lines from Walk Like A Man.
18 March 80 Birmingham University:
There’s some “In The Park” lyrics in “No Xmas for John Quays”.
11 May 80 Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London:
The live version of Rowche Rumble features a tiny snippet of Transfusion, a song covered by Smith and Blaney 28 years later sung in the exact same manner.
27 October 1981 Bierkeller, Newcastle:
The NWRA and Cash and Carry both contain the line “I saw a surrogate mirage, the reference being to the unreleased song Surrogate Mirage, which was played live (for the only time?) the following year.
12 March 1982 Polytechnic, Bristol:
There are some “Joker Hysterical Face” lyrics in Fortress.
25 March 1982 Hammersmith Palais, London:
“Rosso! Rosso!” (lines from Marquee Cha Cha during And This Day).
12 June 1986 Riverside Club, Newcastle:
The intro tape of clinky noises was subsequently used in Sleep Debt Snatches.
15 September 1992 The Ritz, Manchester:
There is a reference to The League of Bald Headed Men, first played on stage a couple of months later, in US 80s 90s.
1 March 1999 Witchwood, Ashton:
There are some “Race With The Devil” lyrics in 10 Houses of Eve.
24 March 2000 Duchess of York, Leeds:
There were two librans sat on a hill” (repeated various times during A Past Gone Mad and Way Round).
25 February 2004 Fat Sam’s, Dundee:
– “I’ve gotta get up early morning, I’ve gotta get my early warning” (Secession Man lyrics, more or less, in Middle Mass).
31 March 2007 Pavilion Theater, Brighton:
“I’ve got to get up early this morning, gotta get my Sussex morning” (lyrics from Succession Man, more or less, at the beginning of Reformation)
1 April 2007 Hammersmith Odeon , London:
“Your name’s James Fennings and you’ve travelled a long way along the (?)” (lyrics from Peel session version of Blindman in Fall Sound)
There are some 50 Year Old Man lyrics at the start of Over! Over!
12 March 2016 White Trash Club, Berlin:
There are some Jack the Ripper lyrics in Wolf Kidult Man