Southern Mark Smith

Thousands of people are queueing in the rain to meet the Pope
(Meet the Pope, meet the Pope, meet the Pope)
I wonder what they're feeling
Well I hope its O.K.
You know some people gonna call anyone a big mouth
(Big mouth, big mouth)
Yeah, well I'll see them in the bar on a Saturday
Right now I get along, get along, get along, get alonga get along
Just like a southern Mark Smith

Chorus:

Whooo, ooo, ooo, ooo - Yeah, like a southern Mark Smith
Whooo, ooo, ooo, ooo - Southern Mark Smith
Thousands of people are queueing for a shuttle into space
(Into space, into space, into space)
Yeah, I'm into space I think its just fantastic
Right now I'm looking around for the right words
For all you special gorgeous things
Oh, don't you know they only make those pop records out of plastic?

Hey, but you know what they tell you on the BBC
You know what they tell you and it's plain to see
You gotta put on you best friend's anorak
And come out here and try it out for yourself

Whooo, ooo, ooo, ooo
You gotta come on out at 1 o'clock and try it out for yourself
Whooo, ooo, ooo, ooo
You gotta walk & talk & think & look & act just like a
Southern Mark Smith

Chorus

Thousands of people out there just gotta be O.K.
I wish I could take them all down with me to the bar for some laughs
But right now I gotta find out where they could be living
They could be living in sin
They could be carrying shame
Gotta find somebody's gonna carry the blame
Gotta find out what makes your heart sing
Because I found out already what makes my heart sing
Its necessary that I find out what makes your heart sing
'Coz I heard it was like a southern Mark Smith

The Butcher Says...



All right, here's the thing. The phrase came up some time in conversation and was duly seized upon. I think that it may well have been some kind of reference to Gerard Langley. We'd been to see the Aeroplanes quite early on in their career on account of a review in the NME written by our pal Campbell Stevenson, which went under the headline: "Exploding! Plastic! In Bristol???" But, you know, Mark E. Smith is so steroptypically northern that the very phrase "southern Mark Smith" comes across to me like "lush Sahara"or "wise and noble Bush". So there's that too.
The tune got "written" into a tape recorder during the BBC evening news broadcast on Easter Sunday 1983. References to Lady Di had already been excised by the time we recorded the single version, which was at the beginning of September 1983. Ah well."

Good. There's that one wrapped up in a tidy little package. Now if someone cares to explain "I Need Meat"...

A little later...

I saw a bit of correspondence on the site about this "Southern Mark Smith" business. Our dear friend Mister Berman appears to have had a fair stab at explaining what may or may not have been on my mind at the time (it is, frankly, not much use asking me at this advanced stage of the game...), but then another fellow (Hank, is it?) steps in with some rather more speculative stuff about one "McGinty".

Our pal is referring to "Pat, Trip Dispenser", which was the b-side to the Fall's single "C.R.E.E.P." Towards the end of the tune, things go quiet and Mister Smith is heard intoning (and I write from memory) "McGinty thought he could fool the Fall with his imitation speed!" (My memory is about 100% on this one, though.)

Now, "C.R.E.E.P." came out not long after we had recorded "Southern Mark Smith". Somebody at JBC Central (Mitch?) brought home a copy. We heard the b-side and were struck down with fear, for we ourselves were not sure whether somebody was having a pop at our gang (with Lolo Mcginty) or not. The man on the website clearly felt the same way, for he writes authoratitively for anyone who is paying attention that the McGinty hereinabove referred to was indeed the talented wee monkey boy who played bass for us.

You can see what is going on here - there is a "Pat" in the title, a "McGinty" in the lyric and it came out about the same time as our "Smith" record. You can see the way that Hank's mind is working here, can't you, Mister Holmes?

Trouble is...it's not right. "Pat, Trip Dispenser" was already in the can before the Fall even heard our record. It is therefore definitely NOT an "answer record" to "Southern Mark Smith". And, as ever, the clue is in the title. Those who know the history of the Fall well will tell you that the song is in fact a blast at infamous Manchester dealer, Pat McGinty. (Oh yeah - Pat, Trip Dispenser!) There had been a bit of customer dissatisfaction on the band's part, and this was their way of getting back at the naughty pharmacist (no, don't start...)

So there you have it. Not the JBC, but some dodgy Mancunian c***. Hope that clears things up.

Mon Feb 24 08:45:31 PST 2003