Famously described by John Peel as being "always different, always the same… Read Full Bio ↴Famously described by John Peel as being "always different, always the same", The Fall were formed in Manchester, England in 1976 during the Punk era although their style quickly evolved into something more idiosyncratic.

The one permanent fixture amidst the Fall's ever-changing line-up was Mark E. Smith (1957 – 2018). Smith's lyrics are free, unboxed and unpredictable, touching on an extremely wide range of subjects and places, and caring little for being tied down to easily digestible messages.

Smith's singing could put off some people, but others find it a uniquely expressive instrument. Smith was not a conventionally great vocalist, but his keen sense of rhythm, his energy and personality more than made up for this.

The Fall's music changed depending on the line-up at a given time. Always experimental, Mark E. Smith claimed to invent several musical genres, including house music; "we were doing that years ago" and even the internet. "He told me I didn't understand, that we were from the bleak industrial wastes of North England, or something, and that we didn't understand the Internet. I told him Fall fans invented the Internet. They were on there in 1982." One thing that is for sure is that The Fall (and their fans) always pushed the boundaries, and were never afraid to experiment.

The Fall were a favorite group of DJ John Peel, recording 24 sessions for his BBC1 radio program over the years.

The Fall's back catalogue consists of 29 studio albums, and is very fragmented with a seemingly endless number of compilations and semi-official live albums.

In 2006, British music-critic Dave Simpson published an entertaining account of a journalist's attempt to track down all 43 former members of The Fall in the Guardian. Many previous members have been fired, often with little or no notice. Simpson's ongoing effort was subsequently described at greater length in his book "The Fallen" (2008). His effort to track down the final unaccounted stragglers of at least 50 previous members of The Fall - including drummer Karl Burns - continues in his blog. Having decried Simpson's book as a "hatchet job" in the pages of Pseud. Mag., a Fall fan-mag, Mark E. Smith countered in short order with his autobiography "Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith" (Viking, 2008/Penguin 2009).

Mark E. Smith died on 24 January 2018, aged 60.

Key Albums include:

# Live At the Witch Trials (debut)
# Dragnet
# Totale's Turns (It's Now Or Nevr)
# Grotesque (after the Gramme)
# Perverted By Language
# Hex Enduction Hour
# This Nation's Saving Grace
# Middle Class Revolt
# Bend Sinister
# Extricate
# The Infotainment Scan
# Country on the Click aka The Real New Fall LP
# Fall Heads Roll
# Reformation Post TLC (new)
Compilations/Singles/B-Sides:

# 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong: 39 Golden Greats
# The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004
# Totally Wired: The Rough Trade Anthology (disc 1) and Totally Wired: The Rough Trade Anthology (disc 2)
# 458489 A-Sides
# 458489 B-Sides

Immortality
The Fall Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You try and change it
You try and arrange it
You try and shape it
But it's immortality, yeah
It's immortality

You cannot change it
Or rearrange it

It's immortality

Immortality
Immortality

That's where you're at, dear
You're shedding your mentality
But it's immortality
And you cannot buy it
You cannot put it in your pocket book
You cannot put it in your BCI
Don't try and shape it
'cause it's immortality
It's immortality, yeah
Immortality, yeah

It's where you're at, yeah
Immortality
Immortality

The Viking gods had it
[Lord/Nord] Odin had it
Don't try and change it
Don't try and put it in your pock-book-et
It's immortality
It's immortality, yeah

And you cannot change it
And you cannot rearrange it
And you cannot shape it
'cause it's reality, yeah
It's immortality, yeah
You cannot buy it
And that's all you're gonna get

From immortality
Immortality

Overall Meaning

In The Fall's song Immortality, the lyrics talk about the concept of immortality and its significance in life. The song opens with the idea that people try to change, arrange, and shape things in their lives to feel a sense of control. However, despite these efforts, immortality is something that cannot be manipulated. It is a state that one arrives in, shedding their previous mentality, and cannot be bought or accumulated.

The song's repetition of the word "immortality" seems to underscore its importance, almost as if to say that this is the ultimate goal of life. The lyrics suggest that Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology, had it, implying that immortality is an attribute held by the gods or those who are perceived as being god-like. The song ends with the idea that immortality is the only thing we have, and we cannot change, rearrange or shape it because it is our reality.

Line by Line Meaning

You try and change it
You attempt to alter it

You try and arrange it
You attempt to organize it

You try and shape it
You attempt to mold it

But it's immortality, yeah
However, it is everlasting life

It's immortality
It is everlasting life

You cannot change it
It cannot be modified

Or rearrange it
Or restructure it

It's immortality
It is everlasting life

Immortality
Everlasting life

That's where you're at, dear
That is where you currently are, my dear

You're shedding your mentality
You are abandoning your mindset

But it's immortality
However, it is everlasting life

And you cannot buy it
It is not something that can be purchased

You cannot put it in your pocket book
You cannot keep it in your purse or wallet

You cannot put it in your BCI
You cannot upload it to a Brain-Computer Interface

Don't try and shape it
Do not attempt to manipulate it

'cause it's immortality
Because it is everlasting life

It's where you're at, yeah
It is the situation you find yourself in, yes

The Viking gods had it
The deities of the Vikings possessed it

[Lord/Nord] Odin had it
Odin, the Norse god, possessed it

It's immortality
It is everlasting life

And you cannot put it in your pock-book-et
And you cannot keep it in your purse or wallet

And you cannot change it
And it cannot be altered

And you cannot rearrange it
And it cannot be reorganized

And you cannot shape it
And it cannot be molded

'cause it's reality, yeah
Because it is the truth, yes

It's immortality, yeah
It is everlasting life, yes

You cannot buy it
It is not something that can be purchased

And that's all you're gonna get
And that is all you will receive

From immortality
From everlasting life

Immortality
Everlasting life

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: CRAIG SCANLON, MARK E SMITH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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