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

No Xmas for John Quays
The Fall Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The x in x-mas is a substitute crucifix for Christ
No Christmas for John Quays

The powders reach
And the powders teach
And when you find they can't reach
There is no Christmas for junky

He thinks he is
More interesting
Than the world
But buying cigs
Puts him in a whirl

A packet of three-five fives
555
A packet of those over there
And 20 special offer cigars

Found talking to the cigarette machine
Into nicotinic acid
Good king Wenceslaus, he looked out
Silly bugger, he fell out

He spits in the sky
It falls in his eye
Then he gets to sit in
Talking to his kitten

And talking about Frankie Lymon
Tell me why is it so?
Tell me why is it so?

Out of his face with The Idle Race
Out of the room with his tune

Although the skins are thin
He knows its up to him
To go out or stay in

I'll stay in
I'll stay in

You
Me
X-Mas
X-Mas

There is no Christmas for junkies
No girls
No curls
Just the traffic passing by
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
1,2,3,4

No X-mas for John Quays

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Fall's song "No Xmas for John Quays" is a bleak and harrowing depiction of the life of a junkie, without any glimmer of hope or respite. The opening lines, "The x in x-mas is a substitute crucifix for Christ, No Christmas for John Quays", sets the tone for the song, suggesting that the holiday season holds no comfort or redemption for the singer. The powders referred to in the song are drugs that have become his substitute for any kind of meaning or fulfillment in life, and even when they cannot reach him, there is no hope left for him to find any semblance of happiness.

The lyrics go on to describe John Quays as someone who thinks he is more interesting than the world, but who finds himself in a constant state of turbulence, even something as trivial as buying cigarettes. The reference to the "packet of three-five fives" and "20 special offer cigars" suggests a life of squalor and poverty, with even the simplest necessities being treated as luxuries. The line "Found talking to the cigarette machine into nicotinic acid" is particularly jarring, indicating an unstable and delirious state of mind.

The chorus line "There is no Christmas for junkies, no girls, no curls, just the traffic passing by" reinforces the idea that for someone like John Quays, there is no hope of ever finding joy or meaning in life. The song is a portrait of an individual who has given up on himself and the world, with no prospects of redemption or salvation.

No Xmas for John QuaysThe Fall Lyrics

No Xmas for John Quays
The Fall Lyrics