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
Printhead
The Fall Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
T-shirts mingle
Hey you horror-face!
I'm a printhead
I go to pieces
I'm a printhead
I go to pieces yeah
End of catch-line
End of hook-line
We had a two page
It's what we needed
I'm an ill head
My face increases
How my head increases
Real problems, biz
So how is it, yeah
That I've reached here
I thought this game
Would do me good
How could printed vinyl bring you out to here?
We laughed with them
When it was take-the-piss time
I'm no egghead
But I'm an ex-worker man
W.C.-hero friend - and not water closet!
There's a barrier between writer and singer
Uh-huh he's a good man
Although a lazy one
The singer is a neurotic drinker
The band little more than a big crashing beat.
Instruments collide and we all get drunk
The last two lines
Were a quote, yeah
When we read them
We went to pieces
We went to pieces, yeah
We went to pieces, yeah
Regularly
One day a week
I'm a printhead, yeah
Twenty pence a week
Dirty fingers
Printhead
Printhead
Printhead
With print you substitute an ear
For an extra useless eye
The song Printhead by The Fall is a perplexing and abstract one, with ambiguous lyrics and a disjointed structure. It starts with the lines, "Hey badges tinkle, T-shirts mingle, Hey you horror-face! I'm a printhead, I go to pieces." The lyrics seem to be about someone who feels uneasy or uncomfortable in social situations, someone who stands out from the crowd and doesn't quite fit in. They refer to being a "printhead" and going to pieces, which could suggest a mental or emotional breakdown. The line "How my head increases, real problems, biz" further reinforces this idea.
The chorus, "End of catch-line, end of hook-line," seems to be a commentary on the nature of popular music, and how it often relies on catchy hooks and simplistic lyrics. The next verse goes on to talk about how the singer thought that getting involved in the music industry would be beneficial, but instead, they've been left feeling lost and disillusioned.
The song continues with references to the barrier between the writer and the singer, and how the band is more about a "big crashing beat" than anything else. The final two lines, "With print you substitute an ear, For an extra useless eye," are a puzzling final statement, with several possible interpretations.
Overall, Printhead is a song that's difficult to fully decipher or understand. Its disjointed structure and abstract lyrics leave plenty of room for interpretation, and the meaning ultimately depends on how the listener chooses to interpret it.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey badges tinkle
The badges jingle as they bump into each other
T-shirts mingle
The T-shirts mix together
Hey you horror-face!
Addressing someone in a derogatory way
I'm a printhead
I'm insane
I go to pieces
I break down emotionally
End of catch-line
The end of a slogan
End of hook-line
The end of a catchy song lyric
We had a two page
We had a two-page spread in a magazine which was exactly what we needed
It's what we needed
It was exactly what we needed
I'm an ill head
I am unwell and insane
My face increases
My facial features are exaggerated
How my head increases
The size of my head increases
Real problems, biz
These are actual issues, not just part of the industry
So how is it, yeah
So how did I end up here?
That I've reached here
That I've reached this position
I thought this game
I believed that this industry
Would do me good
Would benefit me
How could printed vinyl bring you out to here?
How did a career in the music industry lead me to this point?
We laughed with them
We were once in on the joke with those in power
When it was take-the-piss time
When the joke was on them
I'm no egghead
I am not highly intellectual
But I'm an ex-worker man
But I am a former blue-collar worker
W.C.-hero friend - and not water closet!
I am a working-class hero, not the typical middle-class intellectual
There's a barrier between writer and singer
There is a disconnect between those who write and those who perform the songs
Uh-huh he's a good man
He is a good person
Although a lazy one
Although he doesn't work hard
The singer is a neurotic drinker
The lead singer drinks excessively due to their neurosis
The band little more than a big crashing beat.
The band is only good for a loud, basic beat
Instruments collide and we all get drunk
The loud music drowns out any thought and everyone drinks excessively
The last two lines
The final lines of the song
Were a quote, yeah
Were directly taken from something else
When we read them
When we saw those lines in context
We went to pieces
We broke down emotionally
We went to pieces, yeah
We often emotionally break down
Regularly
It happens frequently
One day a week
Once a week
Twenty pence a week
A small amount of money each week
Dirty fingers
Fingers are dirty from a low-paying job
Printhead
Labeling themselves as insane
With print you substitute an ear
When reading, you are replacing hearing with an extra, and somewhat useless, sense
For an extra useless eye
Reading is trading a sense of hearing for an extra sense that isn't always useful
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MARK EDWARD SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Greg Martin
awesome...mark e smith is godhead. killer song.
Fishponds Fox
Almost what you could describe as a guitar solo near the end of the song !
Òscar Rocabert
Me I like this new wave punk ya.