In a state of disillusionment, Cathal Coughlan walked out of the wonderful and melodically rich - but lyrically barbed - Microdisney and formed the Fatima Mansions, setting up stall in 1989. His former Microdisney partner, Sean O'Hagan, went off to form the High Llamas and perfected his obsession with 'Smile'-era Beach Boys drenched tunefulness but Cathal had other ideas and there were times when the Mansions' screaming indignation and eclectic belligerence went off the scale.
Underneath it all was his dry and off-centre humour that many may have missed in highlights like the viciously compulsive rant 'n' roll epic 'Blues for Ceausescu' and the truly schizoid 'Angels Delight'. Other tracks veered in all kinds of unpredictable directions and styles - savage electronics, pure dance pop, soaring balladry, scabrous industrial noise, acoustic grandeur, hellish Wagner-esque vaudeville, crazed psychobilly, traditional folk, etc.... The Fatima Mansions at their mightiest were an incredible tour de force that simply refused to be pigeonholed! Indeed, very few bands at the time were in quite the same league.
Aided and abetted by a chillingly intense group of musicicans including Andreas O'Gruama, Nick Allum, Nick Bagnall, and Hugh Bunker, the Mansions captivated, thrilled, provoked and confounded through 3 full albums and a couple of mini albums. Their live gigs were often equally cathartic rituals which met with critical approval and rave reviews. They even scored an unlikely hit [on the back of the Manic Street Preachers' cover of the Theme From M*A*S*H] with their irreverently skewed take on Bryan Adam's eternal number 1 hit Everything I Do (I Do It For You).
Since their demise in 1995/6, Coughlan has been recording and performing solo and, with a much more acoustic and controlled sound allied to his ever caustic lyrics and fantastic voice, remains a true one-off. He is still awaiting a more widespread critical appraisal and overdue recognition that his rare talent truly deserves.
Something Bad
The Fatima Mansions Lyrics
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The monster has red hair / The monster has green eyes
She laughs and bites her quarry's nose as she pulls herself astride
Her double-jointed hips now do their tricks
And you can hear his plaintive yells
From the plane-crash craters in the Scottish hill
To the burning oil wells
Something bad is giving birth to something worse and it's going to hurt
His Reebok shoes let in the rain and he coughs into the dawn
At he searches for space on the synagogue wall to draw swastikas on
Job descriptions change on the firing range / All generals are friends
So it's down to the dole with the molotovs / It's problem time again--see
You built the metal birds who shrink the skies
And bring your waitress from the other side of a world
All these birds bringing death
You find all of our good, there's only death left
Big black hawk swinging low over the rat-run streets of the English ghetto
Clean spirit of the island, home at last / Come on, come on, come on -- crash!
One man felt ashamed running guns and cocaine
For his short-term gain, so every one of us must pay
In his New World Order, you can have some nerve gas with your air
Thanks to the CIA pussy in the President's chair!
Something bad is giving birth / See, in the sky its belly bursts!
Something bad is giving birth / and calls for wounds to slake its thirst
Something bad is giving birth / No more decay, no more dirt
Something bad is giving birth / In therefore's name it stalks the earth
Do you feel you can deal? Can you fuck!
The Fatima Mansions' Something Bad is a scathing critique against the societal and political norms that create a world filled with monsters and suffering. The opening lines reveal the singer's disillusionment with the continuity he was raised to expect in life, instead faced with a world where the monsters have red hair and green eyes, and the double-jointed hips of a woman riding her quarry show how people are willing to destroy others for their own pleasure.
Throughout the song, the lyrics take jabs at a variety of issues, from vandalism and the firing range to the CIA and the President's chair. The vivid imagery of plane-crash craters and burning oil wells add to the overall sense of chaos and destruction in the world. The song also draws attention to the warped priorities of modern society with lines like "You built the metal birds who shrink the skies / And bring your waitress from the other side of a world / All these birds bringing death / You find all of our good, there's only death left."
Ultimately, the repeated refrain of "Something bad is giving birth" serves as a powerful reminder that although things may seem bad now, they will only get worse if we do not act to change them.
Line by Line Meaning
I was raised to expect continuity. Instead I get this..
I was taught to expect stability in life, but instead I got something unexpected.
The monster has red hair / The monster has green eyes
The monster is terrifying and does not have any recognizable features.
She laughs and bites her quarry's nose as she pulls herself astride
She is taking control and enjoying dominating whoever she wants.
Her double-jointed hips now do their tricks
And you can hear his plaintive yells
She is using her bodily movements to take advantage of someone's weakness and the victim is screaming in pain.
From the plane-crash craters in the Scottish hill
To the burning oil wells
Tragedies and conflicts are happening everywhere, from the most remote parts of the earth to the most accessible and known landscapes.
See Something bad is giving birth to a thing which won't melt to your touch
Something bad is giving birth to something worse and it's going to hurt
There is a horrible situation evolving and it's impossible to get rid of it. It will grow and become worse in time.
His Reebok shoes let in the rain and he coughs into the dawn
At he searches for space on the synagogue wall to draw swastikas on
A person is feeling miserable and finds solace in hurting others' feelings using religious symbols.
Job descriptions change on the firing range / All generals are friends
So it's down to the dole with the molotovs / It's problem time again--see
The society is experiencing chaos and people in power aren't truly enemies with each other, and this issue will lead to increased violence.
You built the metal birds who shrink the skies
And bring your waitress from the other side of a world
All these birds bringing death
You find all of our good, there's only death left
The technology advancements we made to make the world a better place have an unexpected side effect - death and destruction. What was left seems to be only death.
Big black hawk swinging low over the rat-run streets of the English ghetto
Clean spirit of the island, home at last / Come on, come on, come on -- crash!
Even thought the oppressed group had a false sense of liberation with a person from their race or culture becoming powerful, at the end they faced total destruction.
One man felt ashamed running guns and cocaine
For his short-term gain, so every one of us must pay
One person's selfish actions led to a massive backlash that everyone will have to face.
In his New World Order, you can have some nerve gas with your air
Thanks to the CIA pussy in the President's chair!
The new leader has a twisted sense of order and is willing to use any means to achieve it, which includes killing innocent people with nerve gas.
Something bad is giving birth / See, in the sky its belly bursts!
Something bad is giving birth / and calls for wounds to slake its thirst
Something bad is giving birth / No more decay, no more dirt
Something bad is giving birth / In therefore's name it stalks the earth
The world is experiencing something horrible and it's continuing to grow and get worse at an alarming rate, people have to give in to it or be destroyed.
Do you feel you can deal? Can you fuck!
Do you think you can handle this? Hell no you can't.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHARLES COUGHLAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind