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Live At The Witch Trials
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Original UK release
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First released 16 March 1979 on Step Forward Records: SFLP1
01. Frightened (Smith/Friel) 5:02 
Someone's always on my tracks
In a dark room you see more than you think
I'm out of my place, got to get back
I sweated a lot, you could feel the violence
I've got shears pointed straight at my chest
And time moves slow when you count it
I'm better than them, and I think I'm the best
But I'll appear at midnight when the films close
Cause I'm in a trance
and I sweat
I don't want to dance
I want to go home.
I couldn't live in those peephole places
They might get to know my actions
I'd run away from toilets and faeces
I'd run away to a non-date on the street
Cause I'm in a trance
and I sweat
I don't want to dance
I want to go home.
I feel trapped by mutual affection
And I don't know how to use freedom
I spend hours looking sideways
to the time when I was sixteen
Cause I'm in a trance.
I'm frightened.
Amphetamine frightened
I go to the top of the street
I go to the bottom of the street
I look to the sky, my lips are dry....
02. Crap Rap 2/Like To Blow (Smith/Bramah) 2:04
We are the Fall
Northern white crap that talks back
We are not black
Tall
No boxes for us
Do not fuck us
We are frigid stars
We were spitting, we were snapping "Cop Out, Cop Out!"
as if from heaven
Sucker X 9
No stars in the zone
I stay at home
I live on snacks
Potatoes in packs
I like to blow...
I like to blow....
I like to blow
Concentration zone
The years go in circles
the years go in circles
Hopes goes, I'm gone
Smoke comes, i go
A spurs fan, a warrior
happy no-hoper
Dull, manage
I think slow
Sucker, blow
03. Rebellious Jukebox (Smith/Bramah) 2:51
I'm searching for the now
I'm looking for the real thing, yeah
Head through a blue haze
Waiting for the musical craze
We gotta taxi for Mr. Nelson
Taxi for Mr. Nelson
Rebellious Jukebox yeah
Rebellious Jukebox, oh
No sounds at first came out
This machine had dropped out
But it made music to itself
Made music for itself
Rebellious Jukebox yeah
Rebellious Jukebox now
I'm looking for the home of the real
I want a happy time now
Drinkers from the slaughterhouse
Weren't happy and went out
Noise resounds aloud
Noise resounds the lounge
Rebellious Jukebox yeah
Rebellious Jukebox oh
I sidled up to a fruit machine
This I was imagining:
Some drinkers dancing at the bar
Drinkers dancing for the bar
Rebellious Jukebox yeah
Rebellious Jukebox now
I'm searching for the now
I'm looking for the real thing yeah
04. No Xmas For John Quays (Smith) 4:38
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
05. Mother-Sister! (Smith/Baines) 3:20
Er, what's this song about?
Er, nothing
None
No recipes
It was like a see-saw
No
It was like an up and down
Bye bye
Mother, Sister
Mother, Sister
Why did you put your head in?
Reach or preach
It's all a diminished return
Now
Floorboard
Creaks
Mother, Sister
Mother, Sister
Why did you push your head in?
Astray
Our Friends
And the fathers are underground
Your mouth is sold out
Mother, Sister
Mother, Sister
Why did you put your head in?
The pylon
06. Industrial Estate (Smith/Bramah/Friel) 2:00
Get off the Ind. Est.
Get off the Ind. Est.
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Well you started here to earn your pay
Clean neck and ears on your first day
Well we tap one another as you walk in the gate
And we'd build a canteen but we haven't got much space
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
And the crap in the air will fuck up your face
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Boss can bloody take most of your wage
And if you get a bit of depression
Ask the doctor for some valium
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
Yeah, Yeah, Industrial Estate
07. Underground Medecin (Smith/Bramah) 2:08
(Your nervous system, your nervous system)
(Underground medicine, underground medicine)
A spark inside
[Traverse up my hide]
And when it clicks
There's no resist
Every time I hear a new baby cry
I thank my spark inside
And you get underground medicine
Underground medicine
I'm but a nervous system
Underground medicine
I found a reason not to die
A reason for the ride
The spark inside
When it hits the mind you get
Underground medicine
Underground medicine
I'm but a nervous system
Underground medicine
I had a psychosomatic voice
And one time it might come back
Underground medicine
Underground medicine
I'm but a nervous system
Underground medicine
On my pants I spilled expectorant
And the colonel shot better with 30 pints
They took his cup away
Take it away, take it away
[Used to 'ground] medicine
[Used to 'ground] medicine
[Used to 'ground] medicine
08. Two Steps Back (Smith/Bramah) 5:03
Everybody likes me
They think I'm crazy
Pull my string and I do my thing
Two Steps Back
I don't need the acid factories
I've got mushrooms in the fields
Julian said "How was the gear?"[1]
They don't sell things to you over there
A cigarette goes out when you put it down.
Two Steps Back
Had a look at the free festivals
They're like cinemas with no films
You could make a fire with the seats
You could boil up some cigar [cig-ah!] dimps
Or get into the sound
Wait for the ice cream to come around
Two Steps Back
Two Doors Down
I meet my old friends there
They queue up for cash there
They are part Irish
They have no conscience
They get threatened by the cracker factory
Two Steps Back
Cracker Factory:
A place where you get into the working routine again
Rehabs for no hopes
Prefab for jobless dopes
Note: [1] Julian is a reference to Julian Cope; "gear" is British slang for drugs
09. Live At The Witch Trials (Smith) 0:51
We're still one step ahead of you
I still believe in the R and R dream
R and R as primal scream
Tied to the Puritan Ethic
Nonsympathetic to spastics
After all this, still a lonely bastard
Eggheads, boneheads, queue
Queue for them
We were early and we were late
But, still, live at the witch trials....
10. Futures And Pasts (Smith/Bramah) 2:36
I was in a sleeping dream
When a policeman brought my mother home
By the window I didn't scream
I was too old for that
I was in a drunken dream
The pubs were closed
It was three o'clock
At the bottom of the street it seemed
There was a policeman lost in the fog
I understand but I don't see it
I understand but I don't see it
I understand but I don't read it
Futures and Pasts
You can cry for your lost childhood
Will you cry for our lost childhoods?
But remember how you hated it
And worse cause you couldn't state it?
And it's time for the note, see it
And it's time for the note, say it
And it's time for the note, read it
Futures and Pasts
Look at the woman of thirty-nine
Look at the man of forty-nine
You can read their lousy lives
You can see their ugly face lines
They understand but they don't see it
They understand but they don't see it
I understand but I don't read it
Futures and Pasts
I understand but I don't see it
I understand but I don't see it
I understand but I don't read it
Futures and Pasts
11. Music Scene (Smith/Bramah/Pawlett/Riley) 8:00
Oh aye you're a good lad
Here is a pound note
The stupid bitch
They were made for each other
You should have met his brother
His mother was deaf and dumb
Well that stupid get
Played games with names
Of the place he'd worked
Of the women he tupped
He thought he were envy of the music scene
Part of the choosy scene
Envy of the music scene
Here comes long hair for the fair
No pay just take on the way
Those bastards stripped me bare
In front of all those people
Spat peanuts in my hair
And all the leaves are brown
And be part of the music scene
Envy of the choosy scene
Part of the music scene
And aye you're a good lad
Oh here is a new flat
That stupid twat
Made for each other
You should have met his brothers
Real fuckers
That stupid kid
Played games with names
All the gigs he'd worked
And the women he'd fucked
He was part of the music scene
Envy of the choosy set
Part of the music scene
Leave a mark on the city
I'll smash your doors down
Become a demolition worker
A metal construction worker
And behind our conscious minds
Our affections are turning grey
Yeah, we're part of the music scene
Envy of the choosy scene
Part of the music scene
Part of the music scene
Part of the choosy scene
6 minutes!
6:40!
OK, studio, that's plenty
(LP side 1: tracks 1-6; LP side 2: tracks 7-11)
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Credits
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Mark E Smith - vocals, guitar (track 9), tapes (track 11)
Martin Bramah - guitar, backing vocals
Marc Riley - bass
Karl Burns - drums
Yvonne Pawlett - keyboards
Produced by: The Fall and Bob Sargeant
Cover artwork: John Wriothesley
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Recording info & notes
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Recorded and mixed at Camden Town Suite, London on 15 and 16 December 1978.
The studio was booked for 5 days but the first 3 days were lost due to Mark E Smith being ill, so all the tracks were recorded on the 4th scheduled day (15 December 1978) and the album was mixed on the 5th day (16 December 1978).
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Overseas releases
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Released in the USA on 17 September 1979 on IRS Records LP: IRS SP-003
The US version had a different cover (see image gallery) and track 5 was replaced with an extended version of Various Times (Smith/Bramah/Burns/Pawlett/Riley) 6:39, the B-side of single It's The New Thing.
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1989 IRS reissue
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Reissued in 1989 on IRS Records LP: SFAL1; Cassette: SFLPC1; and CD: SFLPCD1 with the original UK tracklisting and cover.
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1997 Voiceprint reissue
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Reissued in January 1997 on Cog Sinister via Voiceprint, CD: COGVP103CD with the original UK tracklisting and cover.
Warning: This edition is poorly mastered from vinyl. It contains skips and drop-outs.
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2002 Turning Point vinyl reissue
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Reissued in August 2002 on Turning Point (Italy) LP: TPM02208 with the original UK tracklisting and cover. A 180gm vinyl pressing.
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2002 Voiceprint "+" reissue
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Reissued on 11 November 2002 on Cog Sinister via Voiceprint, CD: COGVP138CD with the original UK tracklisting plus bonus tracks:
12. Bingo Master's Break-Out! (Smith/Baines) 2:22
13. Psycho Mafia (Smith/Friel) 2:13
14. Repetition (Smith/Baines/Bramah/Burns/Friel) 4:58
All bonus tracks taken from the Bingo Master's Break-Out! single. Released as Live At The Witch Trials+, with a red + symbol added to the cover artwork (see image gallery). 24 bit remastered from the 1989 IRS CD. There are no skips or drop-outs on this Voiceprint edition.
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2004 Sanctuary reissue
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Reissued on 26 January 2004 on Castle, a label of Sanctuary Records Group, CD: CMQDD847 (2 CDs). CD1 contains the original UK tracklisting plus bonus tracks:
12. Bingo Master's Break-Out! (The Fall) 2:22
13. Psycho Mafia (Friel/Smith) 2:14
14. Repetition (Baines/Burns/Friel/Bramah/Smith) 4:55
15. It's The New Thing (Bramah) 3:27
16. Various Times (Burns/Smith/Bramah/Pawlett/Riley) 6:39
17. Dresden Dolls (Baines/Burns/Friel/Bramah/Smith) 3:37
18. Psycho Mafia (The Fall) 2:20
19. Industrial Estate (Bramah/Friel/Smith) 1:47
20. Stepping Out (Smith/Friel) 2:45
21. Last Orders (Smith/Friel) 2:21
CD2:
01. Rebellious Jukebox (Smith/Bramah) 3:00
02. Mother-Sister! (Smith/Baines) 3:07
03. Industrial Estate (Friel/Bramah/Smith) 1:45
04. Futures And Pasts (Bramah/Smith) 2:35
05. Put Away (Smith) 3:34
06. Mess Of My (Bramah/Smith/Goldstraw) 3:13
07. No Xmas For John Quays (Smith) 4:14
08. Like To Blow (Bramah/Smith) 1:47
09. Like To Blow (Bramah/Smith) 2:05
10. Stepping Out (Smith/Friel) 3:09
11. Two Steps Back (Bramah/Smith) 5:51
12. Mess Of My (Bramah/Smith/Goldstraw) 3:24
13. It's The New Thing (Bramah) 3:48
14. Various Times (Burns/Smith/Bramah/Pawlett/Riley) 4:59
15. Bingo-Master's Break-Out! (Baines/Smith) 2:48
16. Frightened (Smith/Friel) 5:35
17. Industrial Estate (Friel/Bramah/Smith) 1:53
18. Psycho Mafia (Friel/Smith) 3:01
19. Music Scene (Bramah/Pawlett/Smith/Riley) 9:26
20. Mother-Sister! (Smith/Baines) 3:32
CD1: tracks 12-14 from Bingo Master's Break-Out! single; track 15 from It's The New Thing single; track 16 an extended version of the B-side from It's The New Thing single; tracks 17-19 home rehearsals from Dresden Dolls bootleg single; tracks 20-21 live from Short Circuit - Live At The Electric Circus. CD2: tracks 1-4 from John Peel radio session #1; tracks 5-8 from John Peel radio session #2; tracks 9-20 live at Mr Pickwick's, Liverpool 22 August 1978 from Liverpool 78.
Remastered from the original master tapes, which had been recently discovered in the vaults at EMI. First pressing came in a cardboard slipcase (see image gallery).
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2004 Earmark vinyl reissue
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Reissued on 5 July 2004 on Earmark (Italy) LP: EAR40035LP (2 LPs) with the original UK tracklisting plus bonus tracks as per CD1 of the 2004 Sanctuary reissue. A 180gm vinyl pressing. Earmark is a joint venture between Sanctuary Records Group and Get Back Records of Italy.
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