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How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'

Original UK release
First released 11 July 1980 on Rough Trade 7": RT048

01. How I Wrote 'Elastic Man' (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley/Smith) 4:19  Lyrics

I'm eternally grateful
To my past influences
But they will not free me
I am not diseased
All the people ask me
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

Life should be full of strangeness
Like a rich painting
But it gets worse day by day
I'm a potential DJ
A creeping wreck
A mental wretch
Everybody asks me
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

His soul hurts though it's well filled up
The praise received is mentally sent back
Or taken apart
The Observer magazine just about sums him up
E.g. self-satisfied, smug

I'm living a fake
People say, "You are entitled to and great."
But I haven't wrote for 90 days
I'll get a good deal and I'll go away
Away from the empty brains that ask
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

His last work was "Space Mystery" in the Daily Mail
An article in Leather Thighs
The only thing real is waking and rubbing your eyes
So I'm resigned to bed
I keep bottles and comics stuffed by its head
Fuck it, let the beard grow
I'm too tired
I'll do it tomorrow
The fridge is sparse
But in the town
They'll stop me in the shoppes
Verily they'll track me down
Touch my shoulder and ignore my dumb mission
And sick red faced smile
And they will ask me
And they will ask me
How I wrote "Elastic Man"

Note: MES sings "Plastic Man" instead of "Elastic Man" to indicate that fans and journalists can't be bothered to get the name correct

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02. City Hobgoblins (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley/Smith) 2:20  Lyrics

Spiders know these things
Gremlins know these things
Tap, tap, tap, tap
You think it's the pipes
But who turns on the lights?
Our city hobgoblins
Ubu le Roi is a home hobgoblin
And at nights all ready
Our city hobgoblins
Infest my home at night
They are not alright
Ten times my age
One-tenth my height
Our city hobgoblins
Buzz of the all-night mill
Ah but evil
Emigres from old green glades
Pretentious eh?
Our city hobgoblins
They'll get yer
So Queen Victoria
Is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester
Our city hobgoblins
And they say
We cannot walk the floor at night in peace
At night in peace

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(Side 1: track 1; side 2: track 2)

Credits
Mark E Smith - vocals, keyboards
Marc Riley - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Craig Scanlon - guitar
Steve Hanley - bass, vocals
Paul Hanley - drums, percussion

Produced by: Mayo Thompson, Geoff Travis and The Fall
Engineer: John Brierley

Recording info & notes
Recorded at Cargo Studios, Rochdale on 8 May 1980.

2006 Earmark 7" reissue
Reissued on 23 October 2006 on Earmark (Italy) 7": 40014S1 with the same tracklisting and cover as the original 7". Earmark is a joint venture between Sanctuary Records Group and Get Back Records of Italy.


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