|
|
|
Shift-Work
|
Original UK release
|
First released 15 April 1991 on Cog Sinister via Fontana LP: 848.594-1; cassette: 848.594-4; and CD: 848.594-2
01. So What About It?
(Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft)
3:24
Fall advice!
Fall advice!
Fall advice!
Fall advice!
The Year Number 1
Has gone and turned
Into Year of Bomb
TV wars 24 hours
But it happens
Fall advice!
Shaking my bones down the M14
Passenger seat gripped tight
And seriously
I cannot sleep
But I'm happy
I cannot eat
So what about it?
It happens
It happens
It happens
Fall advice!
The works down the drain
And interest never wanes
So what about it?
Fall advice!
Yak! Yak! Yak!
Some are born to life
Some are born depressed
About it
Fall advice!
To parties underground
You're driving around in lake districts
You're stepping around
It doesn't matter to me
Cause it happens
It's magic
So what about it?
02. Idiot Joy Showland
(Hanley, S/Smith)
3:43
Idiot groups with no shape or form
Out of their heads on a quid of blow
The shapeless kecks [1] flapping up a storm
Look at what they are: a pack of worms
Idiot Joy Showland
The nylon leaves are falling
From the twisted shell of your cranium
Your mystic jump suits cannot hide
Your competitive plagiarism
Idiot Joy Showland
Freddie and the Dreamers, come on up
Hey you imitators, come on up
Hey little singer, come on up
Show us your house and
Show us your cock
The working class has been shafted
So what the fuck you sneering at?
Your prerogative in life it seems
Is living out an ad man's dream
Idiot Joy Showland
California has Disneyland
And Blackpool has a Funland
And Flanders had no man's land
This place idiot show bands
Idiot Joy Showland
And now microcosms come and go
And it's amazing what they show
Your sportsmen's tears are laudanum
Idiot Joy Showland
The locusts are all queuing in
For Idiot Joy Showland
Idiot Joy
Note: [1] Northern English slang for trousers
03. Edinburgh Man
(Scanlon/Smith)
4:44
It's springtime but I still miss the streets at dawn
And in the morning walking your bridges home
As I sit and stare at all of England's souls
I tell you something
I wish I was in Edinburgh
I don't mind being by myself
Don't wanta be anywhere else
Just wanna be in Edinburgh
I wish I was an Edinburgh man
You can leave me on the shelf
I'm an Edinburgh man myself
I will always give you help
It's summertime but I still miss your skies so clear
Sitting and staring on a beach somewhere
I'll tell you something
I wish I was in Edinburgh
Don't give a toss about private wealth
And history just repeats itself
Keep me away from the Festival
And just give me a warm quarter-gill [1]
They say you project yourself
But I'm an Edinburgh man myself
It's wintertime and i still see the cobble stones
Clacking over your streets at dawn
I was really poor since I left Edinburgh
I'm OK just by myself
Cause our miserable king won't protect us from ourselves
How I wish I was in Edinburgh
How I wish I was in Edinburgh
I was always in good health
I'm an Edinburgh man myself
I will always give you help
I'm an Edinburgh man myself
Note: [1] Most UK pubs, and all English pubs, used to sell spirits in fifths of a gill, an old-fashioned imperial measurement (4 gills to the pint). In Scotland a select few pubs sell 1/4 gill measures. (Thanks to Simon Fluendy for this info)
04. Pittsville Direkt
(Hanley, S/Scanlon/Smith)
4:02
No current is waned
Where it wants to go
Some are only happy
In the throes
Of bitter arguments
Ready and packed
To ride there by train ride
By plane ride
By walking
Or from the insides
I can't deal with Pittsville Direkt
I don't wanna go to Pittsville Direkt
No no no Pittsville Direkt
Yes yes yes Pittsville Direkt
Stood off the train platform
Crushed cig in cup
FDA regulation state
Boarded at gate
Plane rides
I can't deal with Pittsville Direkt
I don't wanna trip to Pittsville Direkt
No love lost in Pittsville Direkt
And meanwhile
From New York to Skegness
They don't ask your telephone silk
I don't wanna go to Pittsville Direckt
No no no no Pittsville Direkt
Please don't please Pittsville Direkt
Many a jest in Pittsville Direkt
By planeride
By trainride
What are they doing to Bournemouth City Park West?
Why have they got those masks on?
I wanna exit Pittsville Direkt
I'm correct about Pittsville Direkt
The citizens of Pittsville Direkt
Will be out scaring ghosts
Around midnight
Ride out to where the planets roam
Drive carefully! Mother-to-be on board
Boarding now from Pittsville Direkt
05. The Book Of Lies
(Scanlon/Smith)
2:58
Keep reading me the Book of Lies
Keep reading me the Book of Lies
And you keep giving me
And you keep reading me
The Book of Lies
The Book of Lies
You keep telling me the Book of Lies
Book of Lies
I don't like what I'm doing to you
You don't like what you're doing to me
Don't make me cry
The Book of Lies
The Book of Lies
You don't listen to anything I say
Or do anything you promised to do
So why should I?
The Book of Lies
You don't listen to anything I say
Or do anything you promised to say
Listen to
Subject to
The Book of Lies
You keep reading me The Book of Lies
06. The War Against Intelligence
(Scanlon/Smith)
3:16
The war against Intelligence
War versus Intelligence
Notebooks out plagiarists
War Against Intelligence
War versus Intelligence
They got a lot of debris yesterday
They stuck out its golden horns
And volunteered its essence
War Against Intelligence
Hey pseud!
Why did you defect to the other side?
Hey dude!
Give the info a rest and use your mind
Dancing with your Dada mates [Dad and mates] in the corner
You're such a bloody fool
You think your haircut is distinguished
When it's a blot on the English landscape
Hey dude!
Get your mental bones right outta here!
You!
It's beyond your capability
Hey git!
In the league of mental short-arse
And you will never recompense
For your war versus intelligence
War versus Intelligence
War Against Intelligence
Hey dude!
07. Shift-Work
(Scanlon/Smith)
4:38
She's ten to five
But I'm shiftwork
And my woman alive
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
I thought shiftwork would work
But it's good as broken us apart
Lights flash over me
Twenty-four hour bulb
I'm just home for tea
But she's in work mode
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
And they will shake you by the hands
For shiftwork
But being abandoned by your woman
Is the price for shiftwork
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
Shiftwork, you let me down
Gave me a hard heart
You just cracked my mind
You split us apart
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
Raise your wages per year one grand
By shiftwork
But I can see me go, go, going from this land
Because of shiftwork
Shiftwork
I don't give her a chance
She gets the the morning rant
Gets in at eleven
Doing overtime
I'm going out at the time
Just to hang out with a woman who was my...
Shiftwork
She was ten to five
But I'm shiftwork
And that woman that once was mine
It's just shiftwork
Shiftwork
Shiftwork
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Shiftwork
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Shiftwork
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Shiftwork
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Shiftwork
Now, now, now, now
Where are you going?
This work has not yet reached
Cessation
08. You Haven't Found It Yet
(Scanlon/Smith)
4:08
You haven't found it yet,
Haven't found it yet.
Look at the glass, turn your head
You haven't found it yet.
Moving down the lane inside
It's flashy Camden Town
It's that London lyric again
You haven't found it yet.
Impulses crowd your head
Too much to be absorbed
You're into the top shackle
Mental saw-down of your head [1]
Which bemoans a simple fact.
You haven't found it yet.
It seemed so clear in bed
It's dark but your legs, they are dead
Your pen is encombed in mattress
You're not going to get it yet
You haven't found it yet
You're dying but still warm
Put this writing on your tomb
Spit out with dying breath
You haven't found it yet.
I dictate
Transcribe
Relations
Dear Cousin
It's destiny.
The grist that curtails the mill
shall make us strong
Note: [1] MES explained this lyric in a Q magazine article: He was referring
to a scientific diagram of the head and its component parts
09. The Mixer
(Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft)
3:37
The Mixer is close to me
He turns his head and smiles at me.
And I am blessed
Beyond my salary
The mixer
In Espanol restaurants
The people and staff they clap
The mixer sweats
In comic type letters the voices are saying
Clap, clap
The mixer
sweats
The mixer sweats
The mixer of Jamaican origin
Born, raised in the US
observes the Victorian prayer
Clap, clap, clap
Clap, clap
The DLVDS is over-easy on the compress
And the mixer sweats.
[First equipment line]
[Second equipment line]
The mixer is close to me
He turns his head and smiles at me
[spoken] 'It possessed the sort of bright sound microphone with audio pickup pattern.
It can produce broad responses, hi-fidelity quality, no feedback and no
howling etc. We can express good sound of your voice, an excellent
melody orchestra, a self-contained filter control, explosive breath
sounds, controlled explosive breath sounds ...... wind noises, in
different locations....'
Mixer sweats
10. A Lot Of Wind
(Smith)
3:26
Desperate for entertainment
So I turn the TV on
There's people jumping up and down
Then they have the panel on
And they talk a lot of wind
They talk a lot of wind
Then they have the weatherman on
He used to teach all our friends
He talked a lot of wind
He talks a lot about wind
Then they have Carl Lewis on
He's got a ponytail and he's a vegan
He talks a lot of wind
He talks a lot about wind
I turn the tragic lantern on
It's a program "Good Morning"
It's a lot of wind
They talk a lot about wind
I'm real sick and in distress
I got octagonals in my eyelids
From watching all that wind
I get horrible horrible horrible dreams
So I ring the TV line and get a lot of wind
They talk a lot of wind
You see them selling carpets
You see them in the shops
You see them on the kids programs
And they talk a lot of wind
Oh the boredom in my bones
From belching a lot of wind
They talk a lot about wind
They talk a lot about wind
I gotta forget about the wind
Has a lot of nerve
To talk a lot about wind
There's a roly-poly, roly-poly man
He's got a yak haircut (dick, dick, dick)
They talk a lot about wind
11. Rose
(Scanlon/Smith)
3:20
The scarecrow's down
I hope you are alright
I am alright
There's a letter marked 'urgent'
I have not yet read it
Rose
Rose
I hear you are in Hampstead
I hope you can get married
Rose
Rose
Hear that wah-wah going?
Remember you started it
Freckles
Rose
It is now all the rage
With the younger set
Your replacement
He is a good man Rose?
Rose
I've got a good woman
Sometimes
Rose
Rose
Rose
12. Sinister Waltz
(Smith)
4:13
[-]
(LP side 1: tracks 1-6; LP side 2: tracks 7-12)
The cassette and CD versions included the bonus tracks:
13. High Tension Line
(Hanley, S/Smith)
3:48
14. White Lightning
(Richardson)
2:14
(Cassette side 1: tracks 1-5, track 13, track 6; side 2: tracks 7-9, track 14, tracks 10-12)
(CD: tracks 1-5, track 13, tracks 6-9, track 14, tracks 10-12)
Track 13 is from the High Tension Line single; track 14 is from the White Lightning/The Dredger EP single.
|
|
Credits
|
Mark E Smith - vocals
Craig Scanlon - guitar
Steve Hanley - bass
Simon Wolstencroft - drums, keyboards
Kenny Brady - vocals, fiddle
With:
Cassell Webb - vocals
Dave Bush - machines
Craig Leon - organ, guitar
Martin Bramah - guitar (track 11)
Marcia Schofield - flute (track 11)
Produced and mixed by: Robert Gordon (tracks 1, 5, 6, 9); Craig Leon (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8, 10-12; mix only track 4) ; Grant Showbiz (tracks 3, 4, 10)
Cover artwork: Pascal Le Gras
|
|
Recording info & notes
|
Recorded at FON Studios, Sheffield and elsewhere late 1990-early 1991.
A 2-track promotional 7" (FALL1) in plain black die-cut sleeve was released to accompany the album, containing: So What About It? / Edinburgh Man (see image gallery for record labels). Also, a 12" promo (NICE1) was issued, containing 3 remixes of So What About It? (see image gallery).
|
|
2002 Voiceprint reissue
|
Reissued on 23 September 2002 on Cog Sinister via Voiceprint CD: COGVP134CD with the original CD tracklisting plus bonus tracks:
15. Blood Outta Stone
16. Xmas With Simon
Track 15 comes from the White Lightning/The Dredger EP single; track 16 comes from the High Tension Line single.
|
|
2003 Voiceprint double pack
|
Reissued on 22 September 2003 on Cog Sinister via Voiceprint CD: VP241005CD (2 CDs). A double pack CD - the 2002 Voiceprint reissue of Shift-work coupled with the 2002 Voiceprint reissue of Code: Selfish.
|
|
2007 Universal reissue
|
Reissued on 7 May 2007 on Fontana/Mercury Records, a Universal Music company, CD: 9847464 (2 CDs). The original LP tracklisting was on CD1, with the following bonus tracks on CD2:
01. White Lightning (Richardson) 2:14
02. Blood Outta Stone (Smith/Beddington) 3:34
03. Zagreb (Movements I+II+III) (Smith/Schofield) 5:55
04. Life Just Bounces (Smith/Scanlon) 4:13
05. The Funeral Mix (Smith/Black/More) 3:31
06. High Tension Line (Smith/Scanlon/Hanley, S) 3:47
07. Xmas With Simon (Smith/Scanlon/Wolstencroft) 3:28
08. Don't Take The Pizza (Smith/Rogers) 2:37
09. So What About It? (promo remix 1) (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:23
10. So What About It? (promo remix 2) (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:33
11. So What About It? (promo remix 3) (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:11
12. The Re-Mixer (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:08
13. Cloud Of Black (Smith) 4:28
14. Arid Al's Dream (Scanlon/Smith) 4:48
15. The War Against Intelligence (Scanlon/Smith) 3:03
16. Idiot Joy Showland (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 3:47
17. A Lot Of Wind (Smith) 5:25
18. The Mixer (Scanlon/Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:32
Tracks 1-5 come from the White Lightning/The Dredger EP single; tracks 6-8 come from the High Tension Line single; tracks 9-11 come from the promo 12" So What About It?; track 12 comes from the Why Are People Grudgeful? single; track 13 comes from the live compilation The Twenty Seven Points; track 14 comes from the Various Artists compilation Volume Four; tracks 15-18 come from John Peel radio session #14. There was a promotional sampler CD containing 3 tracks each from the reissues of Extricate, Shift-Work and Code: Selfish and also a promotional postcard (see image gallery).
|
|
