Destroy Your Safe and Happy Polls: Dig the Mekons Rock 'n' Roll Poll

Cocaine Lil, which I still find hysterically funny after all these years.

and when i danced
i saw you dance
i saw a world where the dead are worshipped
this world belongs to them
now they can keep it

AND saw you dance

Trying to dig back into this album in my mind, and the only song I'm really remembering is Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet. Figure that must be the case for a reason, so I'll vote for it.

btw "Heaven And Back" and "Ring O'Roses" are not on my US A&M CD, is there a US domestic reissue or are they still import-only? I think they were B-sides here.

one of the first records i bought on cd when i got a cd player xmas 1989. i never liked cocaine lil that much, everything else was good. memphis, egypt still sounds great to me 20 years later.

Only Darkness Has the Power.

Not many records open with 3 songs as good as these.

"Heaven And Back" - classic.

I remember really liking "Learning To Live on Your Own", but I remember how every song everyone has mentioned goes and I've not heard this record in like 10 years.

"Learning" = Sally Timms heaven, my 2nd favorite song on here

The effect of "Only Darkness Has The Power" has on me is incredible. Greenhalgh fails to define what the "darkness" is, or what it has the power to do, but the chorus hoo-hoo-hoos open a chasm between himself and "Sophie."

That's the one I voted for, but the first three songs constitute the most devastating sequence of their careers.

lyrics to only darkness has the power are lifted pretty much directly from Paul auster's "the locked room" --- amazing shit & you can read all about Sophie

They kind of fuck up the meaning of the chorus though, original line is "only darkness has the power to make you open your arms to the world" which makes a hell of a lot more sense ---

Sorry, open your heart to the world

i read that auster story just before i picked up the record. i remember after a few listens going "wait a minute" and then checking my book. weird how they didn't give credit or at least a shout out on the liner notes

Especially considering how Honky Tonkin' comes with a reading list in the liner notes. I heard the song before I read the book - the same thing happened with "Lyric" and Moby Dick (though it's only the chorus that borrows lyrics in that one).

in addition I think I mentioned on another thread that "Powers and Horror" steals all its verses from an incredibly bitchy Cicero speech.

Also this is really hard. "Heaven and Back" was the first Mekons song I ever heard, and it made me a fan. I'm tempted by "When Darkness Falls," just for:

will you take a taxi
or will you make me walk?
we make big decisions every day

Too hard. Might have to vote "Darkness," though.

i voted "only darkness," but shout-out to the other "darkness" song too. it's a good kicker.

I think this is out of print, believe it or not.

"You mustn't do what we did to you," says the big blonde teacher from overseas.

1. Best opening line ever? A "Look out, you rock and rollers" for ideologues. 2. Timms as Dietrich. 3. You’re only allowed to spend your record ironizing rock if your guitars deliver the goods as they do here. 4. The B-side to a promo-only 12” … worth hearing once I guess. 5. Beautiful languor. 6. It sounds not so much coked-up as post-high crash. 7. Only recently learned that this alludes extensively (brilliantly) to the UK antigay statute Section 28. 8. Alternate approach to the “consumed by rock and roll” conundrum: go out of your way to avoid being catchy. 9. British Invasion as triangular trade. 10. I like to think the references to stones are in-jokes about Dick Taylor. 11. This should have been on the record. 12. Dublin Messiah = Bono, right? 13. Verse after solo is as close as Greenhalgh gets to rhyming. 14. Sweet little ditty about murderous vengeance.

Voting Empire of the Senseless. Never saw the video before, they really do self-censor it: “This song promotes margarine.”

lyrics to only darkness has the power are lifted pretty much directly from Paul auster's "the locked room" --- amazing shit & you can read all about Sophie

Cool, just picked up New York Trilogy & now have one more reason to look forward to it, thanks for the info.

Same experiences with Moby Dick and New York Trilogy here. "Hang on, I've heard that somewhere....". Another lift (in "If they hang you", from Honky Tonkin) is from the intro (by Lillian Hellman) to a collection of Dashiell Hammett stories. Love them Mekons, and most especially this album. The version of "Memphis Egypt" done by the Sadies is also very ace.

I loved this album. No idea what my favourite is - I'm going to re-listen to it now.

First three tracks = all great. It's weird listening back to that "East Berlin can't buy a thing..." bit, as I always associate this album with the autumn of 1989, when all those eastern European governments were toppling (which they can't have guessed was going to happen when they wrote the song).

Ring O'Roses = although I like this, it's not one I would play someone if I was trying to persuade someone that they should listen to the Mekons. Also, it kind of bugs me the way he pronounces 'roses' like 'ruses'. Or maybe he just says 'ruses'. I'm pretty good at this music criticism.

Learning To Live On Your Own = this is brilliant. I love everything about it, the fractured drum beat, the tremelo guitar sound, the vocals, the guitar bit just before the end...
Cocaine Lil = I always thought it was a bit weird that the song fades out before the final words (as written on the sleeve)
Empire of the Senseless = this is the first one to sound a bit dated (mostly because of the Clause 28/Ollie North references) and it sounds a little bit out of place on this album with all the accordian and relatively little electric guitar.
Someone = pleasingly awkward, but probably not anyone's favourite track

btw "Heaven And Back" and "Ring O'Roses" are not on my US A&M CD, is there a US domestic reissue or are they still import-only? I think they were B-sides here.

Touch and Go reissued it with the UK tracklisting. Great, great album. Going with "Memphis, Egypt."

Amnesia = I've always wanted someone to explain to me - what did Eric Burdon do to stun the Mississippi (sp?) on The Animals' US Tour? I like this, and I think this played a major part in me deciding to get an electric guitar, but listening back to it now I'd have to add it to the list of songs not to play someone if you're trying to convince them of the Mekons' worth - the "Truth! Justice!..." bit is a bit embarrassing.
I Am Crazy = nice enough
Heaven And Back = think this was my favourite one back in the day, for the riff (riff? pounding chord and drums bit anyway) and the 'oo-oo-ooh' bits.

Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet = alright, best bit is probably the wah-wah echo thing at the end
Echo = fantastic. The drugs references went right over my head at the time. The guitar sound reminds me of the Trimdon Grange Explosion and Fantastic Voyage.
As Darkness Falls = nice.

Still not sure what to vote for.

I think it's "Eric Burdon stunned in Mississippi"....something about being shocked by the situation in the US south, as compared to some sort of idealized view of how blues musicians might have been treated?

Two complaints about this fantastic record:

1) The eighties drum sound bothers me here more than on other recordings. Because the album's recorded so cheaply, the drum sound is more grating.

2) I wish "Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet" went after Bono a little harder.

eh, the song ain't about bono, but noisemakers in general when you feel like shit.

I think it's "Eric Burdon stunned in Mississippi"...

Ah, now that makes more sense.

something vague here: http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9781560254485-0 about "getting run out of Meridian, Mississippi for promoting black music"

"Memphis, Egypt." My favorite album by them by some distance.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Thank you for bringing attention to this splendid album. This was very difficult; I could have gone with "Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet," "Club Mekon," "Learning To Live On Your Own," or "Amnesia." But I didn't because "Empire of the Senseless" a/ is phenomenal; b/ shares its name with a grim and delicious Kathy Acker novel; and c/ promotes homosexuality.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

such a great record. i love these guys & gals!

btw, Langford introduced the tune thusly in concert back when ('88/'89?): "this is a song about Bongo!"

Jon is my hero:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQ6DLwV9CI

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Another lyric thing that I just discovered - the entirety of "Big Zombie" is taken from Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister. "Hold it Marlowe, you're not human tonight."

hmmmm

entirety of "Big Zombie" is taken from Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister

I'm reading that book right now, and yes it pretty much is, albeit a bit loosely rather than transcribed: "The cars were so few now that the headlights hurt." (Chapter 13, first 4 grafs.)

What a blast this Mekons/Sadies crossover must have been:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJvNknLbsUY

Rock 'n' Roll!