"How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'" by The Fall

[@thomasrycroft7627]

I supported The Fall a few years ago. We got unplugged by the venue because we played for too long. Mark yelled at the the organisers 'What the fuck are you doing? I was fucking enjoying that'. RIP my hero.

[@kelechi_77]

Haha!

[@CatBlackGuitars]

Cool, what's the name of your band?

[@EvilCat-EnergyCatalyst]

Seconded; I'd love to know the name of your band!

[@jeremycroxall4489]

I remember John Peel playing this and Totally Wired in his end of year show in 1980 and describing them as the best two songs of the year, which they were. Colossal tracks by MES on top of his game - absolutely blew everything else away at the time and still sound great.

[@finnkdy]

Somewhat better than u2.

[@andrewwardle7634]

I was listening to that show and remember this song. He also played Talking Heads & the Cockney Rejects on that show.

[@finnkdy]

@@bogmanstar889 u2 often defies one's massive or less massive terms of opprobrium. Suffice to murmer, PURE de la m e r d e.

[@danholliday5564]

Damn right. Leg end.

[@RJJNY]

John Peel also played this on a daytime Radio 1 Christmas day show where all the DJs picked their favorite track - it stood out, as you can probably imagine

[@mikkifly]

i saw mark in the dry 201 bar in manchester in the early nineties,went up to him and asked how he wrote plastic man,he told me to fuck off,then smiled.great great bloke.

[@Robster65]

quality

[@javiontadeo7407]

I guess Im quite off topic but does anyone know of a good website to stream newly released movies online?

[@jonrandall638]

@Javion Tadeo lately I have been using FlixZone. Just google for it :)

[@hezekiahtroy3339]

@Jon Randall yea, have been using flixzone for years myself :)

[@zacharyzain3173]

@Jon Randall definitely, I have been watching on Flixzone for since april myself =)

[@pablozewoppa]

RIP Mark! I'm eternally grateful. Life should be full of strangeness. True words.

[@MadderMel]

Mark , had , one heck of an imagination !! Who else could've written this ?

[@VISHNU369]

R.I.P. Mark E. Smith

[@nadasadhana]

fuck yes. sad day

[@roddles49]

Absofuckinlutely 🌟

[@andrewdeakins9028]

Hit the North.

[@borednow5838]

Indeed, there is none other like him. I'm playing this on my show tonight in tribute. The Fall's gig in Peterborough in 2001 remains one of the best I've been to.

[@garymorris9571]

Love it to death. What a fucking genius Mark Smith is.

[@fieryjack6396]

+bjorn blasphemous and Jean Alexander

[@louchy]

never even heard this song until my mate accidently pressed the wrong button on the pub jukebox and it came on, loved it ever since

[@karlwaling6400]

jimmy saville doesn't..the lyrics!

[@rockgardner]

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 shops 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" Songwriters: Mark Smith / Stephen Hanley / Marc Riley / Craig Scanlan

[@bobsavage3317]

thx

[@frottery]

syeah except he says "how i wrote plastic man" not elastic

[@dariusfaulkner2925]

Pure banging tune. Most people I know hate it

[@jo3ld0wn]

That's how you know it's actually good

[@christianbecker7846]

The first The Fall song I've heared. R.i.p.

[@applemask]

"How on earth did Plastic Man end up on the cover of the New Yorker?" Art Spieglman drew that cover. Spieglman believes Plastic Man rules. He is correct.

[@reginaldside4575]

Spiegelman also wrote an essay about Jack Cole, who wrote and drew Plastic Man, for the New Yorker. It was turned into a book with Chip Kidd designing. The most poignant bit was Spiegelman's account of the reason for Cole's death. Extremely sad and entirely different from the narrative used in the Fall song.

[@mathewshaw2772]

Dont need any explanations..Just love the song for what it is..

[@paddycampbell576]

This was the first Fall song I ever heard many moons ago. Got me interested and gladly so...

[@taffwob]

I remeber hearing this driving home late at night on the radio 'king years ago. At first I thought what the hell was that, weeks later it was still playing my head. Odd, quirky & brilliant.

[@macccityrocker1]

Absolute legend, no sell out, R.I.P

[@ClueSign]

YES

[@MadderMel]

My favourite early Fall track.

[@philipalderson8844]

Goodbye mark e smith.my youth has ended.legend .

[@Durriti66]

One of my favourite Fall lyrics. According to the Fall lyric book (German semi official release from years ago), it is 'plastic man' he sings. I always I thought it might be subtle dig at Ray Davies due to the Kinks song 'Plastic Man'.

[@synthmalicious7541]

It always sounded like he said Plastic Man but I thought noo he had to be singing Elastic Man, I mean those are the lyrics right?

[@Durriti66]

@@synthmalicious7541 He actually does say 'plastic man'. A link to the lyrics and discussion as to the songs meaning here (interesting website!): annotatedfall.doomby.com/pages/the-annotated-lyrics/how-i-wrote-elastic-man.html

[@garylenton4957]

A classic. One of many great songs they did.

[@ph43draaa]

R.I.P.

[@XylenRoberts]

did The Fall create cowpunk before Meat Puppets did? The Fall did just about every other genre, why not cowpunk too? THis album came out in 1980, Meat Puppets' first album didn't come out til 82, which was mostly a hardcore punk album. MP didn't find their cowpunk sound until Meat Puppets 2 in 1984.

[@williamransone284]

Le top de top, toujours frais, toujours la perfection totale....

[@josephinewinter]

Unbelievable, there was a plastic man! And you found all those covers and made that video, so lovely. And yes, it is plastic man, i always thought.

[@TroutMaskReplicaa]

the reason there's a disparity between title ('elastic man') and song ('plastic man') is that the people ('the empty brains') get the name wrong. 'get away from the empty brains that ask; how I wrote 'plastic man'...'

[@drunkenmo]

asshole

[@terrypussypower]

Drunkenmo Yup, you certainly are...

[@paddycampbell576]

Elastic, man...

[@drunkenmo]

you're an utter embarrassment. what a waste

[@michaelhart7569]

Yes (the redeemer), that is what I always heard the song was about: The people who incessantly asked, but hadn't actually listened carefully enough to even be able to ask a correct question. Perhaps MES' finest work?

[@williamsanders2439]

Ever since I first heard this song, I still can't scrub it from my brain. No wonder The Fall is such a cult hit. Cheesy enough to grab you with the hook, but serious enough that you can't really get sick of it.

[@z00ts00t77]

Cheesy? There's nothing cheesy about this at all.

[@williamsanders2439]

z00ts00t77 That's a matter of opinion, which we're all entitled to

[@z00ts00t77]

Of course, but can you explain why you think it's cheesy?

[@MrBullsChinaShop]

I read somewhere that the whole "plastic/elastic" business was meant as an early jab at music journoes trying to decipher his lyrics. Made sense to me since the song's about writing... and being annoyed with people waiting for you to write.

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

How DID he write whatthefuckeveritwasman?

[@steveedgell8382]

He would later go on explicitly about not giving away his writing secrets, and deliberately slurring the pronunciation of lyrics as way of throwing blocks in the way of simple interpretation. He did an interview about comics for Escape magazine around the time of Elastic Man in which he complained about the 'hedonism' of comic book fans, contrasting the content of those comics he didn't like unfavourably with Bryan Talbot's Luther Arkwright series, which was then still getting its first run. He'd obviously paid attention to what was happening, even if he was selectively contemptuous of much of it. So it's not entirely unlikely he knew his stuff sufficiently to redeploy the references he needed, in order to make the point he intended - in which case allusions to Jack Cole's Plastic Man may have come into the mix.

[@markwordsworth1678]

Elastic man, plastic man does it really matter ? Just revel in the mayhem

[@markwordsworth1678]

harsh ! but fair...........

[@elizabethhann4028]

OH ABSOLUTELY! That's the point of the Fall, if you ask me, man: mayhem you can revel in.

[@pablozewoppa]

Yes!

[@allencrider]

Shut up, Mark. You're not in charge here, you're the dunce.

[@finnkdy]

@@allencrider Donnie in the house.

[@clevva_]

RIP a true legend.

[@jamesblatchford3738]

Is this not the greatest track ever on writers block, or not?

[@Derek_Gunn]

Can't help but wonder if Marquis isn't referring to "Plastic Man" by The Kinks.

[@jonathandrake2677]

R.i.p mark. You were one in a million. This sucks

[@cutthroatpromotions3306]

RIP MES

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

RIP me.

[@pauld724]

I vaguely remember him saying he didn't want to be sued by DC comics or something. So he used Elastic Man as the title. there is probably a dozen stories people will say but a lot of people (mainly Americans) think it was about the comic character.

[@reginaldside4575]

DC Comics were hyper-litigious back then - maybe they still are - so, whether he actually said it or not, changing the title would not have been a bad move.

[@thanqol]

It's a reference to the comic Plastic Man, where the main character was supposed to be called Elastic Man, but ended up as Plastic Man. Funny :)

[@surlyh1]

Actually, the original name for Plastic Man was the India Rubber Man.

[@justmadeit2]

Did anyone ever find out how he wrote elastic man ? Some theories say it was wrote in the Loft of a Prestwich house in the 80s, though thats just a theory. How did he write it ! ? :) Good band by the way, unique.

[@reginaldside4575]

That'll be how he wrote how he wrote, or I wrote, Elastic Man, or Plastic Man.

[@JackKnight762]

Jack Ralph Cole: Sagittarius/Scorpio: born 14 December 1914; Mark Edward Smith: Pisces/Aries: born 5 March 1957; both cusping Fire & Water viceversa, both with Mutable sun signs; Cole was the comicbook artist who created Plastic Man; At age 43-when Smith was 17 months old- Cole shot himself, on 13 August 1958: on that date the Sun was in Leo, the Moon in Cancer: the third cusping Fire & Water pair.

[@JackKnight762]

my slash indicates Sun/Moon signs: thus a "Sagittarius/Scorpio" indicates "Sagittarius Sun, with Scorpio Moon", ight? ... uh... "mayhem method"...?

[@reginaldside4575]

@@JackKnight762 Clearly not the time to drag in my Dead Beat Ascendant quip.

[@JackKnight762]

yeah, whatever the hell that might be

[@Pstephen]

He sings Plastic Man. It’s about how a mass audience don't understand the art they consume, in this case not even getting the name right.

[@mikecondy6010]

"Fuck it, let the beard grow. " Utter genius!😂👍

[@djw1964jdiv]

I think that you're spot on there G7ennx - MES at his brilliant best. Loved this song 30 years ago - even more so nowadays! "I'm too tired, I'll do it tomorrow....!"

[@agutterfan]

Mark E Smith 1957 - 2018. With respect.

[@nath909]

...And that's how he wrote Elastic Man. Now, on to Totally Wired. Well, it was a warm, sunny...

[@NickSBailey]

I searched for Elastic man and even google came back with Plastic man as the top result.

[@johnmiles5929]

No longer to wake and rub your eyes, RIP sir.

[@aircap]

The "New Yorker" cover was linked to a story in that issue about Jack Cole, who created "Plastic Man" in the 1940s. He was one of many comic artists whose careers were destroyed by censorship in the wake of Congressional hearings about the medium's influence on juvenile delinquency. Cole took his own life after being unable to find work...and he wasn't the only one. A truly sad and overlooked chapter in American history.

[@reginaldside4575]

Agree about the Kefauver hearings. Shaped what happened next in US comics massively. Cole managed to survive, though. He became pin-up artist par excellence for Playboy while developing ideas for a syndicated newspaper comic strip, which is where the big money and kudos was in comics at the time. He finally landed his dream job with Betsy and Me, a domestic comedy strip in 1958. The strip was successful in syndication and ran from May. Three months later, Cole had ended his life.

[@j0nnyism]

and he actually says haulage in container drivers too

[@thomasbockenhauer6479]

this shit is dope

[@jimjames3951]

oh god ...air drumming like a madman to this (crossed arms natch) ...mark mark mark, mark mark ,part william blake, part terry collier we will never see the like again,godspeed you crazy fuck

[@bradshawvincent]

it was released as a single so is probably on singles collection.

[@cutluncheon]

the point is that the character in the song actually wrote "elastic man", but that the idiot public get the name of his book (or other publication) wrong, so they all ask him "how he wrote 'plastic man'".

[@111noir2000]

..for the record..the song is call "How I wrote 'The Elastic Man' "..and yes he does say "elastic", he just runs the words "the" and "elastic " together...

[@tchamp77]

e.g. self-satisfied, smug....

[@mb252525252525]

+tchamp77 Fuck it, let the beard grow

[@bjorns]

i'm too tired, i'll do it tomorrow

[@reginaldside4575]

The Observer Magazine still just about sums it up.

[@ellenmeilee]

I still don't understand. How did he write Elastic Man?

[@lewisner]

With a pen.

[@GreenLanternJan-Al]

Plastic Man the best Dc superhero and my favorite hero in all of comics

[@Tomsfilipsons]

The defendant claims that the song has nothing to do with "Plastic Man", however I present to the attention of the court the following items: a youtube video for this song containing nothing but various images of Plastic Man comics and the view count of that video.

[@MadderMel]

I fucking well know when the Fall started ! I was the only one in my school who liked them !

[@TheZurul]

he definitely says "plastic." this annotation supports this too annotatedfall.doomby.com/pages/the-annotated-lyrics/how-i-wrote-elastic-man.html#n1

[@pressureworks]

The poor souls mistakenly selecting the incorrect thumb icon, are not eternally grateful. And will soon be amongst the new faces in hell.

[@bobtoomey]

@aircap You're mistaken about Cole. He committed suicide, but it wasn't because his career was destroyed by censorship or because he couldn't find work. On the contrary, he was hitting a career peak when he killed himself. He was a top cartoonist for Playboy magazine and he had just realized his lifelong dream of selling a syndicated comic strip, Betsy & Me, to over fifty newspapers. Why did he kill himself at age 44? Nobody knows, but it wasn't due to lack of success.

[@graculuslurcher380]

Haven't heard plastic man since John peel played it, not on any fall CDs I've got

[@tacomantis505]

Grotesque after the gramme

[@NigelCharlesworth]

Reminds me of the Passenger by Iggy.

[@bradshawvincent]

My Favourite bands are The Fall and The Cocteau Twins. How big a Jump is that???

[@ten10strips85]

People people! For fuck's sake-uh! It's a deliberately unclear play on "plastic" and "elastic," which are virtually homonyms when voiced-uh in song. This is accentuated by the actual, and likely etymological, similarities between them two words. I am higher than giraffe on an air-uh-plane!

[@mrblue99999]

i shall not argue with any of that.

[@ten10strips85]

mrblue99999 Thanks brother, just a little fucking around on my part really. I'm only sad to be greeting you now in a world where the proper writer is no longer. At any rate, well-met fellow.

[@evanboyer5928]

@@mrblue99999 is your name by chance a reference to the 1968 book a fan's notes?

[@mrblue99999]

@@evanboyer5928 nah, just the fleetwoods song. (may have to find this book, tho)

[@tommorrowsdream1]

I think I will change the name of my knob to this .....His name is Stretch Armstrong just now

[@Manic-bc1hf]

..RIP..

[@TomNobody631]

RIP Mark

[@G7ennx]

I think the song is about people asking MES how he wrote the song. The song is called 'How I wrote Elastic Man' but they are ignorant and ask him about 'Plastic Man', the lyric has to be "Plastic Man" as the song itself quotes these notional ignorant people. All of course adding to the potential confusion. Insane and brilliant even after 30 years!

[@michaelmurphy9312]

The Observer magazine just about sums him up..

[@paulhegarty8380]

High priest of Prestwich. RIP

[@Stephengrimes1972]

RIP Frank Sidebottom

[@hexonatapeloop]

I am eternally grateful To my plastic lenses

[@plastikscene]

good stuff

[@66gadus]

he sings plastic man but uses elastic man as the title - something to do with the copyright of the plastic man comic strip i think - ie he can sing it but it can't actually be written down on the record or cover - ?

[@AlphaGoII]

Luv. It.

[@MadderMel]

Looking at a lot of his lyrics , he's either a genius or a madman ! They say that geniuses have a touch of madness !

[@reginaldside4575]

Paul Morley once wondered that or something like it. He should have known better.

[@derekwilson6612]

Nu'hin' tae dae wi' Ray Davis then?

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

You can't be serious

[@Janeandhound]

says How I wrote 'lastic Man.. great band live!

[@stevebonk5241]

How does Plastic man stretch? RIP MES.

[@MadderMel]

You gotta pull it damn hard !

[@nath909]

Still the best

[@indevelopment3453]

The whole point of the song is the 'writer' wrote 'elastic man' but everyone fucks it up and refers to it as plastic man and it drives him fucking mental.

[@xavierprotocols]

I LOVE Plastic Man Anyone remember the old cartoon??

[@MrMinuteman13]

North is a cardinal point so it is Northerners. I am from the North and I pronounce words correctly. Where are you from to be able to give such a critique about the North ?

[@euanm99]

TC - What's 'How I wrote Elastic Man' about? MS - Writers, which is why Dave McCullough didn't like it. It's about a guy who wrote a book called 'Elastic Man' and everybody gets on his back about it, he's a celebrity and it fucks up his art.

[@MadderMel]

+ the ut , when was the comic written ?

[@andywardle4779]

RIP Mark E Smith.

[@MadderMel]

" Fuck it !! Let the beard grow " First thing I say to myself when I wake up on a Monday morning !!

[@GreenLanternJan-Al]

Plastic Man the best superhero ever!

[@thetiktokman]

it is PLASTIC MAN by THE FALL

[@eris6313]

It happens...

[@cruiserscreek]

Yeah, think that's true, he changed it in live versions certainly, after repeated attempts by journalists asking him how he wrote such a strange song as 'Plastic Man'. The irony, pretty inherent.

[@frangrimmes4811]

How indeed......

[@uiogu]

Plastic man rules, and so does this song.

[@joshpell3854]

Goodbye Mark

[@The4thPoliceman]

Stop thinking the title of a song must be accurately reflected in the lyric. Use your ears. He's singing plastic man.

[@leslieschmidt4744]

to joe cosgrove; i really liked what you wrote.

[@juanitomamon8139]

He does actually say "Elastic Man" but just doesn't pronounce the 'e' of 'elastic'

[@barrypotter5751]

Frank skinner covered this on live tv

[@MrBullsChinaShop]

may have been worried about gettin' sued... "the blarney craft of the 'umble Northerner".

[@fossil2003]

Stop thinking its plastic man and hear it as elastic man, it works.

[@ondeafearsblog]

Someone made a comment that there was a DC Universe character called "Elastic Man," and I accidentally deleted the comment. Sir, if you read this comment, you are confusing him with Elongated Man. There has never been an Elastic Man except for in the title of this song. Although someone should do that!

[@hdgofno]

But there is Elastic Lad. Which is one of Jimmy Olsens more frequent silver age super-powered identities. Also there was an Elasti-Man in the Antimatter Universe.

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

Thanks man.