Mark E Smith in poignant song shocker! It’s not often the Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall veers down a heartfelt path, but in fairness, this one’s a cover.
I’m Going To Spain is Mark E’s take on an obscure 1978 Steve Bent track, that captures the small town naivety of a no-hoper who’s cashed in his chips for a life in the sun.
Amid breezy synths and clumsy castanets, Smith croons about following his cousin Norman to Spain, with his tearful mum’s premium bonds and “some tapes of Elton John” from the lads on the factory floor.
“I think it’s time I saw the world,” he sings, but I dare you not to go all glassy-eyed when you realise he’s heading to some grim resort and he’ll be back home before Christmas, asking for his old job back.
The original I’m Going To Spain appeared on a 1978 album of outsider music called The World’s Worst Record Show — compiled by Kenny Everett of all people. The Fall’s version is on the 1993 album The Infotainment Scam, which also has their magnificent banjaxed cover of Sister Sledge’s Lost In Music, but that’s another story.
Moo Kid 