I Am Damo Suzuki

Pretty self explanatory...It reads a bit like a hallucinatory tribute to Can, the only band Mark Smith will acknowledge as being an influence on the Fall. The drums in the song imitate the rhythm from "Oh Yeah," a track on Can's "Tago Mago" but sped up and out of synch with the other instruments--thus "when the drums come in fast..." The Vitamin C reference is, I assume, taken from the Can track of the same name. The Karlheinz Stockhausen reference is pretty self-explanatory, though the line "Give it to me Daki" is confusing. My only insight is that it may be Mark Smith's perversion of "Jaki," as in Liebezeit (Can's drummer). "Soundtracks" is probably in reference to the Can album; I have no idea why Fritz Leiber's name appears in the song, since he wasn't German, a musician, or in any way connected (as far as I know) with Can. My guess is that Mark E. Smith, an avowed fan of "weird fiction" authors like HP Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, and Leiber himself, is inserting a non-sequitur tribute to another influence on his music. The lines about "days pre-Virgin" and "Cannot get on clear vinyl" are most likely in reference to Faust, who signed on to Virgin records early in their career and whose first, self-titled album was originally pressed on clear vinyl in a clear sleeve. I'm going to leave the lines about eggs and brass and rocks up to a more adventurous listener, since it just seems like gibberish Smith-speak to me.

I had a character in a role-playing game named Damo Suzuki. He was a Samurai. I just thought the name sounded cool.

This song was on the first Fall album I ever bought, "Our Nations Saving Grace", along with "Paintwork", "Cruisers' Creek", "L.A.", "Vixen", and "My New House". I quickly came to love it. Thank you, Record Store Lady who recommended it to me back in 1989.