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The Knockout Artist

by Cathal Coughlan

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about

Award-winning director George Seminara returns to the Co-Aklan fray with this exploration of the plight of the subsistence-level carnival grotesque. This performer's last-gasp pleas to camera are taken on a tour of scenes from his past life - the seaside attractions where he earned his despised fortune, the simple chapel where he was schooled in virtue prior to becoming addicted to losing at games of chance, and the various quiet pools of garish idolatry which lay on the path of sensual equivocation in between those two. Does he react? In a way - see those final frames.

Musically, the song features a storming rhythm track from Microdisney/High Llamas bassist Jonathan Fell and Grand Necropolitan's drum powerhouse Nick Allum, reunited on record for the first time since the Fatima Mansions' Against Nature in 1989. Choral background vocals and slide guitar are contributed by High Llamas/Microdisney alumnus John Bennett, as Coughlan's creative partner from the latter act, Sean O'Hagan, weighs in decisively on The Synth at the song's climax.

lyrics

Now
Everything is an act
Don’t be fooled by the facts
The world wants you back

Golden ears and brass patella
my children Publius and Fontanella
my statuettes
my country pile
Write their names on the good school wait list
nips and tucks and the optometrist
engine sounds and kitchens
make me smile

Now
for the cranium hack
the eye-socket flash
the spine-stack collapse
Please
smash your own jaw
to ironic applause
the world wants you back

You took the train to the coast to gamble
rain of ruin, just a tearful shambles
opponents not required to seal defeat

See the lights of the seafront arcade
gold bars, cherries and metallic cascades
stake erased, including hostel fee

Now
we’re fading into the dark
think upon me, dear heart
as the slow handclaps start
Now
let the consciousness lapse
the light-switches snap
the world wants you back

They set you up a pitch out near the cliffs
Proscenium shell, alfresco glitz
The limelight arcs, announcements blare
skip on the canvas,
swing for there, and there!
no - there!
no - there!

Zapped
on your dishonour lap
dance about, fade to black
canvas cradles your back
Snap!
You lumbered into a trap
watch Poseidon’s jaws flap
the world wants you back

credits

released March 12, 2021

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about

Cathal Coughlan London, UK

Originally from Cork, Ireland, Cathal Coughlan is the co-founder and singer of acclaimed 80s/90s groups Microdisney and Fatima Mansions, and widely considered to be one of Ireland’s most revered singer/songwriters, beloved by fans of caustic literate lyricism and erudite songcraft. ... more

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