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Elbow — The Fix
Album: The Seldom Seen Kid
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1974









Released: 2008
Length: 4:15
Plays (last 30 days): 0
The fix is in
There's a nag gonna dance home at Epsom
The fix is in
Can't wait to see how it upsets them

Too many times we've been postally pipped
We've loaded the saddles, the mickeys are slipped
We're swapping the turf for the sand
And the surf and the sin
'Cause the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The odds that I got were delicious
The fix is in
The jockey is cocky and vicious

The redoubtable beast has had Pegasus pills
We'll buy him the patch in the Tuscany hills
And the vino de Vici will flow like a river in spring
Now the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The snaps of the steward's so candid
The fix is in
Yes, our pigeons have finally landed

The Donaghue sisters will meet us in France
In penguins and pearls we'll drink and we'll dance
Till the end of our days
'Cause it ain't left to chance that we win
'Cause the fix, the fix is in
Comments (244)add comment
 contactchrisx1 wrote:

Richard Hawley sharing lead vocals on this one.



Richard Hawley is excellent, and hugely underrated, imo. 'Cole's Corner' & 'Standing At The Sky's Edge' are well worth checking out...
 Montreal_Mort wrote:

Anyone feel Leonard Cohen?



Isn't that illegal ? 
 Roguewarer wrote:

Weird little tune

Normally, I really enjoy Elbow. In fact, I’m ever grateful to RP for introducing  me to this (normally) amazing group.

I’m not quite sure why this tune gets so much airplay, tho.  A lot of their earlier stuff (which I haven’t heard in ages!) FAR exceeds this ditty in composition & arrangement & likeability. 



This. Exactly. 
Richard Hawley sharing lead vocals on this one.
Anyone feel Leonard Cohen?
he's got some great pipes
Weird little tune

Normally, I really enjoy Elbow. In fact, I’m ever grateful to RP for introducing  me to this (normally) amazing group.

I’m not quite sure why this tune gets so much airplay, tho.  A lot of their earlier stuff (which I haven’t heard in ages!) FAR exceeds this ditty in composition & arrangement & likeability. 
GREAT lyrics!
Bill really needs to play The Fixx after this.
I don't know if you have already done this, but do listen to the lyrics. Mr Garvey can't half craft a goodun!
Since vinyl platters have no stabilizing lip (like Pluto Platters) to create the 
balancing Bernouli lift needed to sustain level flight, it takes a lot of  'back angle' to achieve appreciable distance.  We did, however, make many one-way tosses, not because we disliked the music but most always because 1. They'd developed an intollerably audible scratch (and couldn't be sold back used, since the scratch was also visually prominent) OR  2. Priced at 99¢ (White Front) they were considerably cheaper than the 175g Wham-o frisbees that were our usual knock-around & friendly competition discs.  When we were of an age that required head to head competition of everything from fastest down 6 stories of dorm stairs to highest number of behind-the-back frisbee catches, chucking albums off the cliff at the Torrey Pines Glider Port (alt. 371') well enough to reach the water was routine competition, when we had enough throwaways.
Is there a Fixx song called the The Elbow?
Garvey does a fabulous programme on BBC Radio 4. Sundays. Listen in if you can access. X
 dandueck07 wrote:
Love your entry.  

I was too cheap & poor to toss albums away. . . however in 1974 a dorm mate of mine  won a Stompin' Tom LP as a prize (purchased by the rednecks on our floor who actually considered this to be a treasured item).   Canucks will know who this guy was.  Being a rocker, like myself, he didn't know what to do with it.  
I helped him out.  I waited until the Stompin' Tom fans were all gathered in the common room for their daily dose of Star Trek.  Then I gleefully unwrapped the album in front of them, opened a window, and frisbeee-tossed the LP from our 5th floor.
I was very disappointed that the LP had such a short flight.  It curved up sharply, and descended like a saw blade on edge.  The outrage that I sparked amongst the assembled audience, however, made this the BEST FRISBEE TOSS OF MY LIFE! And, yeah, it didn't survive. 
I would never do this to an Elbow album, of course!






WTUL used to have a certain level of fund raiser that would get a record played for a few bars, scratched and broken on air. One particular year, there was a shortage of Madonna records in NOLA and the surrounding area from the many profitable requests for "Like A Virgin"
doves->elbow brilliant
 linden wrote:

Usually I enjoy Elbow as a replacement for Peter Gabriel (who no longer seems to be making music), but this song is best enjoyed as a replacement for Leonard Cohen (who has joined the Choir Invisible).



Who did Leonard Cohen & Peter Gabriel replace in your zero sum world?
 linden wrote:

Usually I enjoy Elbow as a replacement for Peter Gabriel (who no longer seems to be making music), but this song is best enjoyed as a replacement for Leonard Cohen (who has joined the Choir Invisible).



HUH?
Love your entry.  

I was too cheap & poor to toss albums away. . . however in 1974 a dorm mate of mine  won a Stompin' Tom LP as a prize (purchased by the rednecks on our floor who actually considered this to be a treasured item).   Canucks will know who this guy was.  Being a rocker, like myself, he didn't know what to do with it.  
I helped him out.  I waited until the Stompin' Tom fans were all gathered in the common room for their daily dose of Star Trek.  Then I gleefully unwrapped the album in front of them, opened a window, and frisbeee-tossed the LP from our 5th floor.
I was very disappointed that the LP had such a short flight.  It curved up sharply, and descended like a saw blade on edge.  The outrage that I sparked amongst the assembled audience, however, made this the BEST FRISBEE TOSS OF MY LIFE! And, yeah, it didn't survive. 
I would never do this to an Elbow album, of course!

 Deadwing wrote:
 

We called crappy albums "frisbees" back in the day. Like real frisbees, they would fly quite a ways before landing. Unlike real frisbees, they normally shattered into a thousand pieces when they returned to the tarmac.

But we were ok with that.

We also used to put crap albums in the oven on low heat and then bend them into interesting shapes.

We were quite the scamps back then.

(no reflection on THIS album which I adore- just explaining how gleefully destructive and irreverent some of us were back in the day).

{#Cheers}



 bdwhitepm wrote:


I know we are all frustrated but lets keep politics off of RP


No worries, they have access to everything now. 
Play more Richard Hawley! I think this is the only song I hear that features him. Thanks!
I don't normally like Elbow, but I really like this one!  Quirky...
 Dahlia_Gumbo wrote:

The Fix is In...sounds like a comment on the US political situation.



Ha ha. No, it's about fixing a horse-race.
 Madness1954 wrote:

How many other songs are there about fixing a horse-race?




How many songs are there about fixing the 2020 U.S. presidential election?
How many other songs are there about fixing a horse-race?
 admascott wrote:

sounds like the theme song to a Hugh Jackman movie



To me, more like a Rat Pack movie score. I can hear Dean and Sammy singing this.
I can hear Leonard Cohen in this, it's calling for a deeper voice.
sounds like the theme song to a Hugh Jackman movie
Like most of Elbow that I’ve heard, but this one not so much. Instrementatuon sounds like something from a 1930s Frankenstein movie
Saw these guys as the sun was setting at the Isle of Wight festival...amazing show, charismatic intelligent and articulate front man in GG. Love their music which effortlessly blends beautiful melody, with poetry and storytelling...a cinematic experience for the ears!
 kbs wrote:
I wish there was a similar band called the Rs so we could see who could tell their Rs from their Elbow...
 
Oh snap!
This band confuses me.  All their songs are totally different from each other (which is good), and each one quite likable in their own right.  But I never remember them after they're played.
Although I'd been listening to RP for a few years when this album came out, Seldom Seen Kid was my first Radio-Paradise-inspired album buy. I'll always associate this album with falling in love with RP. 
Evidently Guy Garvey didn't know anything about horse racing and so he hung around a betting place (or track - I forget which) to pick up on the jargon. The results are impressive - this song is full of great lyrics.

On the live version, Richard Hawley  plays some scorching guitar!
 RabbitEars wrote: (re postally pipped)


verb (used with object), pipped, pip·ping. British Slang.1 to blackball.
2 to defeat (an opponent).
3 to shoot, especially to wound or kill by a gunshot.
 
The phrase 'pipped at the post' means beaten (past the winning post) at the last moment. Probably by a pip's length.
From Doves to Elbow?    So predictable!  whats next..
 ch83575 wrote:
"postally pipped" ?
 
Pipped at the post - beaten right at the very end of the race. As the song is about fixing a horse race
 Ipse_Dixit wrote:
Federal Court of Appeals just denied NY City DA access to Trump's tax returns...
 

I know we are all frustrated but lets keep politics off of RP
 Ipse_Dixit wrote:
Federal Court of Appeals just denied NY City DA access to Trump's tax returns...
 
The fix is in?
Federal Court of Appeals just denied NY City DA access to Trump's tax returns...
paper ballots?
 ch83575 wrote:
"postally pipped" ?
 

verb (used with object), pipped, pip·ping. British Slang.1 to blackball.
2 to defeat (an opponent).
3 to shoot, especially to wound or kill by a gunshot.
"postally pipped" ?
They have been around a LONG time
Song of 2020.
The Fix is In...sounds like a comment on the US political situation.
I love Elbow, but this is Sucko-Barfo.
Usually I enjoy Elbow as a replacement for Peter Gabriel (who no longer seems to be making music), but this song is best enjoyed as a replacement for Leonard Cohen (who has joined the Choir Invisible).
In the Fix is.
- Master Yoda
 garthwb wrote:
Great pairing, Elbow (always welcome) with Richard Hawley! Somebody up there likes me!
R! 

R! 

R!

I'd love to hear this covering a montage in a new Ealing Comedy.
I wish there was a similar band called the Rs so we could see who could tell their Rs from their Elbow...
 ltbluesoda wrote:
um Blll.... you played this yesterday. 
 
Just getting old & forgetful like me.
 ltbluesoda wrote:
um Blll.... you played this yesterday. 
 
Um...you ate yesterday. 
um Blll.... you played this yesterday. 
I'm so excited to be seeing them in November
 Grammarcop wrote:
Needs more contrapuntal harpsichord. 

 
TWSS
If BNL were British, I might just like more than their first (goofy) album. And by that I mean that they might write some memorable songs.

Elbow kills me, only caught on to them a couple years ago. This song got a 7 from me mid-way through, and an 8 by the end!
Man, am I a sucker for witty lyrics.  I vote 8.
 oldsaxon wrote:

Bare Naked Ladies? Really? I can't really hear any resemblance...at all...nothing.

 
I'll third that. Can't hear anything at all. About as connected as two really disconnected things.
 oldman wrote:
Elbow always seems like "What if BNL were British?"

 
Bare Naked Ladies? Really? I can't really hear any resemblance...at all...nothing.
The background vocals remind me of The Specials' "Ghost Town." In other words, cool stuff!
Very sly vocals on a very sly track....love Elbow
I just had to buy another copy of "The Seldom Seen Kid" as my original disc was worn out and destroyed. A perfect album...
 DD rabbi_phil wrote:
'yeah...I'm gonna go down to madam x and let her read my mind

 
That voodoo stuff don't do nuthin for me...
Elbow have finally arrived in the UK with this album and certainly consolated with Seldem seen Kid - Guy Garvey great singer and front man - they are not to everybodies taste - but certainly to mine
 oldman wrote:
Elbow always seems like "What if BNL were British?"
 
oh lord! BNL is awful. i don't see any similarity whatsoever. not even from the songwriting/arrangements/delivery. weird!
Needs more contrapuntal harpsichord. 
Elbow always seems like "What if BNL were British?"
'yeah...I'm gonna go down to madam x and let her read my mind

This needs to be the theme song for "Oceans Nineteen" or whatever they're up to now. 
there are those that think this type of thing is clever...
AND they are allowed to vote...  {#Hand}
Richard Hawley on backing vocals sounds like Murray Lightburn of "The Dears" (I think, moreso than the aforementioned Nick Cave or Leonard Cohen).
 Kregg wrote:


but frisbees are for kids and monkeys.  i am utterly confused.  and why anyone would equate an lp with a frisbee, the letters in their names aren't even close to being similar.
  

We called crappy albums "frisbees" back in the day. Like real frisbees, they would fly quite a ways before landing. Unlike real frisbees, they normally shattered into a thousand pieces when they returned to the tarmac.

But we were ok with that.

We also used to put crap albums in the oven on low heat and then bend them into interesting shapes.

We were quite the scamps back then.

(no reflection on THIS album which I adore- just explaining how gleefully destructive and irreverent some of us were back in the day).

{#Cheers}

I like the song overall but find the repeating six-note motif following the verses annoying. The album is fantastic - probably their best.
 dolfan wrote:
Got to do it: 7 to a 9.
  hehe — I'm close behind you, just bumped from 7 —-> 8


New recording is out it seems.  Went to the website for a bit of a listen.  It sounds like they've done another bang up job yet again.

Weird, but actually the ONLY song I've heard from Elbow that I could easily not hear again. Hey, every artist has a stinker. For me, this is a stinker.
 wycado wrote:
Permit me a completely random thought. I was at the Ryder Cup golf tournament last year, and I was talking to a course marshal that lived in Kentucky. We were discussing a golfer, and the marshal said that "..he was dumber than a sack of elbows." I can't see this band name without that popping into short term memory.
 
Was he talking about John Daly?

I've met The Donaghue Sisters....they're not so hot!
Looks like their new album is out in England on March 7th: https://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/03/elbow-build-rocket-boys-review

Got to do it: 7 to a 9.
I'm very slowly exposing myself to this recording (insert joke here). It's just too good to hear all at once.

This song is 10 brilliant. Here are the lyrics:

The Fix Lyrics

The fix is in
There's a nag gonna dance home at Epsom

The fix is in
Can't wait to see how it upsets 'em

Too many times we've been postally pipped
We've loaded the saddles, the mickeys are slipped
We're swapping the turf for the sand and the surf and the sin
Cause the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The odds that I got were delicious

The fix is in
The jockey is cocky and vicious

The redoubtable beast has had pegasus pills
We'll buy him the patch in the Tuscany hills
And the Vino di Vici will flow like a river in spring
Now the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The snaps of the steward so candid

The fix is in
Yes, our pigeons have finally landed

The Donahue sisters will meet us in France
In penguins and pearls, we'll drink and we'll dance
'Til the end of our days, cause it ain't left to chance
That we win
Cause the fix, the fix is in
 steelpaw wrote:

You all seem to be missing the point. No one is suggesting any actual connection between Frisbees and LPs.

The point of calling a crap LP a 'Frisbee' (and I can remember the term being used here in Australia amongst teenagers in the 70s and early 80s) was to indicate that it was no good for listening to and its only possible use was as a toy to throw around. The term Frisbee was also used for an LP that had got damaged and become unplayable.
'
The term was used in a throwaway sense, not as a term for LPs in general. You wouldn't go to a friend's house and say "Got any new Frisbees?" or "Why don't you put a Frisbee on?". It would be used more like: "What's this like?" (indicating new LP) "Oh, it's a bit of a Frisbee, really" Or even more likely: "Uh-oh, it's a Frisbee now" (after dragging stylus across record while drunk).

 

but frisbees are for kids and monkeys.  i am utterly confused.  and why anyone would equate an lp with a frisbee, the letters in their names aren't even close to being similar.
 Jamunca wrote:
In my opinion, weakest track from the album, and still better than a lot of stuff out there.
 
Agreed - 7

@p_j_b... I invested. {#Music} {#Wave}
One of the wierdest songs ive heard today
In my opinion, weakest track from the album, and still better than a lot of stuff out there.
 rtrudeau wrote:


The Pluto Platter was a toy similar to a Frisbee, nothing to do with recorded music. Read about the origin of the Frisbee and the Pluto Platter here.

I went to college in California in the good old days of the 70's. I never heard the term Frisbee applied to LPs. Perhaps it's an East Coast/West Coast thing.
 
You all seem to be missing the point. No one is suggesting any actual connection between Frisbees and LPs.

The point of calling a crap LP a 'Frisbee' (and I can remember the term being used here in Australia amongst teenagers in the 70s and early 80s) was to indicate that it was no good for listening to and its only possible use was as a toy to throw around. The term Frisbee was also used for an LP that had got damaged and become unplayable.
'
The term was used in a throwaway sense, not as a term for LPs in general. You wouldn't go to a friend's house and say "Got any new Frisbees?" or "Why don't you put a Frisbee on?". It would be used more like: "What's this like?" (indicating new LP) "Oh, it's a bit of a Frisbee, really" Or even more likely: "Uh-oh, it's a Frisbee now" (after dragging stylus across record while drunk).

 MojoJojo wrote:

"In 1957, Wham-O co-founder Richard Knerr, decided to stimulate sales by giving the discs the additional brand name "Frisbee" (pronounced "FRIZ'-bee"), after hearing that East Coast college students were calling the Pluto Platter by that name."

Sounds more plausible than your "call". 

 

The Pluto Platter was a toy similar to a Frisbee, nothing to do with recorded music. Read about the origin of the Frisbee and the Pluto Platter here.

I went to college in California in the good old days of the 70's. I never heard the term Frisbee applied to LPs. Perhaps it's an East Coast/West Coast thing.
 Kokoloco53 wrote:

During my days in college, back in the 70's, a long, long, long time ago, we used to call a 33 1/3 long playing album, or LP, a FRISBEE....if we hated the album, which meant, take the LP outside and hurl it away with a good flip of the wrist, or hurl it into a garbage can so as not to be littering the countryside. If I had purchased this album, Elbow, with this song, I would have to say, "What a Frisbee!". How do these bands get on the air anyway?


 

Gosh, this is seriously one of my very favourite albums. (Seriously) Now my feelings are hurt.
 rtrudeau wrote:
 Kokoloco53 wrote:
During my days in college, back in the 70's, a long, long, long time ago, we used to call a 33 1/3 long playing album, or LP, a FRISBEE....if we hated the album, which meant, take the LP outside and hurl it away with a good flip of the wrist, or hurl it into a garbage can ....   


NO ONE ever called an LP a "frisbee" in the good old college days of the 70's. I call bullshit.
 
"In 1957, Wham-O co-founder Richard Knerr, decided to stimulate sales by giving the discs the additional brand name "Frisbee" (pronounced "FRIZ'-bee"), after hearing that East Coast college students were calling the Pluto Platter by that name."

Sounds more plausible than your "call". 

I just love the line that says "and the pinot grigio flows like a river in spring", sounds like these guys are serious about their wine.
 Kokoloco53 wrote:
During my days in college, back in the 70's, a long, long, long time ago, we used to call a 33 1/3 long playing album, or LP, a FRISBEE....if we hated the album, which meant, take the LP outside and hurl it away with a good flip of the wrist, or hurl it into a garbage can ....   


NO ONE ever called an LP a "frisbee" in the good old college days of the 70's. I call bullshit.

 rbarfuss wrote:
Very slow kinda boring song, but the lyrics are interesting.
 

Do you really think so or are just being nice?
 Jelani wrote:
I think the fix is that everyone's been brainwashed to think these guys are "good".
 

I love when people attempt humor and fail miserably.
I think the fix is that everyone's been brainwashed to think these guys are "good".

Please add "The Bones of you" from this same CD to the roatation.


 fingerpin wrote:
Second song from the album that has captured my attention in as many days. Time to invest. {#Sunny}
 
It is a great investment! {#Good-vibes}

During my days in college, back in the 70's, a long, long, long time ago, we used to call a 33 1/3 long playing album, or LP, a FRISBEE....if we hated the album, which meant, take the LP outside and hurl it away with a good flip of the wrist, or hurl it into a garbage can so as not to be littering the countryside. If I had purchased this album, Elbow, with this song, I would have to say, "What a Frisbee!". How do these bands get on the air anyway?


 Smoove_D wrote:

That's what I thought a few months ago. It ended up being a bad investment. But then, that seems to be the minority opinion among RP listeners.

 
I may have posted this elsewhere (i.e., another Elbow song), but I found the album tedious when listening to it from start to finish. For me, it's one of those discs in which the songs sound better interspersed with other songs—like in a radio format or perhaps shuffled with a bunch of other stuff in a CD/DVD changer. The contrast seems to take the tedium out them. So, it's a good album, just not all at once. 


Just gets more horrendous with each spin.{#Beat}
 fingerpin wrote:
Second song from the album that has captured my attention in as many days. Time to invest. {#Sunny}
 
That's what I thought a few months ago. It ended up being a bad investment. But then, that seems to be the minority opinion among RP listeners.

"the mickeys are slipped"
good line in an otherwise MEH song
 DaMoGan wrote:
At first I found this annoying, but somehow now I find this song quite intriguing.
 
I feel the exact opposite.
Bought the album on the merit of this track and "Audience with the Pope." After hearing all the songs on the album, this is absolutely my least favorite now. The rest of the songs seem so genuine, and this one seems overly self-conscious of its own cleverness. Or something.

But I admit, the instrumentation is interesting/enjoyable, and I'd actually prefer it if there were no vocals. Very Elfman-esque, like a Tim Burton film.

{#Think}{#Yes}

 
FrankMc wrote:

Sounds sort of like Children of Leonard Cohen. Likable in its own odd way.


 


Second song from the album that has captured my attention in as many days. Time to invest. {#Sunny}
The incessant repetition really kills this one for me.
Permit me a completely random thought. I was at the Ryder Cup golf tournament last year, and I was talking to a course marshal that lived in Kentucky. We were discussing a golfer, and the marshal said that "..he was dumber than a sack of elbows." I can't see this band name without that popping into short term memory.
 Limpopoking wrote:


yes... why do you ask?

 
Please don't repost Excelsior's comments, he is a troll who left last Fall.

Regards,
PJB
 Excelsior wrote:
Is it REALLY necessary to hear this damn song so often?  {#Frustrated}
 

yes... why do you ask?

I adore Elbow
One must admire Bill's song progression, regardless of what you think about the music. This was perfect to come after Madrugada.
The instrumental toward the end remind me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-specifically the Walnut song. I'm talking of course about the Burton/Danny Elfman version.

I like it!  {#Cool}
the more I hear this the more I despise it

i picture oceans 11, clooney, pitt, cheadle, mack all looking way too cool.

 DaMoGan wrote:

At first I found this annoying, but somehow now I find this song quite intriguing.
 
I thought about this song as I watched the Super Bowl. The refs were a joke.


At first I found this annoying, but somehow now I find this song quite intriguing.
I am just gonna have to buy this one. Watched them on Abbey Road Live and really enjoyed them.
 Ahnyer_Keester wrote:
Hate, hate, HATE this song. Hope someone's enjoying it. Rating at 1 volume at 0. See you all on the other side.
{#Puke}
 
I am! {#Dancingbanana}