26 Mar 2008
But you can’t hide the fact that we used to play naked Twister
Ordinary to Enschede is a B-side from the McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt era. It’s rather sweet. There’s a mystery place in the first verse (“Phipps Central” according to the HMHB site) which I’ll be very grateful if anyone can shed a light on.
See the lyrics to Ordinary to Enschede
25 Letters Sent:
Floreat Ultonia
Just inspired guesswork but might Phipps Central be Eindhoven Beukenlaan which serves the Philips industrial complex?
Keep up the good work.
Apr 25th, 2008
Ben
Can’t help with any lyrics as I’ve never actually heard the song.
Just thought I’d post in case anyone was struggling with what an ‘ordinary’ was.
Back in the days of ‘Football specials’ when trains were laid on for 70′s hoolies to wreck, there was an incident between Chelsea and Everton fans at High Street Kensington which (I think) lead to Everton coming off slightly the worse for wear.
Next season some legendary graffiti was sprayed onto a wall at Lime Street -”Ordinary to Chelsea” inviting those seeking retribution to attend via a scheduled train service in order to slip through the attentions of the Met.
May 1st, 2008
twistedkitemike
I always thought it was ‘Fib Central’?
As in, telling porkies?
I may enquire upon high if necessary.
Mike…………………………………………………………
May 2nd, 2008
chris
Wow, could be. Not sure it makes much sense, but then again, who does? (Sorry, came across all Blade Runner there)
May 2nd, 2008
gNick
Sounds like Fib Central, now I listen to it again. I’ve been singing it in acoustic nights as Phipps Central for about a year though…
An enquiry on high might make good sense – whether the answer would is another matter.
May 2nd, 2008
dj
i thought it was phipps central as well, but no, i couldn’t offer a convincing argument for it either.
May 20th, 2008
CAMRA man
Hi Chris.
Great site and congratulations for taking on a monumental and noble task. Here’s my tuppence worth. After hearing it again, I concur with the others by thinking it’s “Fib” . I kinda fits in with the previous two lines where she is lying to him.
Jul 11th, 2008
chris
OK, let’s go with that, although enquiries made on high would still be most welcome!
Jul 11th, 2008
Ben
If like me you’ve never heard this rarity, some kind soul has uploaded it onto You tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvz-h0xCYk
Jul 19th, 2008
sgd
the song book has it as Phipps Central.
hope this helps
Jul 20th, 2008
Twistedkitemike
Out of interest, my enquiry to a higher authority was met with an unequivocal “Fib Central”. He should know. Maybe.
Unrelated, but many thanks to this site/forum for confirming (albeit only one of the many theories that I had considered over the years) the lyrical content of “Techstep”. It ‘sort of’ makes sense now.
Again, great piece of work; this site.
Mike…………………………………………………………………..
Oct 13th, 2008
Mr Larrington
I discovered yesterday, quite by chance, that there is a district of Stockholm named “Enskede”. And thus found myself wondering whether the title is an elaborate joke that has had Nigel quietly chortling up his sleeve since 1990.
Jan 19th, 2009
Charles Exford
Waregem, Malmo and Enschede (the Dutch one) are all fairly well-known clubs in European leagues, UEFA cup, etc, and we all know NB57′s penchant for fairly well-known clubs in European leagues, UEFA Cup, etc..
‘Ordinary to’ is a fairly well-known way of saying ‘Please can I have a ticket on the normal train, not the football special, to avoid the police escort’.
The Stockholm thing therefore looks unlikely, given the spelling and all.
Jan 20th, 2009
Neil G
I don’t know where to put this but this section, one offs, seems reasonable. I used to have mp3s of Legend In My Time and the session that included King of Rome, taken from the HMHB website, I think. My computer went all to cock a while back and I got a new one. I thought I’d copied all the files to the new one but I hadn’t. I can’t find them. Does anyone know how I might get hold of them again? They’re not on the website now.
Feb 4th, 2009
Simon Smith
e-mail me and I`ll send you a CD with both on if you like. unknown.pleasures@hotmail.com.
Feb 4th, 2009
Chris The Siteowner
“Fib Central” is confirmed: Source
Apr 1st, 2010
Mr Larrington
According to a long-haired Dutchman of my slight acquaintance this is how one pronounces “Enschede”. Having as I do no sound capability on this ‘ere Babbage-Engine, I’d be grateful to anyone who does to confirm whether nb57 or Peelie has it right.
May 13th, 2010
Attila the Brit
Evenin’, Your Worship.
Enskede is not that tricky a one to pronounce, except for the “sk” sound, which we don’t have in English. It’s a very guttural sound, particularly in Stockholm. In other parts of Sweden, you’d get away with a “sh” sound. Stress is on the first syllable and 3 short “e” sounds. Sorry, I’ve no phonemic characters on this ‘ere ZX Spectrum. Get along to Bilston and I’ll sort you out…
May 15th, 2010
Peter Gandy
@Attila: Are you suggesting it’s an ordinary to Enskede (as in the suburb of Stockholm) rather than Enschede in the Netherlands?
I had pondered that possibility due to the references to Malmo and “you went off your swede…”, but ruled it out due to the title spelling.
May 17th, 2010
Attila the Brit
@Peter G: No, I was responding to Mr Larrington’s (a.k.a. the Mayor of somewhere or other in France!) post up thread. I’m fairly sure the song refers to the Dutch place which I would not hazard a guess as to how to pronounce…
Watching a few episodes of Wallander (not the luvvie darling version, I add) might help with the Swedish, but it’s filmed in Scania and the Swedish pronunciation there is as close to Stockholm’s as Essex’s is to Scots.
May 20th, 2010
Roy
It’s about Enschede (NL), the home town of FC Twente, the 2010 Champions of the Netherlands
Oct 1st, 2010
Bobby String
As far as I can determine, Nigel’s pronunciation of Enschede is correct. However, he’s got Waragem wrong. Being in the Flemish-speaking area of Belgium, the ‘g’ in the middle would be pronounced like the ‘ch’ in ‘loch’, but since most English people can’t pronounce that either, Nigel has a good excuse.
And no, I don’t speak Flemish (though I have been to Belgium) but as it’s similar to Afrikaans and I now live in South Africa, I thought I’d look up the pronunciation to see if the Flemish also pronounce the ‘g’ that way, which they do except at the beginning of a word where it’s pronounced ‘x’ apparently!
http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/alphabet/flemish.htm
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Jun 29th, 2011
Charles Exford
All places best known in the UK for their footy teams in European competitions, so I think it’s more about how English footy commentators pronounce them.
Jun 29th, 2011
Bobby String
Yes, English footy commentators do struggle a bit with some of the overseas teams and players. Not like in the old days when the only names they had to juggle with were the likes of McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt…
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Jun 29th, 2011
Sipperana
For years I thought the lyric was “VIPS Central”, which would have made it the most esoteric lyrical reference in the HMHB canon, VIPS being a little-known and now obsolete piece of transport planning software originally developed by Volvo Buses in, yep, Sweden, hence the “I went off my swede” lyric. Bang goes that theory…
Oct 22nd, 2011
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