Songbook / words & recordings
Mr Tooting Brown
Hovercraft song file · /lyrics/mr-tooting-brown/
01 / The words
Wildman / Marsden / Downing / Downing · Lyrics: Wildman
From the 1996 sessions · Reconstructed 2026 · Doomed To Live, Side A
Mr Tooting Brown You better knock this down You paid a price to come this far Believe me Mr Tooting Brown Everyone's a clown But you believe in Rock 'n' Roll And getting deep down When you lose control Since you turned on There's a world outside your window It's getting better all the time And if I see you I will prob'ly give you diamonds Mr Tooting Brown Mr Tooting Brown The King has lost his crown He took the first train Out of town This morning Mr Tooting Brown The funds ain't looking sound But you believe in Rock 'n' Roll And signing in blood When you sell your soul Since I turned on There's a method in my madness The madness is the method in me And if I take my shots And lie down like I'm s'posed to It won't be And when you're facing the end Might as well shoot it again Might as well work it on out 'Cos there ain't nothing else To think about And when you're facing the end Might as well shoot it again Might as well work it on out 'Cos there ain't nothing else No there ain't nothing else Since you turned on There's a world outside your window It's getting better all the time And if I see you I will prob'ly give you diamonds Mr Tooting Brown Mr Tooting Brown Mr Tooting Brown
03 / The dossier
About this song.
- Written by
- Piers "Charlie Pepper" Wildman
- Work
- Original
An affectionate and grotesque portrait of a faded rock ’n’ roll fantasist: absurd, self-mythologising and still somehow loved.
The 2026 recording was reconstructed from the original 1995 studio demo. A later solo acoustic performance by Gol led to a separate 2025 reconstruction. Recorded at Pete’s Pad, Cleethorpes, in October 1995 with teenage drummer “Dave”, who had replaced Dr Rhythm that month. His full name is unknown. Vince Weaver later deputised briefly before Daniel Downing joined in March 1996.
04 / The artwork
Visualising the song.
04 / The archive
