"I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" is a song written by Homer Banks and

Allen Jones Allen Jones may refer to: *Allen Jones (Continental Congress) (1739–1798), Continental Congress delegate *Allen Jones (artist) (born 1937), British pop artist *Allen Jones (record producer) (1940–1987), American record producer *A.J. Styles (Al ...

. Originally recorded by soul duo

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

in 1967, the song was famously covered by new wave musician

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

with his backing band the Attractions in 1980 for their album '' Get Happy!!''.

Original version

"I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" was originally recorded by

in 1967. The Sam & Dave version was issued as the B-side to their live cover of

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

's "Soothe Me".

Elvis Costello and the Attractions version

Elvis Costello and the Attractions covered the song in 1980 for the album '' Get Happy!!''. Costello's version was drastically rearranged from the original, turning it from a slow soul ballad into an uptempo Northern soul-style dance track. It was one of three singles taken from the album in the UK. It was supposed to be released on the

2 Tone Records 2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records. History ...

label in the UK, but even though copies were pressed, contractual difficulties eventually halted its release on that label. The single was eventually released on

F-Beat Records F-Beat Records was a record label set up by Jake Riviera in 1979. Its first release, " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, reached number 4 in the UK charts, the highest singles chart position the label attained ...

, which was the charted release. The single was backed by " Girls Talk" a song Costello originally gave to

pub rock Pub rock is a rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particu ...

musician

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

before releasing his version. The Elvis Costello version of the song was a commercial hit in the UK, reaching number four on the charts over a stay of eight weeks. The single also reached number 14 in Ireland. Searchable database A US version of the single was released as an EP with King Horse & Secondary Modern included on the second side.

Music videos

A music video for the song was released in 1980, featuring Costello and the Attractions attempting to dance using Motown steps. Costello later said of the video, "We went to one of those proper dance studios with the mirror on the wall and the choreographer was trying to teach us basic Motown backing singer steps. I was drinking and said, 'Well… the lead singer doesn't usually do the moves,' so I did a few steps and left it to the Attractions to do it all. The idea behind those early videos was to make comical little films. Once you started to think, 'I'm remaking ''

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'' or ''

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, it lost a little of the charm." In a piece for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Costello recalled a scene from the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' video for "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down", saying, "When I arrived to perform 'I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down' was met by what looked like a circus strongman holding a length of stout rope. Our promo man, Spanner, gently persuaded me to don a pantomime harness so I could be hoisted up on a wire and down again, right on cue with the title line from the chorus. ... Two things stood in the way. One was the holes the hooks of the harness would have to punch in my favourite thrift-store trousers, and the other was my fear of heights. A trip to the

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club took care of the latter: by the time I returned to perform, I wouldn't have cared if I'd been asked to wear harem pants or Bermuda shorts. I was a rubber man, so when the harness returned me to earth, my legs buckled under me. I suspect that the cameraman was already doubled up with laughter, as he completely bungled the shot".

Charts

References

{{authority control 1980 singles Sam & Dave songs Elvis Costello songs Songs written by Homer Banks Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe 1967 songs Songs written by Allen Jones (record producer) 2 Tone Records singles