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

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are considere ...

and Allen Jones. 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 (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

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

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

with his backing band

the Attractions The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums ...

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 Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

's "Soothe Me".

Elvis Costello and the Attractions version

and

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 Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

-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 J ...

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 Andrew Lauder (music executive), Andrew Lauder and 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, th ...

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

pub rock Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock ...

musician

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

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 ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Orson Welles as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. Set in post-Worl ...

'' or ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Costello recalled a scene from the ''

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

'' 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

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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