It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface.
Snails have been around for millions of years, but wallfish in this context, may have found its origin Roman times, that empire bringing to Ancient Britain a taste for snails as a culinary delicacy, fattened on milk and wine. The word clearly alludes to that slippery wall-clinging ability, and in Catholic medieval England, it became popular to name it this way, at least on Fridays. Why on Fridays? It was a way around the Catholic Church’s prohibition on eating meat, but allowing ‘fish’ on that holy day.
Donovan’s 1967 folky track There Is A Mountain from his Mellow Yellow album begins with a snail that hasn’t so much scaled a wall, but a garden gate:
“The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is.”
Cavetown’s melancholic lo-fi number Snail initially moves at a comparably appropriate pace, but isn’t comfortable with this troubled state of mind:
“There’s another snail living with me in my shell
It’s fair to say I don’t like it.”
Finally, another gentle paced country folk number Snails by The Format from 2006’s album Dog Problems, portrays that pace of life more positively, as the asks his potential new love to slow down a little:
“Snails see the benefits,
The beauty in every inch
Oh, why, why, why, why, oh, why,
Are you quick to kiss?”
Meanwhile … just for nostalgic reasons, not that kind of wallfish:
So then, any further snail or wallfish-related examples your own music library? Perhaps some swordfish word ones? Feel free also to share anything related whether in music or wider culture, such as from film, art, or other contexts, in comments below.
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