Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

It's about a pathological liar to me, someone who can't stop lying and creating excuses and so ends up in trouble and trys to dig himself out by blaming other people for telling lies on him. who says I lied because I never... I love it because Morrissey sounds like a little kid when he's saying that he phrases it like a child would Top notch stuff

To me it's a relationship break down, the ex girlfriend has been told tales which inevitably ended the relationship, the man finds himself making unreasonable excuses for things that the tales where told on. Innocent things maliciously altered??? He drinks, she finds someone new. He gets beaten up in a drunken state, perhaps making a bit of a scene in the pub in which the new couple are in. Possibility involving the source of the tales???

I love his song, it's very dark. Theres certainly a malicious element.

why do some people think domestic abuse is only levelled at the female?

To me it's a relationship break down, the ex-girlfriend has been told tales which inevitably ended the relationship, whist going through a rough patch, the man finds himself making unreasonable excuses for things that the lies where told on which are innocent things maliciously altered or maybe just not true. He drinks.
The person telling lies is a mutual “friend” the mutual friend then becomes her lover after breaking the relationship. He sees them together and realises what has happened perhaps in the local pub, while drunk causes a scene, they fight and he gets beaten up.

I love his song, it's very dark. There is certainly a malicious element.

Yes, yes, there is certainly the hint of someone with a drinking problem. Who apparently is a fighting drunk on top of that. However, the "nothing's changed..." section add a bit more depth. It would seem that our drunk is drinking his way through sadness dealing with his relationship...did she cheat on him? Perhaps the other way around? Either way, he constantly assures her that his drinking and fighting has nothing to do with her, once his "I was delayed" excuse is found wanting.

"only slightly less than i used to..." is great. I feel like that line is a kind of internal afterthought while he's apologising, and trying to cover up.

To me it's a relationship break down, the ex-girlfriend has been told tales which inevitably ended the relationship, whist going through a rough patch, the man finds himself making unreasonable excuses for things that the lies where told on which are innocent things maliciously altered or maybe just not true. He drinks.
The person telling lies is a mutual “friend” the mutual friend then becomes her lover after breaking the relationship. He sees them together and realises what has happened perhaps in the local pub, while drunk causes a scene, they fight and he gets beaten up.

I love his song, it's very dark. There is certainly a malicious element.

Someone on YouTube asked what this song was about, which made me discover this site and this is how I answered:

Few of the songs by The Smiths can ever be explained in terms of “what they are about”, per se, which is exactly what makes them so attractive to their fans; their entire body of work is open to interpretation. People appreciate their odd lyrics (or not) because they usually involve wit, puns and other clever wordplay, often juxtaposing morose imagery with happy, jangly guitar music, meaning that you have to pay attention to the lyrics to “get it”.

Their music often describes everyday situations or sexually-ambiguous situations, something which appealed tremendously to a great many disaffected youth then. So, The Smiths drove some people bananas while completely clicking with others, who immediately and forever related with them, even though they can’t quite explain (nor feel compelled to explain) why.

Be that as it may, to me, this one particular song’s title evokes people who start off telling jokes by saying “Stop Me if…”, meaning that they are generally extroverts and consequently annoying. (Introverts will immediately relate to the gnashing of teeth that occurs when an extrovert decides to take over a crowd like that and will be able to commiserate with fellow introverts who feel likewise.) It goes on to say how love can really be a pathetic joke… but that’s just my interpretation.

It sounds more like the first comment to me. Somebody who's late, coming up with evermore absurd excuses.

one of the most played songs on my iPod. definitely one of my favorites of theirs.

"who said I'd lied to her?! oh, who said I'd lied? because I never, I never! who said I'd lied? because I never! so I drank one - it became four and when I fell on the floor, I drank more..."

to me, this and the chorus sound more like it's saying everyone is getting the idea the he doesn't care at all about the girl he's with, and he's so frustrated about that because it's WRONG, he does love her, but all of the crap happening is making him feel alienated ("I still love you, oh I still love you -- only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love,")so he tries drowning it all out by getting plastered.

ok, so not the best solution in the world, but I can identify... =P