| The Smiths – Pretty Girls Make Graves Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
LOL @ dethwish! Unique interpretation there but in its own way correct. igbybigby nailed it. Morrissey, with the influence of Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums", wrote this song about his celibacy and struggles with his own sexuality. You need to first understand Morrissey to understand this song. Moz is an innately loving person, he loves music, poetry, animals etc but he also has the extremely humane desire to be close to another person, to be in a loving relationship with someone. The problem is that he does not experience lust towards this girl like an average man. Perhaps this is because, as people have said, he is homosexual and therefore not attracted to women in general. For me it goes beyond that, it is more likely he simply sees lust towards man or woman as a primal urge, an unsophisticated emotion which controls people and causes them to think with their loins rather than their heads. I'd even go as far as to say that for him lust, the pleasures of the flesh and his own body are something to feel shameful of. It's a theme in a lot of his songs. This is why he does not "give in to lust", why "he will not rise for ANYONE". Yet when he sees the girl go off with another man, he feels jealous, resentful but also vindicated. He wants to be with this person, he wishes he was normal but cannot satisfy her lust. His view of lust as an irrational impulse is vindicated because the girl is able to simply move on to the next man who comes along and is willing to satisfy her, hence why he loses his faith in womanhood. |
|
| The Smiths – Miserable Lie Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
I think zOMbiE was alluding to this in a previous post, but this song seems to be regarding the same subject matter as Reel Around the Fountain. The big difference is the bitterness in this song compared to the romantic nostalgia in RATF. Anyways to be honest, this song sucks lol. Morrissey's Falsetto is simply awful. |
|
| The Smiths – You've Got Everything Now Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
Although everyone has their own interpretation and is welcome to it, I think this is one Smiths song that is pretty straightforward and requires little analysis. The song has very little to do with love, it is primarily about success and money. It runs pretty much like this: 1) At school Moz felt superior (most likely intellectually) to this person. 2) Now however, this person has it all (money? love? a career?) and Moz has nothing to show for all of his perceived superiority. 3) "No, I've never had a job because I've never wanted one". This is the only clue in the song as to what the ambiguous "everything" he refers to in the title actually is. The other person has a job, something Moz has never craved but now makes this other person somehow now superior to him. 4) Moz questions how real this person's supposed success is - "I've seen you smile but I've never really heard you laugh so who is rich and who is poor? I cannot say". 5) Moz entertains the idea of entering (maybe re-entering) into a relationship with this person before concluding "I don't want a lover, I just want to be seen... in the back of your car". He explains that they were never really friends and he never really liked the other person's face (looks), but such is his envy that he is willing to do almost anything, the other person could even tie them to the back of their car, just as long as Moz could bask in some of their success for a while. If this wasn't written prior to the 1st album and all of the Smith's subsequent success, I would swear it was in the reverse perspective i.e. Morrisey is the one who has everything now and this is what he imagines his old friends from school think of him. Also he would be wary of them trying to get close to him simply because of his fame and success. That would also be a worthy interpretation if we didn't already know this was written before The Smiths' fame and success. For that reason, this song has to be about Morrisey's disillusionment with post-school existence, his refusal to get a job and ultimately his envy of other people's success. It's almost a prelude to "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful". |
|
| The Smiths – The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
I am almost sure he sings "There's sadness in your beautiful eyes. Oh, your untouched, unsoiled, wonderous THIGHS". Does anyone else hear that? Kind of disturbing. The song really takes a turn for the weird in the middle. "I once had a child, and it saved my life And I never even asked his name I just looked into his wondrous eyes And said : "never never never again" And all too soon I did return Just like a moth to a flame" There is such ambiguity in those lines that the true meaning of this song will always be a mystery. It's funny because I had always disregarded those lines that throw ya in the middle and continued to believe it was just a song of devoted paternal love from a widower. Listening to it again and reading over the lyrics it could be about child abuse, an adulterous father or a neglegent father who abandoned the mother of his child without even naming it. Who knows? What is clear is that this devoted father figure has done something he is not proud of, something he swore never to but could not help doing again and something the now absent mother never knew about. I would absolutely love to know what the true meaning of this song is! |
|
| The Smiths – Reel Around the Fountain Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
Duffo's plausible interpretation has got to be the most unique, however the sexual connotations in the song suggest it isn't just a song of admiration for Oscar Wilde. Thinking outside of the box always has to be commended though! Good on ya. For me, like most of you guys, it is about a young lover who has lost their innocence/virginity to an older or more experienced lover. The young lover was too immature to realise that the sexual encounter meant nothing more to the older lover. The protagonist desired to have a fully fledged relationship with their more experienced partner but slowly realised that they had been used (Take me to the haven of your bed was something that you never said"). Realising that, our young lover in a desperate bid for the other's attention, will take any form of affection even if it is only for 15 minutes. He is happy to be the submissive lover and you feel he probably was in the first place. The masochism in some of the lines is seriously erotic. The title "Reel around the Fountain" has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I've seen the posts stating this is a homosexual term for Fellatio and it makes a lot of sense. Still as a heterosexual male it does not spoil any of my enjoyment of the song. This is a masterpiece! |
|
| Morrissey – Interesting Drug Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I love this song and although Mr Disco's interpretation seen through the viewpoint of the greedy politicians wanting more and more power like a drug is interesting, I think it's more straight forward. Much like "Irish Blood English Heart" Morrisey is deriding the 'ruling classes' in Britain who are content to keep the working class down and 'in their place'. I love the way the song is so upbeat and jovial. It sounds like a happy song which is very ironic because it is Morrissey at his miserable best! On a government scheme Designed to kill your dream Oh mum, oh dad Once poor, always poor I think tinfoil really hit it on the head with the suggestion that the Interesting Drug is a play on the idea of an anti-depressant, to combat the actual economic depression in the 1980s. It sounds like Britain was a miserable place to live in at the time (I was too young to know) and the only way to escape the poverty and depression was with an Interesting Drug of some sort. Morrissey is obviously of the opinion that Thatcher was doing a shabby job of running the country. Morrissey came from a working class Irish immigrant family and he always managed to paint a dreary, mundane and depressing picture of 1980s Britain. He doesn't blame working class people (or himself) for turning to drugs or medication to escape their surroundings, he blames the people in power for messing everything up. Sounds like a pretty familiar theme these days... You wonder why we're only half-ashamed? "Because ENOUGH is TOO MUCH! ...and look around ... ...can you blame us ? CAN you blame us |
|
| Morrissey – The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I have to agree with most of yas here except for the rambling manaic in the first 3 posts! What the hell!? I think it's Morrissey casting his very own curse on Mick Joyce. Although the song was obviously written and recorded sometime in 1993, three years prior to the 1996 High Court case settlement involving Joyce's lost earnings from his time in the Smiths, the actual lawsuit was filed in late 1989 and had been ongoing since 1991. This may account for the fact that Joyce had appeared on the 1989 singles Last of the Famous International Playboy and Interesting Drug but none after those two. PS Mick the Manc, due to financial difficulties Joyce was facing during the trial he had already agreed to take a smaller lump sum of around £80,000 before the eventual verdict ruled in favour of him and that he was owed £1 million. In the words of Nelson Muntz... HA HA! No matter, £1 million or £80,000 Morrissey still felt a great miscarriage of justice had taken place. |
|
| Morrissey – Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
This is another of my top Morrissey songs. I think my top 5 would be: Hold on to your Friends Why Don't You Find out for Yourself Alma Matters First of the Gang to Die Let Me Kiss You As you can see I think Quarry and Vauxhall are his strongest works. Anyhow "Why Don't You Find out for Yourself?" seems to be a fairly straight forward song about Morrissey's take on the music industry. Record labels and managers with "a special interest in your career, They wanna help you to grow and then syphon all your dough". Rival musicians, music journalists and critics who know of your distress "And they say : "Long may it last". References to deceitful and unlikely enemies in the line "the glass hidden in the grass" may refer to certain ex-drummers. There is certainly more than enough veiled references to the lawsuit ex-Smiths drummer Mick Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke had launched against Marr & Morrissey in 1991 for lost earnings, and which would later be sent to the High Court and settled in 1996. Rourke of course dropped his case but Joyce persisted and won: And ... what do YOU do ? Well ... you just SIT THERE I've been stabbed in the back So many many times Does this refer to Mick? Does he see Joyce's input as just sitting there in the background while he and Marr moulded the Smiths and their songs. I know I have read Morrissey state such things in interviews. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2002/sep/15/artsfeatures.popandrock from a Guardian interview in 2002. This is such a great song though and Morrisey is able to be both venomous, angry and yet saddened and the victim. An absolute cracker! |
|
| Morrissey – Hold On To Your Friends Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I always expected to hear Smoke Hash as well lol. This song mustn't have very many comments because the lyrics are so self explanatory but it is still one of the greatest Morrissey songs of all time. It is probably the best commentary on half hearted friendship ever committed to music. It's so sad though, I always feel like a horrible friend after listening to it. As we become older we really do seem to lose touch with our friends and become increasingly focused on our jobs, relationships and money hence Morrissey's call to arms: Give up your job Squander your cash - be rash Just hold on to your friends The section below always draws my attention to friends I have fallen out with over stupid arguments or misunderstandings but have left it so long that the friendship cannot be rescued: There are more than enough To fight and oppose Why waste good time Fighting the people you like Who will fall defending your name Oh, don't feel so ashamed To have friends What a moving and touching song. Morrissey you observant and poetic mofo! |
|
| Morrissey – Alma Matters Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
A measly 8 comments under this song!? Musically this is one of Morrissey's finest songs and definitely one of my favourites but I guess there is not much lyrics to work with. The title is obviously a play on the term Alma Mater which means "Nourishing Mother". The term is also used in connection with the Virgin Mary, as well as a term used in ancient rome for the mother goddess and more commonly in the modern era as the anthem for a University or educational establishment. Morrissey is also quoting A Taste of Honey - a "kitchen sink drama" written by Shelagh Delaney in the late 1950s as marquecerice correctly pointed out in his/her post. Morrissey was obviously a big fan and used Delaney's photo on the album cover artwork for Louder Than Bombs and also for the single Girlfriend in a Coma while he was in The Smiths. The play itself was hard hitting drama with a frank social commentary on single parenthood, poverty, class, race, gender and sexual orientation. I got this off wikipedia: "A Taste of Honey is set in Salford in northwestern England in the 1950s. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl, and her mother, Helen, who is presented as crude and sexually indiscriminate. Helen leaves Jo alone in their new flat after she begins a relationship with Peter, a rich lover who is younger than her. At the same time Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. He proposes marriage but then goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone. She finds lodgings with a homosexual acquaintance, Geoffrey, who assumes the role of surrogate father. Helen returns after leaving her lover and the future of Jo's new home is put into question". In my opinion then Morrissey's title and play on the term "Alma Mater" (or Nourishing Mother) is an ironic one. The mother in this play was a working class alcoholic who pursued frivilous love affairs with little regard for her teenage daughter Jo who she abandons for a young rich lover. Therefore this song is a simple one written from the viewpoint of Jo's character claiming that "to someone somewhere" a caring and nurturing mother may be something or someone they need but not her! |
|
| Morrissey – Roy's Keen Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Just like to say Tony M's review rocks, never though of it like that but I certianly will now. I could never take this song seriously enough to interpret or dissect it. The play on Roy Keane's name certainly does seem very ill advised over 10 years later but its bearable enough. This is probably Morrissey's catchiest and most jovial tune. Can't help but sing along! |
|
| Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
This song is about Morrissey wanting to reclaim the flag from racists, imperialists and royalists. He wants be proud of both his Irish bloodline and his English nationality but questioning if such pride is viable or compatable. Morrissey, the child of an Irish Catholic immigrant family, recognises that to be either Irish or English in today's society is to be relatively free anyway so why does he still feel that to be English is to be baneful or to stand in front of the flag is shameful? Although posters such as Matt Lewis and ollygrant have mentioned the positives that Cromwell was able to bring to England, and I do not dispute them, it is clear Morrissey is definitely anti-Cromwell in this song. As an Irishman I can tell you that Cromwell is probably the most despised and villanous character in Irish history. People may have missed out on deadleg's sarcasm in his post where he compared Cromwell to Hitler but he was right in trying to make you understand that no matter how many positives a historical figure may have been able to provide for your country, it does not justify heinous crimes, regicide and mass murder. The best line is: spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell and denounce this royal line that still salute him and will salute him FOREVER... In essence this line doesn't really make sense because Oliver Cromwell was actually an anti-royalist (a Roundhead) and actually fought to displace the monarchy forever. I think Morrissey was being ironic by claiming the royal family still salute him, why would they? He despised them and temporarily removed them from power for 11 years? Well, after the extremely unstable English Interregnum of parliamentary and military rule between 1649 and 1660 and Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored but it never again had the same power and England was never again ruled by Absolute Monarchy. Instead the monarchy became increasingly subordinate to English parliament (Constituional Monarchy) but continued to enjoy all the wealth and prestige of being figure heads for the British empire. I know what I have said above is very summarised but I think Morrissey is simply saying the royal family are actually grateful to Cromwell for ensuring their legacy. Cromwell's rule was unstable and fraught with problems compared to the grand imperialism of the monarchy's rule. Cromwell, with his unstable and draconian reign, inadvertently convinced the British public that monarchy was a good thing and necessary for stability. The monarchs now possess no real power but still enjoy adoration, immeasurable wealth and very little responsibility to the British public. They are saluting Cromwell for providing them with such a "cushty number" as they say. As long as the ruling classess in Britain (politicians, the army and especially royalty) continue to utilise and monopolise the british flag in their various forms of ceremony (as do the racists in the BNP) morrissey must be content simply with Irish blood and an English heart. |
|
| Morrissey – I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
LOL at IcelandSnow1. Mr Soul has pretty much summed it up. On the first few listens, and well before I came across this site for the first time, I was almost sure it was related to the channel 5 UK documentary "Married to the Eiffel Tower". The main subject of the documentary was about a woman who defined herself not as hetero, homo or bisexual but as objectum-sexual (literally being sexually and emotionally attracted to objects). It was quite a farcical documentary but this woman claimed to be married to the Eiffel Tower and consumated the relationship regularly. I refuse to believe that Morrissey was not in some way inspired by this documentary or the concept of objectum-sexuality and is being very witty and ironic by comparing his own situation to it. Indeed he is the quintessential enigmatic outsider who refuses to define himself as hetero, homo or bisexual. He's cleverly disguised it as a simple ditty about falling in love with his Parisian surroundings instead of waiting for real love with a person. On another note there was an episode of US comedy/drama Nip Tuck recently where a man also claimed to be objectum-sexual. He was running about the office shagging furniture. It was both hilarious and utterly ridiculous. |
|
| Morrissey – All You Need Is Me Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
This has got to be about the media's love/hate relationship with Morrissey and especially the NME. It's such a witty and observant slight on his critics (and maybe some of his fans) who can't decide whether to build him up or knock him down. I love the section: There's a soft voice singing in your head Who could this be? I do believe it's me Can't you just imagine one of those "bandwagon music journalists", the type that the NME is infested with, driving home after drafting a particularly harsh review of Morrissey's new album finding himself involuntarily whistling along to the tune and then realising what he was doing and forcing himself to stop. Just me? Okay then :) |
|
| Morrissey – Thats How People Grow Up Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Much like "I have forgiven Jesus" I think this song is about Morrissey finally accepting he will never find that perfect person or love he has yearned for his whole life. He has given up on the idea that there might be "the one" out there for him who can finally cure him of his crippling insecurities and give him somewhere to vent all of his love and desire. Now that he is nearing the big 50 he sure as hell seems to be a lot wiser and at peace with himself. The song I'm Okay By Myself on Years of Refusal seems to evoke the same sentiments that he is propagating here. |
|
| Morrissey – I Just Want to See the Boy Happy Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Helen of Troy, I salute you. That is such an original interpretation and listening to it again I can't help but attribute your interpretation to it. It makes perfect sense. That said the other posters all have great views and although it is very reminiscent of He knows I'd love to see him it just seems a little more honest and innocent. |
|
| Morrissey – The Youngest Was The Most Loved Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
This is one of Morrissey's more straight-forward songs if there is such a thing when it comes to Morrissey. I think it is simply Morrissey once again exploring his facination with murder and crime. I think Mozza_Fan's interpretation was pretty damn close apart from the "snobbish family" bit when he clearly states the boy was from a "poor home". Morrissey is definitely trying to portray that it is not only unloved children with traumatic childhoods in broken homes that turn out to be criminals and murderers. In this case the child was loved, he was the "cherub" and was shielded from the world's glare but still he was corrupted and ended up being evil. Perhaps it is a warning to overprotective parents but really I think it is more a warning that anyone from any background can end up being evil. "There is no such thing in life as normal" is referring to your upbringing and the way you turn out. fantastic line and the most poignant especially with the children's choir in the background! Does anyone else think he is describing himself as a child to get his point across? If he is claiming anyone can become killer is he contemplating that even he himself could have turned out that way. Morrissey was the youngest child in his family and shared a strong bond with his mother. This verse really makes me think he is imagining himself as the youngest who was the most loved: A small boy from a poor house Who turned into a killer A blushed rose if he had to say 'hello' A lopsided grin strained to keep the shyness in It reminds me of Morrissey and is also reminiscent of the lyrics in All You Need Is Me when he sings "I was a small, fat child in a council house". How typical of Morrissey to empathise with the outsiders in society such as murderers, prostitutes and criminals. |
|
| Morrissey – You Have Killed Me Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
To be honest I had no idea what all the Italian references meant until I came on here so Thank You! Before knowing this I had always assumed this was a song about virginity and the character's aborted attempt to lose it: "I entered nothing and nothing entered me, 'Til you came with the key" Surely the above is alluding to the loss of virginity and is packed full of sexual connotations. Most people on this site seem to accept there was a sexual encounter of some sort but surely the following line suggests that all had not gone to plan: "and you did your best BUT" I think the chorus "you have killed me, you have killed me" evokes the imagery that our protagonist is dead inside and has been left feeling emotionless or unfulfilled by the encounter. You can interpret this many ways. In my opinion at the crucial moment our protagonist could simply not bring themselves to go through with it and fled hence the feelings of frustration, disillusionment and feeling dead inside. Other interpretations will see people say the sexual encounter did go ahead and the character has been left feeling empty (dead) by the loss of their innocence. Another meaning could be that perhaps the character had expected immense pleasure from the encounter but was left feeling underwhelmed by what it actually provided. I know I was when I lost my virginity. I think these are all pretty valid interpretations which are backed up by the Italian references which really set the scene and show Morrissey's recent love affair with Rome. I think we all assume this encounter happened in Rome. The character compares himself to Pasolini and his first sexual encounter as his Accatone (Pasolini's first film). The character also sees himself as Visconti further portraying the character as seeing sexual encounters to be like a work of art (like film). However when he refers to the subject of his lust during the line "Magnani, you'll never be" he is saying that the other person will not be or was not the great lover he imagines (Magnani was apparently recognised as a great actress). I love this metaphor. Most of all I think Morrissey was just once again sneakily setting us up to think about, talk about and debate his celibacy and sexual orientation. Great song! |
|
| Morrissey – I Have Forgiven Jesus Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I love this site but the Morrissey interpretations are being ruined by two kinds of people... initially it is the people who relate everything in his songs to some kind of repressed homosexuality. This problem is then compounded by the second group of people who seem so blatantly terrified by the notion that Morrissey may actually be gay. Their homophobia is blatant and ridiculous at times. As a heterosexual male I have no problem accepting the possibility that Morrissey may indeed be gay. I have never spent much time debating Morrissey's sexuality as within the context of most of his songs his (or the narrator's) sexual orientation really makes no difference to the overall sentiment and meaning of the song. In my opinion 'nightandday' has really hit the nail on the head and hers is as close to a definitive interpretation as you will get. "I have forgiven Jesus" makes no reference to any sexual orientation at all. To me the song is about a character that is an innately sexual or loving being but cannot vent their love or sexual frustration because they have problems with relationships and intimacy. This is a universal theme that will appeal to all varieties of people and their sexual orientations. It is important not to take the song literally but at the same time it is very easy to see this character as Morrissey himself and the song as a testimony to his struggles with his own sexuality. Morrissey has always been fairly honest about his celibacy and never being comfortable defining himself as hetero, homo or bisexual. It is obvious Morrissey has some form of deep sexual tendencies (most of his songs have strong sexual connotations) but that he is both confused and repulsed by the idea of whatever these tendencies are. You could say the reason for him not being able to “offload this desire” is his own hang ups about his body and appearance. Is it simply a case of Morrissey being a cold unloving person who cannot form deep relationships? You don’t know and more importantly it doesn’t matter. The sentiment is what counts. Anyhow let’s get back solely to the character. We do not know the exact reason why the character cannot vent their love or sexual tendencies. It is this very reason that is open to interpretation and what causes a lot of people to look at Morrissey rather than come up with their own reasons. The character has long blamed Jesus for making them the way they are but they are now at peace with themselves and have forgiven Jesus for creating them with this in-built dilemma. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.