Hand in Glove

for Hand In Glove:

All I can see from the lyrics is that it is about a great love, and that the narrator feels that together the two of them can defy society and their own lack of means - "Yes, we may be hidden by rags, but we have something they'll never have!" (and Morrissey has commented on that aspect of the song - ). Who those two people are, is completely open to interpretation. As if the reason why people "stare" at them. Of course, it may be a homosexual couple. Or an interracial couple. Or a couple with a big age difference. Or the "good people" may be staring at them simply because they are "hidden by rags" (which is the first thing I would think on hearing the song) - a poor, possibly homeless couple (maybe even a bohemian, punk rock couple?)

"No, it's not like any other love/This one is different because it's us" - isn't that what any two people in love feel like?! But some people think that this refers to a homosexual love? Which, I guess, is like no other love?! What about the love of any other two homosexuals? It's not like there's just one gay couple in the world, is it? LOL

BTW, do you also consider No Ordinary Love by Sade and Strangelove by Depeche Mode to be 'gay anthems'? LOL

So we're left with the line 'sun shines out of our behinds'... well, of course you can see that as reference to homosexuality... especially since it's a well known fact that women have no behinds... no, wait, they do? ;) Well, you can always see sexual meanings if you want to. There's a possible double entendre in every lyric, if you want to look for it. And I don't mean just Morrissey's lyrics, you know.

Some other opinions: Johnny Rogan says the song spoke to "star-crossed lovers, budding teenage romatics and to-be-declared homosexuals alike".

Andy Rourke thinks it was about the feeling of togetherness within the band.

Mark Simpson in his 'Saint Morrissey' book has the idea that there is a similarity between Hand In Glove and a relationship from Morrissey's favourite book, Taste of Honey. he quotes a dialogue between the main character, Jo, and her best friend Geoff, where they express defiance at the society. (I know I've also read somewhere tha the last line "I'll probably never see you again" is from Taste of Honey. and furthermore, Simpson has the idea that Moz identified with the main character, the girl Jo.. But as far as I have read, Jo is a teenager who has an opressive mother, is bored to death at school, and finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a black man (Jimmy); and then she finds rescue in a relationship with a gay fellow student, Geoff (who shows her the joy of life, "taste of honey"). failure/disappointment in romantic love, then rescue in a platonic love/friendship - yes, I guess I see the connection.Well, Simpson's idea is that Johnny and the band were for Morrissey what Geoff was for Jo, and he says that the band is his 'Hand In Glove'. (But he also makes a connection with Rebel Without A Cause, with Moz as the James Dean character, the outsider, and Johnny as the Nathalie Wood character who helps him blend in. That part of the book was quite funny, BTW.:))

Well, obviously that's one of the ways to see Hand In Glove. But you might just take the song as a universal statement - it can even be from fantasy / the book and also from some personal experiences, whether romantic love (real or imaginary) or friendship, togetherness, and the band, as you said. It might mean all those things. Do we have to pick just one meaning?