Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Belligerent ghouls
run Manchester schools
spineless swines
cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old suit since 1962
he does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
give up education
as a bad mistake
mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
knees you in the groin
elbow in the face
bruises bigger than dinner plates
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
Belligerent ghouls
run Manchester schools
spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old jokes since 1902
he does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
give up life
as a bad mistake
please excuse me from the gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
he grabs and devours
kicks me in the showers
and he grabs and devours
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
run Manchester schools
spineless swines
cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old suit since 1962
he does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
give up education
as a bad mistake
mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
knees you in the groin
elbow in the face
bruises bigger than dinner plates
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
Belligerent ghouls
run Manchester schools
spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old jokes since 1902
he does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
give up life
as a bad mistake
please excuse me from the gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
he grabs and devours
kicks me in the showers
and he grabs and devours
I wanna go home
I don't want to stay
Lyrics submitted by Idan
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No Surprises
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While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
Another Love
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I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
Another great Smiths song. When Morrissey sings:
"I wanna go home I don't wanna stay "
I am forever reminded of that one poor kid who didn't quite "fit in" at school and was picked on for it. There's one [or more] at every school, and sometimes it's us. So next time, rather than picking on him or her, or sitting by idly watching it happen, extend a hand of friendship.
Isn't amazing how this song just paints the picture for you. I can almost see Morrissey in school with the other boys, in their uniforms being humiliated by the mean old headmaster.
i think it's more about general abuse rather than caning. i was in school in england in the seventies and i've seen teachers do things to pupils that would put them in jail nowadays...believe me, the cane was the least of your worries! Morrissey's got his angry head on here and there's no trace of humour when he refers to the belligerant ghouls as spineless bastards.
yeah he's pissed off...but still funny as hell. "he does the military two-step down the nape of my neck," or "bruises bigger than dinner plates"? no one can write this shit as well as morrissey. yes, it's driven by his bitterness...which is an integral part of his humor.<br /> <br /> much like Charles Schulz, who was lonely, miserable and frightened as a child--and someone who felt his genius wasn't properly acknowledged, if that sounds familiar!--then spent the next 50 years mining his personal traumas for daily gags with a fiercely cynical bite. most people overlooked the darker aspects of his humor and simply laughed at the funny/cute drawings. meanwhile he cried all the way to the bank.
In elementary school (aka "grade school") in the States in the early '70s, corporal punishment was common. Even in "liberal" states like California, particularly if you lived in a small town. Today it's almost unheard of, although it still happens (with impunity) in rural areas in a few states. It's never been made illegal, not at the federal level.
The teachers generally passed off the dirty work to a principal or (if they existed at that level) vice-principal. Though some teachers were sufficiently sadistic, they wanted to make sure themselves the child was to "be taken in hand," and relished the task.
I had a teacher grab me, pull me out to the hallway and shove me against a wall. His stated intent was to get me to stop crying. Not an effective technique. (I was eleven years old; this happened in 1976, in Oregon)
One particularly bad incident: and an awful teacher, who (I later learned) admitted to my parents he felt threatened as a (rather poor) teacher by my relatively-quick mind. He had the upper hand physically, I hardly need to add.
I was typically a "teacher's pet" and--in most instances--didn't have to worry about that sort of brutality. Not from a teacher anyway. My peers, now that's another story...
@foreverdrone You sound a bit like a poof that needed a taste of the paddle, eh wot?
Wicked yodelling at the end from the Mozmeister. Plus awesome jangling from Johnny Marr and a classic Rourkey bassline.
I will say I'm American and was born in 1990 so I never had to endure any kind of physical abuse from teachers, but I share the same beliefs as Morrissey on the subject. He is definitely one of my favorite lyricists and songwritters.
teachers beating on the students. Thi is the first sogn on Meat Is Murder, almost every song on that album mentions violence of some kind. This song always reminds me of the Morrissey song "The Teachers are Afraid of The Pupils"
"...who grabs and devours ..."
-By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept, by Elizabeth Smart
also quoted that book in "What She Said"
Is it just me or does somebody else thinks that the lyrics isn't just about teachers but also about bulling? The "spineless swines2 and "belligerent ghouls" that "run Manchester schools" are nor only teachers, but also kids that live in impunity. It is just my thoughts, when i was in school teachers and kids alike were pretty mean.
my brother attended a birmingham school in the seventies; abuse was rife. he'd come home with tales i can tell you. the one that sticks in my mind is of the 1st form (grade 7) history teacher with a man's size 13 shoe that he called 'the persuader.'
"The Persuader." WoW ! It would be funny if it weren't so cruel and painful. We had a 7'2 substitute teacher (a fit one) who used to hang kids up against the wall by their jackets. He never had to do it more than once with each child (and he never left any marks...just intimidated the poo out of the unruly ones). I like the song with the exception of the lines "Jealous of youth. Same old suit since 1962." I have known many educators over the years and have yet to meet even one who was "jealous of youth." Prior to 1974 there was no such thing as "student rights" in the schools. Kids were supposed to respect their teachers (as well as their parents) and behave. Othen punishment at home would be worse than punishment by school officials. My own mother (now in her 80's) said her brothers would CHOOSE to be beaten my the nuns rather than have the nuns speak with their father. Corporal punishment was just the sign of the times.... and for many it worked. For some kids already abused at home, it was a horrendous concept. I've watched it carried out (1998) and I cried, vowing to NEVER again allow an administrator to make me be a witness!
If you read Morrissey's autobiography, he describes several of the administrators and teachers at his school, and if his descriptions of these people were even remotely true, then the lines "Jealous of youth. Same old suit since 1962." were very fitting.