The Never Played Symphonies

I for one think that the song is about us fans and our relationship to Morrissey.

"You were one You were meant to be one, And you jumped into my face And laughed and kissed me on the cheek And then were gone, forever...not quite "

For all of us who has ever get to met or see Morrissey,and that has looked up to him for years. I think it's about that we are always with him and that he is always with us, not matter what. This song is so beautiful - both the lyric and melody!

A man is summarizing the life in his final days. He compares successes and failures. During this reflection he concludes that, in fact, nothing great happened to him during his life. And nobody really cared about him. He also reflects a person from his past, maybe a school sympathy, who was important to him, he just overestimated her actions, maybe she likes him a bit, but nothing more and he was rejected by her. Slowly dying he sees flashing images of some little gestures made by her as these are probably last visions in his mind. ,.

[Edit: edit]

I love the lines "The never-laid, that's the never played symphonies" I think this is about suicide/death...and the the fact that before you die...you (or at least Moz) think of all the failures in life, rather than the good times.

The beginning really reminds me of Yeat's "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"

good point. and its not far fetched that mozza might have been thinking of it.

I think it's about all the things that could have happened in your life but didn't.

"The Never Played Symphonies"

"Reflecting from my deathbed I'm balancing life's riches against the ditches and the flat gray years in between All I can see are the never-laid That's the never-played symphonies"

As Morrissey is facing death after a long and amazing life he is weighing up the successes he has had with the miseries he suffered before (and during) his success. But despite the highs and lows the only thing he is drawn to are the songs that he hasn't written - the ideas and works in progress that one day he wanted to arrange and perform but which will never be recorded or heard except in his mind.

"I can't see those who tried to love me All those who felt they understood me and I can't see those who very patiently put up with me All I can see are the never-laid Or the never-played symphonies"

During this evaluation of his life he is not concerned about his family, friends or loved ones. All the people who admired him - fans, colleagues, confidants etc - who tried to get close to him over the years mean nothing. All he can think about are the songs he wanted to write.

"You were one, you meant to be one and you jumped into my face and laughed and kissed me on the cheek and then were gone forever ...not quite"

One of the songs he wanted to complete was about a fan who broke through his security and managed to kiss him before bring whisked away. Out of the thousands of adoring fans who try to get near to him year in year out, the few seconds of this one cheerful fan remained in his memory. His tribute to the fan is this song. "Gone forever … not quite" meaning that the fan has been immortalised in this song.

"Black sky in the daytime and I don't much mind dying When there is nothing left to care for anymore Just the never-laid, the never-played symphonies"

As the end approaches and blindness takes over, he is at ease and has no fear of death. All the things he cared for when he was alive he no longer has to care for as his life is ending, and so he doesn't. But even slipping from this mortal coil doesn't stop him from thinking about the songs he will never write.

"You were one, you knew you were one and you slipped right through my fingers No not literally but metaphorically and now you're all I see as the light fades"

Particularly, he is thinking about the song he wanted to write about this one fan. He even comes up with a cheeky euphemism which he would have used in the song… And when he finally dies his last thought is with this one fan and the song under construction which will never be heard (Not quite, indeed).

In this song he is telling us that his music and the effect it has on people who it touches is the most important thing in his life - more so even than the legions of people who adore him and those who have entered his personal life. The song has an abstract quality in that the song itself is one that he will be wishing he had the time to write on his deathbed.

I'm possibly interpreting it too literally, but might it not be about Beethoven on his deathbed? The line "Black sky in the daytime" certainly ties in with the description of the day Beethoven died:

"That day was tragic. There were heavy clouds in the sky… around 4 or 5 in the afternoon the murky clouds cast darkness in the entire room."

And Moz has mentioned the great man in an album title before!

This song is about infatuation and sex. He repressed and denied himself his whole life. Despite the adoration and willingness of so many, he was aloof toward them and chose instead to pine for a romantic and sexual connection with some idealized lover. I think perhaps he may have chosen actual people to represent this lover over the course of his life. Like a masochist he puts them on a pedestal and then waits and expects to be denied or thwarted. Then he sinks into despair. As a woman, I can relate very strongly with this. I think now he regrets lost opportunities but he still also has not let go of the need for the idealized lover to save him. Morrissey wants to be united with his knight in shining armor, his true love, his soul mate, his heart's desire. He now feels old and regretful that it never happened for him. He also wants to experience or wishes he had experienced mind blowing sex with someone he is fully infatuated with. I do not in any way think this song is about music. It is about lost opportunities for emotional and sexual connection. :) Then again perhaps I am just another one of those people who thinks I understand him. ((Morrissey))

I still like to think this as simply about us. We are the "never played symphonies" as we stare at him from the audience.

'You were one, you meant to be one and you jumped into my face and laughed and kissed me on the cheek and then were gone forever ...not quite'

I LOVE this - for everyone who has ever made it onto the stage and touched the man. He knows we are still out here.