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Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed Lyrics

Mama, why did you do it?
Mama, who drove you to it?

Was it the pigs in gray suits persecuting you?
Uncivil servants unconcerned at how they frighten you

Life is nothing much to lose
It's just so lonely here without you

Mama, why did you do it?
Mama, who drove you to it?

Spare, priggish money men who scared the life out of you
Bailiffs with bad breath, I will slit their throats for you

Life is nothing much to lose
It's just so lonely here without you

Life is nothing much to lose
It's just so lonely here without you

So we're gonna run to you
We're gonna come to you
We're gonna lie down beside you, mama

We're gonna be with you
We're gonna join you
We're gonna lie down beside you, mama

And we'll be safe and sheltered in our graves
We'll come before you
and we will touch you
We'll go for one final hug, mama
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Cover art for Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed lyrics by Morrissey

la, la, la Roy's Keen

Cover art for Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed lyrics by Morrissey

This is one of my favourites from the new album. It's passion, anger and revenge with a meandering and thundering musical backdrop.

It's also interesting to note the title- the writer Virginia Woolf commited suidide by jumping into a river with stones in her pockets, and suffered from mental illness throughout her life. This could have been Morrissey's inspiration for the title and for placing it after 'Something Is Squeezing My Skull'. I wouldn't read too much into this, though- it's just an observation which I noticed had also been made by Simon Goddard in 'Mozipedia'.

My Opinion
 
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