It's Not Your Birthday Anymore

incest/rape? oh wow.....rape i can understand but incest?...to me that part where he sings "All of the gifts that they gave can't compare in any way To the love that I am now giving to you Right here, right now, on the floor" its actually true love...but when he sings the verses he's telling that person how you can be special one day and meaning nothing the next...that's my vision of it...oh yeah one morning thing on someday goodbye will be farewill...it's has nothing to do with sexual abuse...you can abuse someone emotionally..ie meanin someday goodbye will be farewill..which means...

incest/rape? oh wow.....rape i can understand but incest?...to me that part where he sings "All of the gifts that they gave can't compare in any way To the love that I am now giving to you Right here, right now, on the floor" its actually true love...but when he sings the verses he's telling that person how you can be special one day and meaning nothing the next...that's my vision of it...oh yeah one morning thing on someday goodbye will be farewill...it's has nothing to do with sexual abuse...you can abuse someone emotionally..ie meanin someday goodbye will be farewill..which means i cannot love you anymore.

I think Duffo is on the right track here.

I think Duffo is on the right track here.

Take this into account: Pitchfork Media, along with giving the album an 8.1 rating, lauded Years of Refusal highly for its "rejuvenation" of Morrissey:

Take this into account: Pitchfork Media, along with giving the album an 8.1 rating, lauded Years of Refusal highly for its "rejuvenation" of Morrissey:

"Years of Refusal comes as a gratifying shock: It's his most vital, entertaining, and savage record since 1994's Vauxhall and I. Rather than try and reinvent himself, Morrissey has rediscovered himself, finding new potency in his familiar arsenal. Morrissey's rejuvenation is most obvious in the renewed strength of his vocals.

"Years of Refusal comes as a gratifying shock: It's his most vital, entertaining, and savage record since 1994's Vauxhall and I. Rather than try and reinvent himself, Morrissey has rediscovered himself, finding new potency in his familiar arsenal. Morrissey's rejuvenation is most obvious in the renewed strength of his vocals.

For much of Years of Refusal Morrissey is turning his fire outwards-- taking on lovers,...

For much of Years of Refusal Morrissey is turning his fire outwards-- taking on lovers, enemies, wannabes, or some combination of all three. This is Morrissey's most venomous, score-settling album, and in a perverse way that makes it his most engaging"

This is my personal interpretation. In my opinion, art is what it appears to be by the person who is experiencing it, so if you want to feel that it's a beautiful love song, I won't deny you that, but I just have a different opinion.

Okay, let's look at the possible implications of the actual lyrics (keep in mind Morrissey is the speaker/narrator).

"Your voice, it might say no But the heart has a will of its own"

"Your voice" aka not his, so, the voice of the person to whom he is speaking. (Let's go with the idea that it's a her for my interpretation, but feel free to interpret the gender roles how ever you see fit.)

"Your voice, it might say no But the heart has a will of its own."

When do you say no? If you're madly in love with some one, chances are you aren't going to say no to sex, right? But if there isn't a balance of equal love/lust by both people, one is probably going to say no (which i believe to be the implication here).

"But your heart has a will of its own." The voice is logic or what "she" thinks she should say which is no, but her heart represents her love and or passion. So, she either has some feelings for him or is attracted to him or both. (Keep in mind that this is from the speakers perspective so, in all actuality, he could be hearing the girl saying no but 'thinks' that means yes.. and he might be egotistical and assume she wants him because he is so awesome in his own eyes.)

"It's not your birthday anymore There's no need to be kind to you And the will to see you smile and belong has now gone It's not your birthday anymore Did you really think we meant all those syrupy sentimental things that we said?"

Ok let's think literal to the text here- "it's not your birthday anymore"

So, he is seeing her at a time after her birthday. Maybe it's as simple as there was a party at her house and everyone's gone home and he is the last one there alone with her and maybe it's past midnight, so technically the party's over and it's not her birthday... or maybe it's some time or some ohter day after. (I lean toward the former- the party has just finished and they are alone.) She is telling him no to sex, but he either isn't listening, he is playing on feelings she has left for him, or he thinks he is a stud.

"It's not your birthday anymore There's no need to be kind to you"

Usually on people's birthdays others are kinder, happier, and usually celebrating. However, he has taken off the gloves here and is saying he doesn't have to pretend to be kind on this day... as maybe he had to pretend on her birthday (for various possible reasons including social norms, being in a social setting, having some respect for her on her birthday, etc).

"And the will to see you smile and belong has now gone." This, to me, is a really important line. "The will to see you smile" might mean he used to want to see her smile or it could mean he is tired of pretending that he cares that she is happy. Think for a second about some one you really love. Don't you love to see them smile? It can warm the heart. Now, think of an ex-love or someone that did you wrong. Do you care if they ever smile again? I think not. So, I infer that he was either once in love with her and cared about her happiness, but something happened to change those feelings and he has some negative feelings toward her. The fact that his will to see her smile is gone either implies that time has changed him or that he is through pretending for that evening.... which goes along with my though that this is just after her party is over and the guests have gone and he no longer has to continue the charade of being happy or a gentleman.

"Did you really think we meant all those syrupy sentimental things that we said?" This could refer to sweet things said on her actual birthday or could allude to sweet things said during a relationship. It seems that when couples first fall in love everthing is sweet and romantic and many words are exchanged with good intentions or in the heat of the moment which do not stand up over time. Then again, there's the idea that maybe he said a lot of silver-tongued words to her just to get her to sleep with him and he didn't mean them, but maybe she believed he did and responded in kind.

"It cannot be given, and so it must be taken." In this case, I believe "it" to be sex. Refer back to the first verse- "Your voice, it might say no." So she didn't give herself to him. "And so it must be taken," he is going to take her any way- this really does imply he is forcing her, taking something (sex) from her.

"All of the gifts that they gave can't compare in any way To the love that I am now giving to you Right here, right now, on the floor"

"All of the gifts that they gave," to me, implies that the gifts are possibly still a recent thing... maybe just hours before or a few days. As I said before, I tend to lean toward the thought that this is the end of the evening/early morning and the party has recently ended and they are alone. That line of thought seems to work with the lyrics- "All the gift that they gave can't compare in any way to the love that I am giving you right here, right now, on the floor." It's as if the gifts are still near by, but now he is giving her the gift of himself... right there.. that moment.. on the floor.

When I first heard this song, I envisioned a bar with a dance floor and the singer and his girl friend appearing happy in front of guests and the couple dancing on the dance floor as if they are very in love. I also thought he was saying that for her birthday he was making love to he as his gift to her. After rereading this and really analyzing it, I believe i was a bit off. He does think he is giving her the gift of himself/ his sexuality/ his incredible manhood etc.but I don't think it's under the terms of a voluntary, passionate union of the two people as much as he is forcing himself on her. So, all those material things can't compare to the gift of his manhood and he is taking her right there in that moment on the floor. While sex on the floor can be fun for some, I think the implication is he isn't even affording her the luxury of the couch or bed. He is taking her quick in the moment. I think that one could hypothesize that he is being disrespectful of her by taking her on the floor.

So, in summary, it seems that either this character/ singer is really full of himself and he is shallow, but smart enough to feign loving gestures while others are around, then waits til everyone's gone and rapes her.

Another thought I have is that they had a relationship and it's gone bad and possibly over something he feels that she has done to him. To me, he has some sort or anger or vendetta that he is going through and plans to take it out on her. He was possibly once in love with her. I think "the will to see you smile and belong has now gone," while it could refer to that previous evening, it actually refers to the fact he has fallen out of love with her. And while they could have said sweet things during the evening, I believe that when he speaks of the "syrupy sentimental things that we said," that he refers to things said over a course of time. I also think that they have had an on-going relationship because he says, "Your voice, it might say no, but the heart has a will of its own" and I think that he is alluding to the fact she may have some lingering feelings/lust for him and he is going to try to play on that to get her to have sex with him... but as we hear later in the song, "It cannot be given, and so it must be taken," so he takes her without permission.

I hope you have enjoyed my interpretation of this song and feel free to comment / critique on it. :)