I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

The Smiths

The lanes were silent
There was nothing, no one, nothing around for miles
I doused our friendly venture
With a hard-faced
Three-word gesture

I started something
I forced you to a zone
And you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I grabbed you by the guilded beams
Uh, that's what tradition means
And I doused another venture
With a gesture
That was absolutely vile

I started something
I forced you to a zone
And you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I grabbed you by the guilded beams
Uh, that's what tradition means
And now eighteen months' hard labor
Seems fair enough

I started something
And I forced you to a zone
And you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I started something
I started something
Typical me, typical me
Typical me, typical me
Typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

OK Stephen, do that again?


Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

I Started Something I Couldn't Finish Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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I Started Something I Couldn't Finish song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I respectfully disagree with tamnin about "guilded beams". I think that it is important that Moz used the archaic spelling of what would now be spelled "gilded". The archaic spelling, to me at lest, implies a reference to an archaic source. The phrase (or a variation of the phrase) "guilded beams" seems fairly common in 16th and 17th century English Poetry. Guilded beams (as in beams of light, not architectural) are the golden rays of greatness and/or light that emanate from the sun. In this song I think it is a reference specifically to 'A Hymn of the Nativity, sung by the Shepherds' by Richard Crashaw. It goes: Welcome—tho' not to those gay flies, Guilded i' th' beams of earthly kings, Slippery souls in smiling eyes— To me Morrissey's perversion of the original meaning of these few lines fits perfectly with the ironic treatment of language, religion, and sexuality present in 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' and in Moz's lyrics generally. More context, such as Crashaw's anti-Catholic feelings can be found on wikipedia and the full poem is available all over the web.

    and moz can grab me by my gay flies any day

    cmrnon March 05, 2007   Link

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