Glamorous Glue

"...I am too much in love." -The Picture Of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

When Morrissey writes "we won't vote conservative, because we never have, everyone lies" he is referring to the situation in Britain where the tories were continually getting voted in, yet nobody was admitting to voting for them. Like many of his songs this just sounds like London to me. Now my heart is full is another which I think has London written all over it.

I love this song and the lines "Where is the man you respect ? And where is the woman you love ?" have to be some of the greatest words I have ever heard anyone say.

Glamorous Glue refers the the similarties that everyone in life has, it ties us all together.

I always thought the title had to do with things that appear glamorous actually being quite seedy and nasty, such as London actually being a place where quite a lot of people were sniffing glue?

I dunno. Otherwise, it's a great attack on England, and I love singing along to 'London is Dead', because it is, it's a horrible dirty expensive place, where everyone is miserable, and I'm very glad I don't work there anymore.

'We look to Los Angeles for the language we use' is again Morrissey upset with what Britain has become. The originators of the English language, and we speak a bastardised American version - wassup wit dat yo???

'We won't vote Conservative because we never have' is also a great line, but sadly probably no longer true...

I'm sure 'the jar' refers to drinking pints rather than voting/killing jars.

Then again, with Mozzer I'm never 100% certain on anything, which is part of his enduring appeal to me :o)

I used the think the first lines were, "First day with the job you find everyone lies."

So the song was about somebody young, starting out in a career, launching out into life, and becoming disillusioned and disappointed upon the realization that he has not found what he had expected or hoped: a man to respect (this could be a professional mentor or political leader to look up to, or even a reference to himself), and an adult relationship, in this case, a woman he loves.

But the word is not "job," it's "jar" and nobody seems to know what that's a reference to.

As for the title? Maybe the glue is what keeps even the most well-intended people stuck together in a big mess with everyone else. Expectations of a fulfilling life, of progress and moving on to better things, that are pulled stopped and stuck instead by the culture that to a young person seemed so desirable and glamorous but then reveals itself to be corrupt and dead.

Whatever the specifics, this song is one of Morrissey's most scathing critiques of England. And one of my favorites.

I've always seen this song being about somebody hitting the booze and going to London pubs...after the third week of it...it starts to destroy his outlook on life and the city in general..."Glamorous" because it sounds like a 70's Glam rock tune...especially the intro...Love it anyway...one of my favourites from "Your Arsenal".

Glamorous Glue's signature is defiance, complimented by an insistent drive. The defiance is individualistic, inasmuch as it is lonesome and speaks of a kind of brokenness, but it involves wider social commentary, acknowledging a sort of collective guilt: We look to Los Angeles, We won't vote Conservative, etc.

The song would appear to advocate for some sort of nationalistic social change, but the whole business is a (naturally, for Morrissey) depressing post mortem: London is Dead, and it may be a further waste of time to care too much, or for that matter be too much in love.

Still, though, there is defiance, and really, since the time of the Battle of Britain, this is England's defining characteristic. So, it is a sort of melancholy swam-song anthem, wrought from anger, heartbreak, and cultural dissolution.

Or, it might simply be about sniffing glue.

I adore this song....but I don't get the glue part. This may sound dumb, but is it a joke about sniffing glue?