Sunny

I think it's about the boxer Sonny Liston.

"Punched and fell then you felt embarrassed" - there was a famous bout Liston had with Muhammad Ali, where he was knocked out in the first round. It is alleged that he threw the fight to pay off debts to gamblers.

He died of a drug overdose, and was supposedly found with a syringe in his arm, which would fit with the third verse.

"I offered love and it was not required" sung with so much feeling and pain.

Poor chap.

I don't know who, specifically, this song is about. And I'm sure that no one bu Moz knows for certain. It's about heroin overdose, though.

I don't think its about a heroin overdose. While its obvious that he knows an adict, he is still offering support. He says that "I will not move" meaning that he is going to try and help his friend no matter where his addiction takes him. He can see that Sunny has already changed, " I cry when I see where it's taken you" but just because Sunny is differnt from drugs dosen't mean that he ODed. Drugs change everyone.

I think the narrator of the song might be the father of sunny.

I think it is about a boxer. Sonny something. I read it on a website specialized in analyzing Moz' songs.

This song, I believe, is about someone Morrissey was in love with and possibly had a relationship with -- his name was Jake, so I have no idea why he's referred to as Sunny. He (and Morrissey) had a thing for fake tattoos. It's his tattooed stomach Morrissey is lying on the back cover of one of the albums (can't remember which). I think the "needle pressed onto tight skin" could be a reference to tattooing, although it appears to be about heroin. It would be just like Moz to try and trick us, wouldn't it??

Yeah, Mozza went through a phase of obsession with Boxing (see Boxers as the most obvious reference). This song's just so poignant and moving. It's brimming with emotion and seems to combine the heroin addiction and his downfall from boxing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Liston

Here's an article on the aforementioned Sonny Liston. The story could refer to anyone but may well be drawn from this. Although set in the boxing world, it generalises to the helplessness of seeing someone ruin themselves, doing all you can and not being able to aid them.

I might also add that the circumstances surrounding Sonny's death are still widely disputed and he was known to have connections to gangsters and a history in shady dealings. I don't think we should assume that 'Sunny' is dead at the end of this song, rather just heading for a fall. Theres no mention of his death, just the repeated support and unmoving acceptance of Morrissey (or the narrator)

I think it could be about Sonny Liston, but the second verse and chorus, being so personal, makes me think it's more likely about a person Morrissey was close to, possibly a lover, whose life held parallels to the boxer's. I think Morrissey is using Sonny Liston's story to tell another, comparing a person to Sonny Liston. Also, the spelling is different, which may seem trivial, but Morrissey seems to notice these things.