The Headmaster Ritual Lyrics

Lyric discussion by clareak 

Cover art for The Headmaster Ritual lyrics by Smiths, The

my brother attended a birmingham school in the seventies; abuse was rife. he'd come home with tales i can tell you. the one that sticks in my mind is of the 1st form (grade 7) history teacher with a man's size 13 shoe that he called 'the persuader.'

"The Persuader." WoW ! It would be funny if it weren't so cruel and painful. We had a 7'2 substitute teacher (a fit one) who used to hang kids up against the wall by their jackets. He never had to do it more than once with each child (and he never left any marks...just intimidated the poo out of the unruly ones). I like the song with the exception of the lines "Jealous of youth. Same old suit since 1962." I have known many educators over the years and have yet to meet even one who was "jealous of youth."...

If you read Morrissey's autobiography, he describes several of the administrators and teachers at his school, and if his descriptions of these people were even remotely true, then the lines "Jealous of youth. Same old suit since 1962." were very fitting.