I think this is a fantastic song and one of the last really great ones Moz wrote.
Could be about Johnny, could be about a crime, but my take on it is this concerns the determination of certain people (particularly bin dipper journalist types) to 'get something' on Morrissey, the constant speculation and innuendo around his sexual orientation, the scramble for tittle tattle etc.
Morrissey absolutely cannot abide this and could end it by 'coming clean' about something that would sate the pack of wolfhounds, but he clearly loves the person involved too much to throw him/her under the bus. Coming clean would mean complication for this other person as well as Morrissey, so he'd rather put up with the intrusion and hassle.
I've been in a situation precisely like that (not media intrusion of course but common garden nosey types) and chose to protect somebody else and put up with all sorts of crap, rather than compromise somebody I don't think could have handled it. So I've always had an enormous soft spot for this song.
I think this is a fantastic song and one of the last really great ones Moz wrote.
Could be about Johnny, could be about a crime, but my take on it is this concerns the determination of certain people (particularly bin dipper journalist types) to 'get something' on Morrissey, the constant speculation and innuendo around his sexual orientation, the scramble for tittle tattle etc.
Morrissey absolutely cannot abide this and could end it by 'coming clean' about something that would sate the pack of wolfhounds, but he clearly loves the person involved too much to throw him/her under the bus. Coming clean would mean complication for this other person as well as Morrissey, so he'd rather put up with the intrusion and hassle.
I've been in a situation precisely like that (not media intrusion of course but common garden nosey types) and chose to protect somebody else and put up with all sorts of crap, rather than compromise somebody I don't think could have handled it. So I've always had an enormous soft spot for this song.