Minor quibbles aside;

A Song From Under The Floorboard - Skinstorm or Candle are superior covers, Crashing Bores, Nothing from Your Arsenal, Break Up The Family etc etc

This is a very comprehensive list and I am the first of the gang to say so here

Very nice article. The writers had some interesting observations.

Of course, everyone has their favorite songs from Morrissey so, I'm not sure what their is to discuss.

Except, perhaps this: are Morrissey's best songs found on singles? Yes

Does Morrissey intentionally place his best work on his singles? I think yes and that can be traced back to his work with the Smiths.

Why? My guess is that like many young people in his day, Morrissey's greatest pleasure in life was to collect singles. Traditionally, the single, or 45, would have the hit song on Side A where as Side B was reserved as the "throwaway" side by the record company's Marketing Department. However, most music-lovers, including Morrissey, recognized the B-side of the single the most interesting because it was usually a song reserved as an artist's choice; whether it would be an original composition outside the album or an interesting cover of another song. Morrissey's EPs of course, were such little treasures. I wish he would still do them; he's certainly profific in his writing nowadays.

Many B-sides have become hits. "How Soon is Now" may be a good example of a B-side that was later released as an A-side and became a sort of underground hit in the US.

A very thoughtful article, and a good read. I disagree with some of it, but I'm in agreement with most.

I very much agree with the comments concerning "Late Night, Maudlin Street."

A literary critic once described artistic genius as the ability to spin one's personal story into myth, and no one does that better than Morrissey. He has an astounding ability to pack worlds of meaning into a few well-chosen, well-sung words. Maudlin Street is just one great example. He keeps the listener guessing - is this his narrative? is it someone else's? is it fiction? is it fact? does it really matter? The song just hits you where you live (so to speak); it's specific and universal, it's dreamlike yet it feels very real, and it has an atmosphere to it that it evokes an emotional response, even after endless listens.

As for Morrissey's tendency to hide his light under a bushel or two, I've always thought it was an expression of a truly perverse sensibility. Only fans and completists know his most well-hidden work, and this helps reinforce the notion that the casual listener doesn't get Morrissey, because they've only heard "Roy's Keen," but the fans get him, because we've heard "Lost."

It's like his way of saying "Your loyalty and attention will be rewarded, and you will know me."

Either that, or he has a tin ear ; )

The account of the song 'Girl Least Likely To' by Tom Milway is informative, especially that "Morrissey sings in a clearly autobiographical nature about himself – although via a female protagonist - about his early days as an aspiring writer..."

Has he ever admitted to this himself, or identified who he had in mind?

I enjoyed the article very much. It is interesting for me to read others' interpretations of Morrissey's underlying meanings and motivations found within his lyrical genius. I haven't actually checked the lyrics to Plea but I always thought Morrissey was saying - I'm standing in the dock with my innocent hand on my heart and not standing in the dark as the article reads. Anybody have the lyrics handy to clarify this for me? Thanks.