Since it's the anniversary of the release of MIM and folks are trying to get HSIN to #1 I thought I'd dig up the post from a couple of years ago about my theory that some of the lyrics, indeed the whole song is inspired by Malcolm Bradbury's novel "Eating People is Wrong". It's a very good read.
In July 2008 I wrote:
I have recently read a satirical novel by Malcom Bradbury called 'Eating People is Wrong'. The title comes from a Flanders & Swann song called 'The Reluctant Cannibal' and is neither here nor there as far as I can tell. It was written in the 1950's and published in 1959. It's about the relationships between a middle-aged professor of English (Treece), a female post-graduate (Fielding) and a 'mature student' called Louis Bates. Bates is considered an odd-ball character who is evidently clever, some think 'genius'. It appears that he once tutored in an girls' school. Some of the lines slapped me in the face, a few other themes made me ponder more about the Bates character. I'm probably reading too much into this but I thought the first one at least was pretty close to a lyric we know and love. It then became a game to find other tenuous connections to Morrissey.
If particular interest is:
Chapter 5 (2) (Bates to Fielding): "Look, I'm a human being, you know," said Louis. "I need love like everyone else......"......."Why am I the one who goes unloved?"
In July 2008 I wrote:
I have recently read a satirical novel by Malcom Bradbury called 'Eating People is Wrong'. The title comes from a Flanders & Swann song called 'The Reluctant Cannibal' and is neither here nor there as far as I can tell. It was written in the 1950's and published in 1959. It's about the relationships between a middle-aged professor of English (Treece), a female post-graduate (Fielding) and a 'mature student' called Louis Bates. Bates is considered an odd-ball character who is evidently clever, some think 'genius'. It appears that he once tutored in an girls' school. Some of the lines slapped me in the face, a few other themes made me ponder more about the Bates character. I'm probably reading too much into this but I thought the first one at least was pretty close to a lyric we know and love. It then became a game to find other tenuous connections to Morrissey.
If particular interest is:
Chapter 5 (2) (Bates to Fielding): "Look, I'm a human being, you know," said Louis. "I need love like everyone else......"......."Why am I the one who goes unloved?"
