Kuiper
Better than Marr
So, what do you think of some of the unreleased songs and demos of Morrissey? Here's what I think:
Oh Phoney - Not that bad, but it wasn't necessarily a poor decision to scrap it. Musically it is uninteresting and the lyrics are embarrasing, but it actually falls in place perfectly because I am able to stand it. Taken alone all the components are awful, but somehow together it manages to be okay.
Striptease with a Difference - Sorry, I just can't show any love for the lyrics. Quality-wise they aren't awful, but what they are about is just unacceptable, it's so un-Moz. But the music is actually quite good in my opinion.
Born to Hang - Someone, maybe Morrissey or the songwriter, said that it would've made a good b-side but was never really finished. I think it is very promising musically and lyrically, could've developed into something great, but even as is it is good.
Kit - Was it Boz who wrote this? Well I got the performance of Boz or Alain or whoever wrote it playing it and I think it sounds pretty good. I can't really understand the lyrics, but the music is compelling in a way, like I can sense how it could've developed into something even better, like I can almost sense something bigger that was imagined but never quite worked out. Yeah, that's a weird statement but I stand by it. EDIT: I just listened to it, and I can't believe what he (Boz or Alain or whoever) says at the end! Mentioning strings and horns and wondering why it was never finished. So I was right, in a way.
Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness - I've never heard the Sandie Shaw version but I think the Moz demo is okay. The lyrics are passable and the music is acceptable on its own, but they don't really work juxtaposed together.
Honey, You Know Where to Find Me - Very promising, very good, very Southpaw Grammar (that was the session this was from, right?). I wonder what the lyrics were and what they were about though, it just really intrigues me, I can imagine so much from the title. Is it an untraditional love song? A negative song about hating the "honey" and that she (or possibly he of course, or gender-neutral) always is bothering him and knows where to find him? About displeased with the state of your own life because people know where to find you all the time?
Children in Pieces - Thankfully this song gets the praise it deserves, the music is truly outstanding. It grows on me more every time I listen to it, it's beautiful. Release this instead of Christian Dior. Or scratch the live songs To Me You Are a Work of Art and I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now and instead give us Children in Pieces, Christian Dior, and Sweetie-Pie on the single of In the Future When All's Well. For Boy Happy, while those live songs are great choices and sound great live from the bootlegs I've heard (but why oh why from 2002?), give us three more lost gems from the Ringleader sessions that I'm sure exist.
Also, I've heard of an instrumental demo called Laughing Anne and two untitled ones from circa Southpaw Grammar, as well as a song called Stay As You Are (whether it has lyrics or not I don't know). Has anyone heard those and can tell me what they think, or know if they even do in fact exist? Also, and I know it's a longshot, but if anyone has them lots of people would be delighted to see them posted, but of course I know it almost definitely won't happen, I'm just saying is all.
Oh Phoney - Not that bad, but it wasn't necessarily a poor decision to scrap it. Musically it is uninteresting and the lyrics are embarrasing, but it actually falls in place perfectly because I am able to stand it. Taken alone all the components are awful, but somehow together it manages to be okay.
Striptease with a Difference - Sorry, I just can't show any love for the lyrics. Quality-wise they aren't awful, but what they are about is just unacceptable, it's so un-Moz. But the music is actually quite good in my opinion.
Born to Hang - Someone, maybe Morrissey or the songwriter, said that it would've made a good b-side but was never really finished. I think it is very promising musically and lyrically, could've developed into something great, but even as is it is good.
Kit - Was it Boz who wrote this? Well I got the performance of Boz or Alain or whoever wrote it playing it and I think it sounds pretty good. I can't really understand the lyrics, but the music is compelling in a way, like I can sense how it could've developed into something even better, like I can almost sense something bigger that was imagined but never quite worked out. Yeah, that's a weird statement but I stand by it. EDIT: I just listened to it, and I can't believe what he (Boz or Alain or whoever) says at the end! Mentioning strings and horns and wondering why it was never finished. So I was right, in a way.
Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness - I've never heard the Sandie Shaw version but I think the Moz demo is okay. The lyrics are passable and the music is acceptable on its own, but they don't really work juxtaposed together.
Honey, You Know Where to Find Me - Very promising, very good, very Southpaw Grammar (that was the session this was from, right?). I wonder what the lyrics were and what they were about though, it just really intrigues me, I can imagine so much from the title. Is it an untraditional love song? A negative song about hating the "honey" and that she (or possibly he of course, or gender-neutral) always is bothering him and knows where to find him? About displeased with the state of your own life because people know where to find you all the time?
Children in Pieces - Thankfully this song gets the praise it deserves, the music is truly outstanding. It grows on me more every time I listen to it, it's beautiful. Release this instead of Christian Dior. Or scratch the live songs To Me You Are a Work of Art and I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now and instead give us Children in Pieces, Christian Dior, and Sweetie-Pie on the single of In the Future When All's Well. For Boy Happy, while those live songs are great choices and sound great live from the bootlegs I've heard (but why oh why from 2002?), give us three more lost gems from the Ringleader sessions that I'm sure exist.
Also, I've heard of an instrumental demo called Laughing Anne and two untitled ones from circa Southpaw Grammar, as well as a song called Stay As You Are (whether it has lyrics or not I don't know). Has anyone heard those and can tell me what they think, or know if they even do in fact exist? Also, and I know it's a longshot, but if anyone has them lots of people would be delighted to see them posted, but of course I know it almost definitely won't happen, I'm just saying is all.