Half-Written New Songs

[Comtesse]

Is anyone else frustrated by the unfinished feeling of the live versions of "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell"? I love both of these songs - the melodies are gorgeous - but it just seems like Morrissey forgot to finish them. They have two nice verses, then when you're just getting into it, he finishes them off half-heartedly, with some typical Morrissey cliché lines about "holding him while you still have a chance" or "nobody wants my love" - almost as if he couldn't be bothered with them any longer and just wanted them over and done. It frustrates me and I keep hoping that maybe when the songs show up in recorded form, they will have additional verses... but I really doubt it since they didn't change much during their live airings. For someone who claims to love the written word, and writing lyrics and singing, it just seems like a waste to leave a song unfinished like that...

Yes, I have nothing better to do this evening than whine... sad, isn't it?

[Erik]

I agree. I think the only new song that had any follow through was All You Need Is Me.
That should have been the Greatest Hits first single with the other 3 as b-sides.

[Ethan Poe]

See I thought One Day Goodbye Will be Farewell was really thorough though was more instrument driven I mean it has two full verses and one kind of verse...Paris I think was supposed to be a simple song that didnt overwhelm you with lyrics and whatnot its a good simple song with good simple music to back it up. And besides for all we know Morrissey wrote homerian epics for the rest of the tracks

[Vauxhall95]

Is anyone else frustrated by the unfinished feeling of the live versions of "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell"? I love both of these songs - the melodies are gorgeous - but it just seems like Morrissey forgot to finish them. They have two nice verses, then when you're just getting into it, he finishes them off half-heartedly, with some typical Morrissey cliché lines about "holding him while you still have a chance" or "nobody wants my love" - almost as if he couldn't be bothered with them any longer and just wanted them over and done. It frustrates me and I keep hoping that maybe when the songs show up in recorded form, they will have additional verses... but I really doubt it since they didn't change much during their live airings. For someone who claims to love the written word, and writing lyrics and singing, it just seems like a waste to leave a song unfinished like that...

Yes, I have nothing better to do this evening than whine... sad, isn't it?

No, you are right. It is a troubling trend; however just when I start to get a full on panic I remember I felt the same way around the time of "Southpaw," and he bounced back from that with some nice material. After the whole NME debacle, I'm just praying he doesn't release a batch of new songs about lawyers and accountants again.

[Corrissey]

For someone who claims to love the written word, and writing lyrics and singing, it just seems like a waste to leave a song unfinished like that...

Comtesse, you know how I feel... more lyrics, please

*plays 'Girl Least Likely To' to relish in the bounty of beautiful words*

After the whole NME debacle, I'm just praying he doesn't release a batch of new songs about lawyers and accountants again.

Good point...hadn't thought about that *fingers crossed* Dear Moz, please help us...

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

They feel a little thin, considering who wrote them. We'll have to wait and see what makes the album. Maybe he's experimenting with minimalism- the fewer words said, the better.

[vivabob]

i think that im throwing ..... sounds great , i think it would be worthy of an album track on the new album . i think it would be lost on a greatest hits album . i personally hope its his next new single

[Not Right in the Head]

i think that im throwing ..... sounds great , i think it would be worthy of an album track on the new album . i think it would be lost on a greatest hits album . i personally hope its his next new single

I'll second that. I wouldn't mind having that jarring instrumental break replaced by some more lyrics, but it's probably too late for that.

[DipYourHeadInAVatOfGhee]

I know what Comtesse means - they do feel a bit insubstantial.

Even in 2002/2003 when Moz was playing some of the YATQ songs, you could tell there was going to be a cracking album on the way.

I don't get that feeling with this one.

I think the best stuff on Ringleaders was driven by the amazement of having found someone - perhaps he's content now? But hopefully not in a vacant McCartneyesque twaddle-pop way.

[imogen11]

I know what Comtesse means - they do feel a bit insubstantial.

Even in 2002/2003 when Moz was playing some of the YATQ songs, you could tell there was going to be a cracking album on the way.

I don't get that feeling with this one.

I think the best stuff on Ringleaders was driven by the amazement of having found someone - perhaps he's content now? But hopefully not in a vacant McCartneyesque twaddle-pop way.

I love your avatar

[Dave]

One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell is interesting for all the "ell" rhymes. It's like they gave him a word and he had to rhyme it. Maybe he is going to become a battle rapper.

Seriously, he did say that the way he writes songs has changed and that they just fall out of nowhere. I am tired and can't look up the quote right now, but he basically said that he writes down the first shiznits that comes into his head and says f it.

I love "All You Need Is Me" and I think "That's How People Grow Up" is excellent and very funny. Paris hasn't grabbed me yet. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell has more potential than I have heard in the versions I have, but it's a pretty good melody and what's there is alright. He's not trying to compete with his greatest work.

I have a feeling that he never spent the time we might imagine he did on the lyrics. Maybe I'm wrong. With all the quotes, all the source material he used, it does suggest that he was crafting the songs. But I think that he was a much more serious person then and that the songs naturally reflected that. I think that he has loosened up and that the songs reflect this. Really, I'd rather hear these new songs than something about walking through Rome and exploding kegs.

[vivabob]

I love your avatar

i think we should make a morrissey mr potato head

[Jamie]

See about two dozen of my posts from the past 2 - 3 years for thoughts on the same. I'm exaggerating the number, but I've gotten to the point of "blue in the face" with regards to the lyrical lapse. If, indeed, this is a strategy of minimalism or an effort to capture spontaneity in the thought process, it's my opinion that he should go back to the old methods.

The best writing is obviously universal, but I feel much of what he writes today is overly simplistic. Of course, one day goodbye will be farewell for all of us--what of it? I don't see a unique perspective or a moment of epiphany that adds to the banality of the sentiment.

Yes, yes--"picky picky," etc.

Cheers,

Jamie

[Vauxhall95]

See about two dozen of my posts from the past 2 - 3 years for thoughts on the same. I'm exaggerating the number, but I've gotten to the point of "blue in the face" with regards to the lyrical lapse. If, indeed, this is a strategy of minimalism or an effort to capture spontaneity in the thought process, it's my opinion that he should go back to the old methods.

The best writing is obviously universal, but I feel much of what he writes today is overly simplistic. Of course, one day goodbye will be farewell for all of us--what of it? I don't see a unique perspective or a moment of epiphany that adds to the banality of the sentiment.

Yes, yes--"picky picky," etc.

Cheers,

Jamie

Yes, it seems the sentiment itself is supposed to be clever enough to carry the entire song, i.e. one day goodbye will be farewell. It seems to me, bitch, bitch, moan, moan, that Moz used to write clever song titles and lyrics. Then again, like I've said before, I thought after Southpaw he didn't have much left to say and was proved very wrong. So, who knows?

[DipYourHeadInAVatOfGhee]

I love your avatar

You've made my day!

i think we should make a morrissey mr potato head

As for a Mr Potato Head Moz... I'd buy one!

Moztato Head®: You could have Kill Uncle-era megaquiff; or go for the Alma Matters-style side parting; and maybe some grey temples for 2004 onwards.

Complete with some Vauxhall-era sideburns and fake scars for your own Moztato Boxers tour.

[Jamie]

Yes, it seems the sentiment itself is supposed to be clever enough to carry the entire song, i.e. one day goodbye will be farewell. It seems to me, bitch, bitch, moan, moan, that Moz used to write clever song titles and lyrics. Then again, like I've said before, I thought after Southpaw he didn't have much left to say and was proved very wrong. So, who knows?

I know exactly what you mean, Vauxhall--that's what's keeping me around. For my part, I thought there were elements of successfully "saying more by saying less" on Southpaw Grammar, but there was more mystery involved, seemingly some codes to uncrack. Now, it feels like he is rolling out of bed and saying "today, I will write a song called -x-," even if the idea or sentiment behind the song is incomplete or lacking. It is what it is and it ain't much.

But I know what you mean: then, he'll hit you with a lyric like Maladjusted or Teenage Dad on His Estate and everything feels right in the world again.

I always stress, though, my feeling is not that he owes us anything; I just feel that an artist of his stature has an amazing legacy to caretake. And part of the caretaking is to not allow a growing surfeit of second-rate material tarnish the masterpieces.

Cheers,
Jamie

[Vauxhall95]

I know exactly what you mean, Vauxhall--that's what's keeping me around. For my part, I thought there were elements of successfully "saying more by saying less" on Southpaw Grammar, but there was more mystery involved, seemingly some codes to uncrack. Now, it feels like he is rolling out of bed and saying "today, I will write a song called -x-," even if the idea or sentiment behind the song is incomplete or lacking. It is what it is and it ain't much.

But I know what you mean: then, he'll hit you with a lyric like Maladjusted or Teenage Dad on His Estate and everything feels right in the world again.

I always stress, though, my feeling is not that he owes us anything; I just feel that an artist of his stature has an amazing legacy to caretake. And part of the caretaking is to not allow a growing surfeit of second-rate material tarnish the masterpieces.

Cheers,
Jamie

Exactly, I think that is where people misunderstand our viewpoint. We aren't bad-mouthing Morrissey, just hoping for better. You're dead on when you write he does have this amazing legacy, so please don't tarnish it with the lackluster.

In retrospect, it does seem seven years without a record provided a backlog of emotion, ideas, and lyrics. I wonder if following up with ROTT so soon and now another album will really allow the time and inspiration necessary to create the superlative lyrics we've come to expect. I still think ROTT had some very interesting lyrics, i.e. At Last I Am Born, Life is a Pigsty, Far Off Places, etc. The pop radio friendly tunes seemed a little thin in retrospect: You Have Killed Me and The Youngest Was the Most Loved were not Irish Blood, English Heart or First of the Gang to Die.

I guess what I find most "worrisome" about the prospect of the new album is that it is seemingly already done. Which leads me to believe it will be in the same vein of the songs already floating around: lyrically sparse. I hope it is just a case of him holding his best material for the album and releasing the rest for the Greatest Hits. Still, I suspect the recent brouhaha with the NME would have provided some interesting lyrics, so here's hoping he continues to write and record.

[AndrewGMooney]

Maybe the current versions are just 'work-in-progress'.

It depends on whether the recording process / producer brings forth anything new from the existing demos. And whether the singer / band are open to that process.

Some bands completely re-work songs in response to a 'studio environment'. And I guess that could prompt further lyrical adventures.

TWIFOCB's underwent a tempo change from demo to final version!

[Vauxhall95]

Maybe the current versions are just 'work-in-progress'.

It depends on whether the recording process / producer brings forth anything new from the existing demos. And whether the singer / band are open to that process.

Some bands completely re-work songs in response to a 'studio environment'. And I guess that could prompt further lyrical adventures.

TWIFOCB's underwent a tempo change from demo to final version!

Which sucked the life out of the song!

Still, I get what you are saying: too early to judge.

[vivabob]

You've made my day!



As for a Mr Potato Head Moz... I'd buy one!

Moztato Head®: You could have Kill Uncle-era megaquiff; or go for the Alma Matters-style side parting; and maybe some grey temples for 2004 onwards.

Complete with some Vauxhall-era sideburns and fake scars for your own Moztato Boxers tour.

what about the malajusted one with a small greasy bump on his head (se the alma matters video for further reference)