"on the streets i ran" is the smiths

[charlie tango]

yes- that's how good it is.

 

[Ringleader]

It is a good track though, it is always to keep up the perfection of making new songs

 

[mjp]

yes- that's how good it is.

Glad to hear this getting some good press - it's my fave from the album.

 

[sid james]

I don't know if I fully agree with it being as 'good' as the Smiths, but it does have that 1985-era Smiths vibe to it, like a lot of the Meat is Murder/Shakespeare's Sister era stuff it sounds quite urgent, with Morrissey barely staying in key with the vocals at times - recorded in 1 take perhaps?

 

[Shaw]

It's a great track, can't understand why people hate it?

 

[charlie tango]

I don't know if I fully agree with it being as 'good' as the Smiths, but it does have that 1985-era Smiths vibe to it, like a lot of the Meat is Murder/Shakespeare's Sister era stuff it sounds quite urgent, with Morrissey barely staying in key with the vocals at times - recorded in 1 take perhaps?

urgent! yeah
barely in key, yeah!

and "i just wanna see the boy happy" sounds terrible and superb at the same time. great music. i remember when "sheila take a bow" sounded terrible to my ears but now i see it as the smiths at their best.........................................

 

[veradicere]

What is "On the Streets I ran" about?

It seems to me like it could be about us crazy fans, but I don't know. What do you think?



Ooh, a working-class face glares back
At me from the glass and lurches
Forgive me, on the street's I ran
Turned sickness into, popular song

Streets of wet black holes
On roads you can never know
You never have them
But, they alway's have you
'Till the day that you croak
(it's no joke)

Ooh, a working-class face glares back
At me from the glass and lurches
Forgive me, on the street's I ran
Turned sickness into unpopular song

And all these street's can do
Is claim to know the real you
And warn if you don't leave
You will kill or be killed
Which isn't very nice
Here everybody's friendly
But nobody's friends
Oh, dear God when will I
Be where I should be?

And when the Palmist said:
"One Thursday you will be dead"
I said "No, not me, this cannot be,
Dear God, take him, take them, take anyone
The stillborn,
The newborn
The infirmed,
Take anyone
Take people from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Just spare me!"

 

[Suzanne]

less poetically:

he's talking about his childhood and his working class roots and how they are the source of the majority of his material.

 

[Stuheff]

On the Streets I ran

I dont think it's an exageration to say that this is one of my favourite Moz songs ever.

For me the lyrics are clever and Moz at almost his best:

"Here everybody's friendly, but nobody's friends"

(I like the way he included the crowd in on that one!)

& "When will I be where I should be"


I just dont understand why the NME slated it.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

less poetically:

he's talking about his childhood and his working class roots and how they are the source of the majority of his material.

Its Morrissey's version of Better Days by Bruce Springsteen

Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening
To the hours and minutes tickin' away
Yeah, just sittin' around waitin' for my life to begin
While it was all just slippin' away.
I'm tired of waitin' for tomorrow to come
Or that train to come roarin' 'round the bend
I got a new suit of clothes a pretty red rose
And a woman I can call my friend

These are better days baby
Yeah there's better days shining through
These are better days baby
Better days with a girl like you

Well I took a piss at fortune's sweet kiss
It's like eatin' caviar and dirt
It's a sad funny ending to find yourself pretending
A rich man in a poor man's shirt
Now my ass was draggin' when from a passin' gypsy wagon
Your heart like a diamond shone
Tonight I'm layin' in your arms carvin' lucky charms
Out of these heard luck bones

These are better days baby
These are better days it's true
These are better days
There's better days shining through

Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure
Don't make much for tragedy
But it's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin
And can't stand the company
Every fool's got a reason to feelin' sorry for himself
And turn his heart to stone
Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I'm comin' home

These are better days baby
There's better days shining through
These are better days
Better days with a girl like you

These are better days baby
These are better days it's true
These are better days
Better days are shining through

 

[mjp]

Totally agree with so many things said on this thread:

The straining, urgency of the vocals.
The lyrics - I love "and when the palmist said, one Thursday you will be dead".

It's blummin great isn't it?

 

[Aly Panic]

Take people from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Just spare me!"

What's he got against people from Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania?

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

urgent! yeah
barely in key, yeah!

and "i just wanna see the boy happy" sounds terrible and superb at the same time. great music. i remember when "sheila take a bow" sounded terrible to my ears but now i see it as the smiths at their best.........................................

So true, I never cared for STAB, or Shoplifters for that matter, but now I view them as brilliant.

 

[King Leer]

And all these streets can do/is claim to know the real you

I love that line...Many people can't seem to see the forest for the trees with the lyrics on this record.

I posted positive prose about this track on the old forum and got some strong support for it, but like the whole album, it's a grower.

It's got great forward propulsion, an urgent auto-biographical lyric, and a punk take-it-or-leave-it ending.

It's battling In The Future...as my favourite Jesse track on the record.

 

[Orson Swells]

It's obviously about his Manchester roots to a degree, yes, but also I think refers to his time in The Smiths: the days when "on the streets (he) ran" are the days he "turned sickness into popular song". The second time he looks in the mirror he refers to turning "sickness into unpopular song" - possibly a jokey reference to his solo career. The final section seems to refer to someone telling him his career is over/dead... and him refusing to accept it. Infact the whole album seems to be littered with songs about his music career, albeit not as obvious as, say, You Know I Could'nt Last or Crashing Bores. Maybe Leadsinger of the Tormentors is actually "about" Morrissey coming to terms with his musical legacy, accepting that the old Morrissey of the Smiths is dead and the "new" is born! A musical psychodrama in 12 songs, perhaps Ringleader is his first concept album!

 

[mjp]

What's he got against people from Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania?

Nothing - I think he picked that/them for alliteration more than anything else.

 

[Jones]

I like that line "everybody's friendly, but nobody's friends". Haven't we all felt that sometimes?

I recently read an article by a journalist from Manchester who was criticising the idea that people from the north were friendlier. She said they may say hello to you in the street but actually in terms of actually being your friend and inviting you into their home they are more standoffish than people in the South.

It reminded me of a friend of mine who went to live in NY for a while. She said the people there were initially very friendly and would make it seem like they wanted to be your friend, but then they would never bother to get back in touch. The only real friends she made out there were other Europeans.

 

[mjp]

I like that line "everybody's friendly, but nobody's friends". Haven't we all felt that sometimes?

I recently read an article by a journalist from Manchester who was criticising the idea that people from the north were friendlier. She said they may say hello to you in the street but actually in terms of actually being your friend and inviting you into their home they are more standoffish than people in the South.

It reminded me of a friend of mine who went to live in NY for a while. She said the people there were initially very friendly and would make it seem like they wanted to be your friend, but then they would never bother to get back in touch. The only real friends she made out there were other Europeans.

That's a great post "Jones" - very interesting.

 

[Stuheff]

Perhaps Im clutching at straws, but I seem to remember watching 'London Tonight' on a Thursday when Moz was walking out of court, having lost to Joyce, alone.

Could this be behind the one Thursday you will be dead line?

Possibly the only court case reference in the album, and the usual his refusing to 'die' or go away because of the verdict?

"No, not me, this cannot be, take him, take them (perhaps the other Smiths), take anyone.."

Fantastic meaning if it is.

Shoot me if it isnt.

 

[Orson Swells]

Nothing - I think he picked that/them for alliteration more than anything else.

Someone said it's where Warhol is from. If so it represents the kind of small town mentality Morrissey is trying to escape (and can't) in the song. So it ties in thematically with the rest of the lyric.