Trying to decipher Morrissey's lyrics

[Kuiper]

This is pretty straightforward: let's try to decipher the meaning to some of Morrissey's lyrics. It could be just a line, or a whole song. I've got a few that I have theories on and a few that just leave me with no possible guess.

First, "Oh Well, I'll Never Learn" (for all these lyrics, please go to Passions Just Like Mine and read them so space won't be wasted posting the whole song and then repeating it over and over again while figuring it out).

I think it is about being a somewhat rebellious youth or teen. The line about falling into the fountain of youth provides some evidence for that IMHO. About specifically falling in, I feel that conveys being like caught up in your youth, like being called such a teen and not really denying it, being thoroughly a teen and everything that goes along with it. About running into somewhere with a keep out sign, and simply saying oh well I'll never learn, that really conveys to me be rebellious and carefree.

Next, "I Know Very Well How I Got My Name"

This also seems to be about being a youth (the 13-years-old line and all, which I believe Morrissey admitted was about himself). I think the song is from the standpoint of this youth after he has grown up. Like when he says "I know very well I don't need to be told" it's like he's admitting he's made mistakes and gone through "curious phases" and he knows it consciously, not like when someone who refuses to believe they were any different at any point in their life.

Lastly, "Whatever Happens, I Love You"

This reminds me a bit of "Hand in Glove". It seems to be in that everyone else is against us vein. The first verse about secret names seems to be about problems one of the couple is facing, but even with all the trouble they have in the world, they still love each other. The second verse about cold love in prose seems to be about at times the couple turning against each other just under the pressure of their problems, but that doesn't change their love for each other. And the last verse, about everyone being quick with advice, might be about people trying to intervene in their imperfect relationship, but nothing will change it. So the title is very fitting if my assumptions are correct.

Any other guesses? About the above three or any other songs?

 

[sid james]

Hmmm - I'm not sure about "Oh Well, I'll Never Learn" - call me a simpleton, but I always presumed it was simply a very direct statement on Morrissey's descision to continue in music with a solo career after the collapse of the Smiths: 'Chapter One again, here I go again..." etc etc, especially considering it was on the very first record he issued as a solo artist.

 

[Worm]

Both interpretations of "Oh Well, I'll Never Learn" work once you consider that Morrissey always regarded pop music as intrinsic to youth. (He may not anymore!) A career in pop music is probably tantamount, in his mind, to remaining young.

My pick for a song to interpret is "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", which in my opinion is shamefully overlooked when the best Morrissey lyrics are discussed.

The words are pretty straightforward, so there isn't a lot of "de-coding" to do. The easiest summary is this: the song is sung from the standpoint of a man who wants to break up with his girlfriend but doesn't know it yet. He's lying to her but won't admit it to anyone, least of all himself. Sounds pretty ordinary, but to my ears the observation of that moment of total self-denial in a relationship is an amazing accomplishment for a pop songwriter.

You've got this person telling one outrageous lie after another to his wife or girlfriend, trying to appease her, but by now his "fidelity" has become a joke (literally, as when the hack stand-up comic says "stop me if you've heard this one before" before he tells a joke). The brilliant lines are "Nothing's changed/I still love you/Only slightly less than I used to": seems the guy isn't aware of it, but loving someone "only slightly less" is the same thing as "not at all". Once you cross that line, the relationship is doomed. You're just rationalizing your way to the full stop.

Johnny, Mike and Andy rarely sounded as emphatic as they do on "Stop Me". The music complements Morrissey's voice so perfectly that I doubt there is a finer example of how tight they were as a unit, and helps explain why they thought "Strangeways" their best album. The band's pugnacious surges of attitude erupt over slower, reeling respites of doubt, the two alternating to suggest the beginnings of cold self-awareness.

It's a portrait of a man standing in the dock, protesting his innocence, shaking his fist at a room full of his accusers, real or imagined. A bleak vision of love as a trial in which one's innocence is constantly questioned-- and we are both accuser and defendant. A year later, in "Will Never Marry", Morrissey memorably named it "in-built guilt".

The song fits perfectly on "Strangeways", which is largely devoted to failed, diseased, or hopeless love affairs, eerily and aptly prefiguring the Smiths' split.

 

[Kuiper]

First, Worm, I agree that Stop Me... is one of Morrissey's best lyrics, and one of my all-time favorite songs. Strangeways is my favorite Smiths or solo album. I also agree that the words themselves aren't that confusing, but the song as a whole can get you a bit lost. I could never really guess what this song was about, whenever I thought I'd figured out a verse or something, then a line somewhere else in the song would contradict my theory. Your analysis to me works perfectly.

sid james, I agree Oh Well, I'll Never Learn could easily be about continuing in music after the break-up of The Smiths. The "chapter one" and "never learn" lines fit very well. Worm is right that both make sense.