A
a straight male is saying this to you
Guest
Some of the most heartfelt singing & lyrics from the Maladjusted sessions are found on the B-Side, "I Can Have Both." To me the song functions on at least 2 distinct levels:
Level 1: An adult is actually outside of a candy store, trying to persuade himself to go in, and pick out whatever he desires. To think that the song functions merely on this level would be extremely naive, given the subject matter, the person writing/singing, the innuendo, imagery, and that which is implied, throughout the song.
Level 2: An adult is not physically outside of any locale, be it club, pub, whatever. An adult male, in an introspective mood, is thinking about his urges for sex, love, lust, all of which lead him to a crossroads in his mind, about going this way towards male, or that way towards female, when he really fancies both. In that place, at those crossroads, he then tries to, and eventually does (by the end of the song it seems), convince himself that he "can have both."
But think for a moment about how long the realization took, the self-doubt all along the way, and this little voice inside his head saying something like, "no this is not right." Guilt is the word that I am looking for. Guilt.
Morrissey was nearly 40 when he recorded this song. He is a successful, wealthy, revered, loved, respected, icon, a legend in his own time. And yet, he is singing these lyrics? No, that cannot be right...what's holding him back? He can do what he pleases, he's a grown man. But it is not that simple...and I wonder why.
There is no indication that the song is not about the speaker himself, nothing suggests a detached narrator speaking of a 3rd person(s) (i.e. Suffer Little Children), but rather it seems wholly about Morrissey, from start to finish. And it makes me sad to think, that someone who has achieved so much in life, could be anguishing over the fact that he is, perhaps, Bisexual. Anguishing over it to the point of having to "convince" and "explain" to himself that it is okay to have these desires and to act on these desires.
And I don't have the answer. I'm just saddened that we live in a society that could make a person think this way about wanting to be with persons of the same gender, or persons of both genders. By contrast, there is no issue whatsoever about being straight. In fact, being straight is promoted, advertised, hyped, marketed, protected in law, and all around us. It's ok for a man to want to sleep with as many women as possible, and for him to act on those urges, and it's okay for a woman to want to sleep with as many men as she desires, and act on those urges, as long as she does not kiss & tell. Because for a straight man to kiss and tell, means he's a player, but for a woman to do so, means she is a slut.
Contrast the reality of the straight person, with the reality of the person who deviates from the masses in sexual preference.
Is this, in 2003, where we are at?
Staring in the window of the shop that never opens
Planning my selection from all the treats inside
Should I take as I desire - oh shall I, oh shall I ?
Or should I hang around to be enticed inside ?
I'm trying to explain to myself
I can have both
I'm trying to explain to the voice inside
I can have both
I can have both
There's nobody around to say no
Who've brain-washed the small shy boy inside
He doesn't know he can have both
Smiling through the window to the one who never serves you
I've not been feeling myself tonight
Should I take as I feel like it - well shall I, oh shall I ?
Or should I wait and hope to be dragged inside ?
Oh ...
I'm trying to explain to myself
I can have both
I'm trying to explain to the voice inside
I can have both
I can have both
There's nobody around to say no
Who've brain-washed the small shy boy inside
He doesn't know he can have both
I can have both
There's no need to choose
Because
I can have both
There's no need to choose
I can have both
There's no need to choose
Because
I can have both
There's no need to choose
I can have both
There's no need to choose
Level 1: An adult is actually outside of a candy store, trying to persuade himself to go in, and pick out whatever he desires. To think that the song functions merely on this level would be extremely naive, given the subject matter, the person writing/singing, the innuendo, imagery, and that which is implied, throughout the song.
Level 2: An adult is not physically outside of any locale, be it club, pub, whatever. An adult male, in an introspective mood, is thinking about his urges for sex, love, lust, all of which lead him to a crossroads in his mind, about going this way towards male, or that way towards female, when he really fancies both. In that place, at those crossroads, he then tries to, and eventually does (by the end of the song it seems), convince himself that he "can have both."
But think for a moment about how long the realization took, the self-doubt all along the way, and this little voice inside his head saying something like, "no this is not right." Guilt is the word that I am looking for. Guilt.
Morrissey was nearly 40 when he recorded this song. He is a successful, wealthy, revered, loved, respected, icon, a legend in his own time. And yet, he is singing these lyrics? No, that cannot be right...what's holding him back? He can do what he pleases, he's a grown man. But it is not that simple...and I wonder why.
There is no indication that the song is not about the speaker himself, nothing suggests a detached narrator speaking of a 3rd person(s) (i.e. Suffer Little Children), but rather it seems wholly about Morrissey, from start to finish. And it makes me sad to think, that someone who has achieved so much in life, could be anguishing over the fact that he is, perhaps, Bisexual. Anguishing over it to the point of having to "convince" and "explain" to himself that it is okay to have these desires and to act on these desires.
And I don't have the answer. I'm just saddened that we live in a society that could make a person think this way about wanting to be with persons of the same gender, or persons of both genders. By contrast, there is no issue whatsoever about being straight. In fact, being straight is promoted, advertised, hyped, marketed, protected in law, and all around us. It's ok for a man to want to sleep with as many women as possible, and for him to act on those urges, and it's okay for a woman to want to sleep with as many men as she desires, and act on those urges, as long as she does not kiss & tell. Because for a straight man to kiss and tell, means he's a player, but for a woman to do so, means she is a slut.
Contrast the reality of the straight person, with the reality of the person who deviates from the masses in sexual preference.
Is this, in 2003, where we are at?
Staring in the window of the shop that never opens
Planning my selection from all the treats inside
Should I take as I desire - oh shall I, oh shall I ?
Or should I hang around to be enticed inside ?
I'm trying to explain to myself
I can have both
I'm trying to explain to the voice inside
I can have both
I can have both
There's nobody around to say no
Who've brain-washed the small shy boy inside
He doesn't know he can have both
Smiling through the window to the one who never serves you
I've not been feeling myself tonight
Should I take as I feel like it - well shall I, oh shall I ?
Or should I wait and hope to be dragged inside ?
Oh ...
I'm trying to explain to myself
I can have both
I'm trying to explain to the voice inside
I can have both
I can have both
There's nobody around to say no
Who've brain-washed the small shy boy inside
He doesn't know he can have both
I can have both
There's no need to choose
Because
I can have both
There's no need to choose
I can have both
There's no need to choose
Because
I can have both
There's no need to choose
I can have both
There's no need to choose
