"Disappointed" meaning

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Someone told me today that "Disappointed" was about the Smiths breakup, and asides from the obvious disappointment in the breakup, I don't see how it could be interpreted that way. Anyone have any input?
 
Someone told me today that "Disappointed" was about the Smiths breakup, and asides from the obvious disappointment in the breakup, I don't see how it could be interpreted that way. Anyone have any input?

I agree. Anything can be made to seem to be about anything, as we've all been witness to... but I'm not seeing the Smiths breakup in these lyrics. I thought "our unsleepable friend" was Morrissey. I think unsleepable sounds like "unspeakable" and is defined in the following line, where this person seems to have heard that word is no one finds them attractive. Since that is part of Morrissey's persona or schtick I guess that's where I got the idea.
"Young boy, I want to help you." The jury is out on this line, but it's not hard to attach meaning to it. Then the part about "people who are nice." Conservative, polite, possibly church-going, utterly boring and closed-minded, trying to make everyone fit into their vision of the right way to behave, a type of cultural fascism.
"This world may lack style I know" but still those of us who feel like outsiders will "blossom and grow" or in other words, you can't stop someone from being who they are.
Young girl, one day you will be old but the thing is I love you now." Maybe he is singing this in character, maybe it's hypothetical, or maybe this is the help he was offering the young boy a few lines back, sort of giving him words to tell the girl.
The last part about "this is the last song I will ever sing" comes across like a joke especially with the crowd response added, cheering that he won't sing again, then booing when he changes his mind, so that they are the same as the "people who are nice."
That is one way to make sense of it. It might also just be a collection of various bits of clever wordplay. It's definitely a humorous song.
 
I always saw this one as being about the breakup. Like receiving a poison pen letter from a (musical) ex.

Morrissey is the “unsleepable friend”, and he’s basically been delivered a “f*** You” by Johnny in the form of the Smiths split, hence being “in ruins because of people who are nice.” It’s basically I Keep Mine Hidden, pt 2, along with “I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me” which is along the same lines.

I think the line, “This is the last song I will ever sing” is a sort of nudge towards people in the Smiths camp who thought Morrissey would disappear from music without Johnny.
 
I always saw this one as being about the breakup. Like receiving a poison pen letter from a (musical) ex.

Morrissey is the “unsleepable friend”, and he’s basically been delivered a “f*** You” by Johnny in the form of the Smiths split, hence being “in ruins because of people who are nice.” It’s basically I Keep Mine Hidden, pt 2, along with “I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me” which is along the same lines.

I think the line, “This is the last song I will ever sing” is a sort of nudge towards people in the Smiths camp who thought Morrissey would disappear from music without Johnny.

Omg you're back!!!!! you are one of the few people on this site i like :)
 
the reverb sound...seems like a how soon is now reference...?
 
I remember reading a very elegant review of this song some years ago, which postulated that the song is about a friend with HIV, and how everyone suddenly shuns them, leaving the singer disappointed. I think that's a good interpretation.
 
I remember reading a very elegant review of this song some years ago, which postulated that the song is about a friend with HIV, and how everyone suddenly shuns them, leaving the singer disappointed. I think that's a good interpretation.

So, it's about Tim Broad? Didn't he have HIV and died in 1993?
 
the reverb sound...seems like a how soon is now reference...?

Tremolo sound, you mean. And I always took it as such. I know "How Soon Is Now?" isn't the only song to have every used tremolo, but the way it's used in "Disappointed" and the phrasing of the chords make it reminiscent of the song.
 
I remember reading a very elegant review of this song some years ago, which postulated that the song is about a friend with HIV, and how everyone suddenly shuns them, leaving the singer disappointed. I think that's a good interpretation.

I like mine better of course, but this is interesting because I can see him singing "would rather die than have to touch you" about a person with HIV. It is a really terrible and insensitive thing to say in a pop song, so it might just be true. I think he's singing about his unlovable self but that's probably mostly because that's how I immediately heard it and didn't think of other possibilities.

But the young boy/young girl lines don't make sense if that is what it's about. I think it was an early allusion to humasexuality. And of course sometimes words just come to a writer and they don't know what it means for years if ever.
 
I remember hearing this song on the B side of Everyday Is Like Sunday and feeling this was the first time the lyrics weren't amazing. I like the song but the "each bud must blossom and grow" line seemed a bit forced. The young boy/girl thing is a bit throwaway too. This was the first song where only about 75% of the lyrics were good. I loved the lyrics to Sister I'm A Poet and Will Never Marry fully. It is great live when the audience boo him saying "This is the last song I will ever sing".
Oh I'm not sure what the song is about. Can't imagine the AIDS thing being right anyway Morrissey said he'd never written about AIDS in an interview in the late '80s.
 
i always just thought it was about people who were disappointed moz didnt fail on on his own
 
1 PIL - Disappointed
2 Electronic - Disappointed
3 Morrissey - Disappointed
 
1 PIL - Disappointed
2 Electronic - Disappointed
3 Morrissey - Disappointed

Wrong order! I fixed it. Or what was your point?

1 Morrissey - Disappointed
2 PIL - Disappointed
3 Electronic - Disappointed
 
i always just thought it was about people who were disappointed moz didnt fail on on his own

Morrissey had only had one hit single when Disapponted was released as a B side. It may have been intuition or foresight.
 
Wrong order! I fixed it. Or what was your point?

1 Morrissey - Disappointed
2 PIL - Disappointed
3 Electronic - Disappointed

Just trying to provoke discussion. My order would change from time to time. I like all three.
 
Not sure it's about Johnny Marr, although Electronic went on to write the songs Get The Message and Disappointed. Doubt there's a link to Morrissey's song of the same name however.
 
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