Here is Morrissey song guide for all admirers/newcomers of music

dreamchild

Member
Hi I am a big Morrissey fan and was going through all my pop records and tapes and stuff (chucking out ones I dont want any more) and thought i would share my "ideas" of his songs, many of you will know that morrissey has no children as he considers his songs (word poems) his children and that he is a very good father and loves them all equally and very much so. Im going through all his tunes and saying what I want about them ("no mob shall ever throw stones sharp enough to cut me" - Morrissey 1996) and just giving my opinion not like mob rule or the "hive mind" which Morrissey hates. Im going through them now before my ears ware away the music notes down to inaudible little squeaks.



VIVA HATE - very strong album that he popped out when he was still cross with his old band. I quite like it and have a big T shirt of the album cover that I wear around my town and when people see me in it they know that I "mean bussiness" as Morrissey did when he made this!! A lot of fans dont know that this album acctually has a storyline about a lover cheating on morrissey (this is just a big metaphor for the breakup of the Smiths) Also this album has quite a few "wacky" sound effects, its well worth a listen....


Alsastion Cousin - has a good laser sound effects (these noises at the start of this I believe were actual red laser beams he shot out of his eyes cuz he was so upset by the great betrayal of the "lover" in this song) and the story of the song has morrissey being cheated on by his boyfriend/girlfriend, "were you and he lovers!?" i dunno, were they?? - it gets a 9/10


Little Man, What Now?? - has a noise in it that sounds like someone banging a door shut over and over again(he is still upset with the mystery lover), I dont rate this one highly - 5/10


Everyday Is Like Sunday - one of his more famous songs, its about going away for a little break to clear his head over his break up and cheer himself up a bit but when he gets there all the shops are closed and its cloudy, he is so annoyed by this he wants to blow the town up with an atom bomb.Also his clothes are stolen from a bench. - 8/10


Bengali in Platforms - I think this is him trying to get over his breakup and hooking up with an Indian who tries too hard to impress people, e.g. wearing platform shoes, nose peicings. Being a decent guy morrissey has to let him/her down gently ("break the news gently") as he realises this Indian is too old for him ("touching march of time that binds you"), its quite a good little track and I give it a 7/10


Angel, Angel down We Go Together - In this song the Indian from the previos song is so upset that he/she is going to commit suicide because Morrissey spurned him/her, Morrissey races to the rescue and manages to save the Indians ("Angel") life, for a bit of trivia many people dont know - there was suppossed to be a video for this featuring Morrissey and the band in a WW2 fighter bomber that had been shot down, its quite a good song and I give it a 7/10



Late Night, Maudlin Street - In this Morrissey epic, he is wondering around his town during the night feeling a wee bit sorry for himself and his state of affairs over the breakup and he is remembering all of the fun times they had, it is a very strong song but my least favourite of his "epics" (yes, I even rate "this is not your country" above it) - 7/10 (also if you have ever played donkey kong country on the snes, in the ice cave levels the piano in this and that sounds exactly the same, this is metaphor for his "icy" break up


Suedehead - Another favourite, I think this song is about him being completely over the breakup, but the other person now wants to get back together! (also I dont know what was on those "silly notes" but I like to think it was like that game where you draw one body part, fold the paper, then give it to the other person, they draw another part and you unfold it and it makes a weird creature). Very strong track, powerful guitar and vocals - 9/10


Break up the Family - A song about his family's reaction to the break up, and Morrissey getting over it ("move away from those awful times") don't rate this one highly - 4/10



Hairdresser on Fire - In this one we see Morrissey getting a new haircut, (look good, feel good, he is ready to move on and a new haircut will help him further get over the breakup) he also uses surrealism in this one as the barber is literally on fire., very strong song,in a smart move the drums are made to sound like sisccors clacking together, - 8/10



The Ordinary Boys - In this one Morrissey is back on the dating scene, but to his horror everyone he dates is just to plain and boring compared to his old flame, quite good and has an enjoyable "plinky plonk" bit that is enjoyable - 7/10


I dont mind if you forget me - in this song he, to his HORROR realises that he is just like the Ordinary Boys described above, but he dosent care, he dosent mind anymore because he is so deppressed and admits he is scared to move on! he is also turned down for many dates by the ordinary boys ("rejection is one thing, but rejection from a fool is cruel") , this song is the ultimate song on this album,it has rocking guitars, if I was a wrestler I would use this as my entrance song - 10/10



Dial - A - Cliche - in this penultimate song Morrissey is writing his suicide note as the great breakup has become just too much for him to take, he decides to take his own life but he dosent want his death to be a "Cliche" so he decides to do something a bit different which leads as nicely on to the next song.............



Margaret on the Guilotine - Morrissey had decided his method of death and has chosen to Guilotine himself!, its a great song that ends with a cool sound effect of the blade whizzing down and chopping off his head, and fittingly the album ends here! WICKED! 10/10



This is a very good album, you should listen to it all the way through to get the main benfit of the story. 9/10
 
Interesting, thanks.

I don't think you'd last long as a pro wrestler. :rolleyes:

I've never heard that interpretation of "Margaret On The Guillotine". I thought the song's subject was pretty obvious. Something about Joan Sims I think. Maybe it is about Morrissey's suicide.
 
I wish I had written down my interpretations of the songs when I first heard them, so I could compare them with my understanding now.

This was interesting, thank you for posting it.
 
Little Man, What Now?? - has a noise in it that sounds like someone banging a door shut over and over again

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA I thought the exact same thing when I first heard it. I love it now though
 
In the Rome interview, Moz talked about people who barely understood English telling him how they interpreted his songs, and despite the fact that it was far off of what he'd been thinking, when he saw how deeply the song affected the listener emotionally, he thought to himself, "well, yes, that it what it's about then!" Doesn't change his initial intent, but shows that he's open to widely varying interpretations of his work.
 
This man is a genius and only a fool would question his explanation. If hope this is only the first of a series. :thumb:
 
Don't be mean.

You know what you should do next dreamchild? Skip all of his work in between and apply the same strategy to Swords. What story does that selection of songs tell? Not literally, just what do you feel when you hear each song and break down the words a bit if you run into trouble figuring it out.
 
Stop number 2 on my "MOZDEYSSEY" (Odyssey) and we are pulling into a little stop called "Maladjusted" and we see that this grim little train station is not very well kept, there are weeds growing in cracks between the concrete, an empty cheese and onion crisp bag blows past us in a gust of fetid wind and we see paint flaking off of the rusted guardrails, this is metaphor for malajusted cause Morrissey was even crosser when he did this one than Viva Hate.


Note Im not doing this in chronological order, just whatever I pull out of my big music jumble sack with a question mark stitched on the side of it, maladjusted just happened to be second out.

MALADJUSTED is an odd and very sinister Morrissey album, it was the first one I bought and this is quite unfortuneate as it is very difficult for the novice to appreciate and get into, notice on the album cover he is posed like a gargoyle and coloured in like one, this is deliberate in my opinion as Maladjusted is a very dark album that deals with subjects ranging from demon summoning (this will become clearer as I review the tunes), death threats and murders, it also has papa jack and roy's keen on it.....


the 2009 re-issue culminates in a melody starting with the song "the edges are no longer parallel" and ending with "sorrow will come in the end" that has Morrissey trying to summon a demon called "maladjusted" to combat Mike Joyce of the smiths, who morrissey has mad at for stealing some of his money (please bear with me on this and I will show you)



Maladjusted - this is a song that has morrissey feeling bad and unhappy at himself and out of place with others - he is maladjusted to normal life, this song begins the darker feel of this album with guitar riffs that sound like humans screaming in pain, these can be heard at - 1.05, 1.45 and the most disturbing one at 2.38 lasting a good 10 or so seconds (I belive this one is an actual recording of one of Jack the Rippers victims being murdered, morrissey done a good song on this subject also note that the next line of the song is "poor working girls like us", jack the ripper killed prostitutes, is this a coincidence or something more sinister??, is morrissey a descendant of jack the ripper??). the song itself is fairly by the numbers, its a fairly weak opening and I give it a 5/10


Ambitious Outsiders - this one is about morrissey feeling physical danger from his fans, he is so scared of them he has to "bolt lock the doors" and he knows they want to kill him "keeping the population down", he is being paranoid in this song, the heavy strings represent his madness, its a fairly lukewarm song, dissapointing after the poor opener I give it a 3/10, off to a bad start so far....


Trouble Loves Me - this song is about morrisseys troublesome personality - he is always gettinhg into rows and fights because trouble loves him - he is nicking pies, littering and mouthing off just being a bit cheeky but then this song takes a turn of depravity as he mentions this aspect of his personality might lead him to go on a killing spree "on the flesh rampage", we all know morrissey is celibate so this CANNOT be a metaphor for sex, killing spree is the only option here Im afraid. Good little number, 8/10


Lost - this song does exaclty what it says on the tin!, its all about being lost and not knowing who you really are, the music is enjoyable in that jangly, plinky plonk way his songs sometimes get, a welcome addition to this album - 8/10


He Cried - this song is about a man crying posibly over a relationship, note that the guitars symbolise tears running down the mans cheek and the trumpet piece represent him blowing his nose. in this piece morrissey admits its alright for men to cry (usually a sign of weakness) as long as its just a little dribble over something important not bawling like a baby, in my opinion this is a bad message to send out to the youth of today, I give this one a 6/10


Alma Matters - great track that has a very strange opening with an instrument that I dont even know what it is, lets just call it the jangle box, this song is about a woman called Alma who means a lot to morrissey and other people, the main message of this song is that there is somebody out there for everyone, a very positive and upbeat morrissey track, a rarity, this is an overlooked gem in my humble opinion - 9/10


Heir Apparent - this song has morrissey being back to being depressed over new up and coming pop groups that sound better and look better than him, the pop group is called the "Heir Apparents" and Morrissey is a bit jelous of them and is warning them being a musician is a hard life, also this song deals with morrissey's growing age as he cannot remember where the train station is in his home town, morrissey sounds a bit upset in this one so i rate it a bit lower - 6/10


Ammunition - this song is about being content in life and having all of the things you want, not being frivoulous things you dont need, morrissey paints a picture of a man happy with the things he has - I had a good idea for the video of this song - it was Morrissey firing his tommy gun from "you are the quarry" with a man behind him holding a sign that says "infinite ammo", its quite a good song although a little slow, 7/10


The edges are no longer parallel - this is where what I like to call the "demon arc" begins, it has morrissey drawing a pentagram on the floor (he has faffed about in the occult before, oujia board, ouija board) in order to summon a demon, a pentagram has no parallel sides. "there are no laws of averages here" - this is refering to the demon realm where our laws of physics have no meaning. the heavy strings and manic guitar represent his slide into madness and demon worship, a very strong track despite being so sinister, 9/10, please note at the end of the song you hear the demon laughing 4.50 to the end, that aint the bass its demon laughter.



This is not your country - this is my absolute all time favourite morrissey epic, it details his quest in the demon world to meet the demon maladjusted, we get a nightmarish description of the demon realm - a hellish placed filled with "barbed wire" "grafitti scrawls" "armoured cars" and "fire" . the title refers to the fact that he is in the demon world, its literally "not your country" as its not on planet earth anymore, but somewhere else . He has trouble breathing the sulphuric atmosphere "I need some air" and gets shot at when he wanders too near a post box. The chorus is superb as it deals with morrisseys dislike of paying the tv liscence fee "BBC scum". he admits he is scared and has to run everywhere "a short walk becomes a run". He finally makes it though this nightmare zone safely but loses some of his sanity as he begins to talk to himself loudly - "youve got more than the dead so zip up your mouth" this is a conversation he is having with himself to reassure himself he is still okay and alive, also he halucinates and sees "survailance globes" and "british soldiers" everywhere. listen to the otherworldy strings and plinky plonks in this song, these are acctually magic wards put into place to stop the tune being sucked into the demon worlds "lyric vortexes", for other songs that get pulled into this mental 5th dimension please see Oasis's song "Married With Children" fast forward to 2.29 and you will hear Liam Gallagher get pulled into this twilight zone (when his voice changes he is gone). Anyway this is the all time Morrissey epic, such a shame that it was hidden away for many years but Morrissey had to make the world safe before we were ready for its power, Awseome musicianship, stellar heartfelt singing and a kickass chorus - 10/10


Wide to Receive - opens with a spaced out trippy bit then goes straight to Morrissey conversing with the demon (you hear it speak with morrissey in tandem at numerous times during the song), this song details the pact the two have made to get rid off Joyce "plug in and just walk away", nice little track if a little slow 6/10


I Can Have Both - Oh Oh, in this one Morrissey gets a little greedy and asks the demon for too much rendering their pact null and void, greed is a common failing in all of us, including morrissey "should I take as I desire Oh shall I Oh shall I?", he gets punished severly for his greed here, a powerful message to us all. 7/10


Now I am A was - in this song morrissey shows us that he has been transformed back into a mortal or a "was", however he seems not that upset by this sudden loss of power, a decnet little track 6/10


Satan Rejected My Soul -this ultimate morrissey rocker will always hold a place in my heart , in this track morrissey has been refused entry to both heaven and hell for dabling in demon summoning, "the fun in life has cost me" shows that he has been having too much fun as a mortal and has racked up too much mileage on his soul and it is a bit chanky and no one wants it, he cant even give it away!, later in the song morrissey decides to kill himself by chucking himself in the ocean but he has a change of heart and asks people to pull him in, a rocking tune with awesome slidy guitars - 10/10


Sorrow Will Come in the end - , Here we see morrissey so fizzing mad that he threatens to cut Joyces throat and that his demon pact has failed and he has to sort this out the boring way - through the courts - contains whipping sounds - 4/10



In conclusion Maladjusted is a very dark and black piece of work, it starts off slowly but soon builds up speed and has two ultimate belters near the end, I wouldnt recomend this to the first time listener as it requires a little knowledge of morrisseys earlier works to fully appreciate but I reccomend everyone has it in their collection. I give this a 8/10.
 
Joey? Worm? Who is behind this?

Could be anyone
-Hold on a minute...You can't date the schtroumpfette and still have this much time on your hands... can you?

:lbf::crazy:

Anyone currently unemployed or bored at work anyway! (edit/ of course if they've blocked youtube there it's completely understandable. Poor Dreamchild!:tears:).

Is SG ready yet or is it your tea break?
 
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Angel, Angel down We Go Together -

Erm...didnt Moz himself say it was about Johnny? Or, "written with Marr in mind?" Something about being concerned that Johnny was being exploited by the music industry.

Yeah, he said he thought Johnny was being pushed around by people in the industry and wrote the song regarding that, but in the end it was a 'mistaken' notion.
 
Margaret on the Guillotine is about Margaret Thatcher. No hidden meaning here, I'm afraid.

Policemen invaded Morrissey's house by Thatcher's orders. She had alleged it because she's thought Morrissey plans of killing her.
 
Stop He Cried - this song is about a man crying posibly over a relationship, note that the guitars symbolise tears running down the mans cheek and the trumpet piece represent him blowing his nose. in this piece morrissey admits its alright for men to cry (usually a sign of weakness) as long as its just a little dribble over something important not bawling like a baby, in my opinion this is a bad message to send out to the youth of today, I give this one a 6/10

This made me go :rofl: but it's all very interesting. :o Keep going.
 
I Can Have Both - Oh Oh, in this one Morrissey gets a little greedy and asks the demon for too much rendering their pact null and void, greed is a common failing in all of us, including morrissey "should I take as I desire Oh shall I Oh shall I?", he gets punished severly for his greed here, a powerful message to us all. 7/10

oh.....and there was me thinking it was a song about agonising over the issue of bisexuality:eek:

Jukebox Jury
 
Is this true, or just a myth? :confused:

The wording is misleading.

Yes, the police visited Morrissey-- politely, as far as that goes. They questioned him and left. Morrissey described it as a kind of baffling non-event. It was probably a routine investigation into, y'know, what amounts to a death threat against a head of state. I doubt Maggie ever knew the song existed.
 
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