late night, maudlin street
- Thread starter JD93
- Start date
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
I hope you're singing now.
Last edited:
Scarlet1987
The sanest days are mad
Apparently it's named after upper maudlin street in central Bristol, I used to live there. And of course maudlin means sad etc
Girl-with-the-Thorn
Still here.
Also, the school in Carry On Teacher was called 'Maudlin Street School'.
It is a really powerful song- definitely one of his very best. I love the fact that the narrative builds up in little evocative vignettes and images.
Scarlet1987
The sanest days are mad
Has anyone else felt his pain or atleast heard it through that song? Especially the wherever you are bit, very harrowing I find
Girl-with-the-Thorn
Still here.
Oh yeah, definitely. Several lines in the song have a very profound effect on me- the way his voice sounds. "There were bad times on Maudlin Street- they took you away in a police car" and "I took the key from Maudlin Street, well it's only bricks and mortar. Oh, truly I love you" especially.
Scarlet1987
The sanest days are mad
Oh yeah, definitely. Several lines in the song have a very profound effect on me- the way his voice sounds. "There were bad times on Maudlin Street- they took you away in a police car" and "I took the key from Maudlin Street, well it's only bricks and mortar. Oh, truly I love you" especially.
Oh dear, truly I love you, wherever you are. Sad sad sad
[email protected]
Dave Jay
...that song somehow (...almost ) PERFECTLY captures what I was going through in a tenement block in Liverpool, ( Sidney gardens.....) where I grew up... ( I hated the house/area I was raised in,...but loved some of the people......).
As a last goodbye to the Hole, when we left ( for a house with an ACTUAL Garden!!! ...the Tenements were all just Bricks and Mortar...not much Greenery at all.... ) I smashed every window, from the inside....to maybe let the House enjoy the Sheer Coldness It had allowed in during the Many Bleak shivering winters it had provided for us, as some sort of "Payback", maybe???/)...and have raised many a glass on its now well-demolished site...
Strangely enough, My Mum hated the "new" house, when we got there,and wanted to return to the Piss-stinking Vomit -caked streeted FREEZING cold shit-hole dump....she was just "accustomed" to it, I suppose...
P.S.... slight Smiths "Tie in"....
While still Living in the Tenements,I asked my dad to Video-record a concert by "Eurythmics" that was to be shown on TV one night, as I was going out with some friends....Whilst out, the programme was "Changed", and they showed the Smiths in Concert instead....He wasn't sure whether to record it for me,....But Good Ol' pops recorded it anyway....Thats how It all started for me...I was truly Smitten, when I watched the show he had taped, when I arrived home in the early hours......Thank you Very much indeed Dad.....you started something I couldn't (possibly!!!) finish...
As a last goodbye to the Hole, when we left ( for a house with an ACTUAL Garden!!! ...the Tenements were all just Bricks and Mortar...not much Greenery at all.... ) I smashed every window, from the inside....to maybe let the House enjoy the Sheer Coldness It had allowed in during the Many Bleak shivering winters it had provided for us, as some sort of "Payback", maybe???/)...and have raised many a glass on its now well-demolished site...
Strangely enough, My Mum hated the "new" house, when we got there,and wanted to return to the Piss-stinking Vomit -caked streeted FREEZING cold shit-hole dump....she was just "accustomed" to it, I suppose...
P.S.... slight Smiths "Tie in"....
While still Living in the Tenements,I asked my dad to Video-record a concert by "Eurythmics" that was to be shown on TV one night, as I was going out with some friends....Whilst out, the programme was "Changed", and they showed the Smiths in Concert instead....He wasn't sure whether to record it for me,....But Good Ol' pops recorded it anyway....Thats how It all started for me...I was truly Smitten, when I watched the show he had taped, when I arrived home in the early hours......Thank you Very much indeed Dad.....you started something I couldn't (possibly!!!) finish...
Last edited:
Raphael Lambach
Well-Known Member
Let's sing all together now.
Girl-with-the-Thorn
Still here.
[email protected]
Dave Jay
I've always thought that too, GWT.....
...This thread has REALLY got me enjoying the whole "Viva hate" album all over again....
...This thread has REALLY got me enjoying the whole "Viva hate" album all over again....
troubleluvsme
giddyup
I find every line in this song absolutely heart wrenching.
I can listen to it over and over.
I can listen to it over and over.
Pokey
Member
There was a wonderful article written by Stephen Street on the recording of Viva Hate which I can't find any more but requested multiple times without luck. He talked about the good vibe recording the album and wrestling matches between Moz and the gang in the studio. But he said something like the night Morrissey came in and laid down vocals for Late Night Maudlin street that the studio just went quiet and the atmosphere totallly changed. Something like there were no after work drinks that night, no laughing and carrying on and that everyone was just shell shocked.
mozmal
Beastly Little Parasite
It's a brilliant song, it's right up there with the very best. As other people have said, there's no real melody to it, it doesn't flow because there's no obvious structure to it. It's not a verse, chorus, verse piece. The lyrics "Your gran died and your mother died on Maudlin Street, in pain and ashamed with never time to say special things" are for me the most heartbreaking. Only Morrissey can write songs like this.
K
KenzieW
Guest
That is a great story of discovering the smiths. I wish I had that kind of luck.
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
I sense a very personal connection to this song as well, so much I don't break it down symbolically word for word, it's as though the entire sentiment expressed is quite literal. I ask that you don't go all "she so crazy" on my explanation because this song kind of means a lot to me, these connections. They're sort of painful. 
So just looking at these lines:
Your gran died
and your mother died
on Maudlin Street
in pain and ashamed
with never time to say
those special things
So earlier in the song Morrissey sings about a moving house. I like to think of this house as a spirit moving from body to body trying to be released into the world but never quite having the house that she lives in make the right connections.
In this photo somewhere is my grandmother participating in a May Queen Festival, but not the queen from what I gather.
Here she poses with friends in the late 20's. She's the one standing on the right of the mailbox where you can only see "CAL" written, it was taken in Nebraska. One hand points up, one hand points down in her pocket. She was a pointer. Her friend kneeling is doing the Isis thing. She probably saw signs too. She was very dark and reserved. Though she had actual reason to be bitter about life (her husband Bill left her for a woman named Mary and up and moved to Texas, deserting her) I suspect her darkness might have stemmed from being a bit different. She was familiar for some reason with being institutionalized, warned my mother about it who eventually was for a short time.
Here she is singing in a club, perhaps misguided by signs to be a club bunny. My mom is a very complicated thing, but she had this idea that someday everything was going to be okay, she saw the signs that said it would. But two failed marriages, three daughters, one given up for adoption because the timing and circumstances were wrong, no higher education, her life did not bloom in such a way that she had time to "say those special things." But that's my job I guess. I want to stress that these women lived very normal lives despite being different. Some may say mentally ill but they weren't. It's difficult to describe.
Linda, Amie & Grace. And my teddy bear.
Other parts of the song go into great detail about other parts of this story, I could talk about it for hours but I don't want to. It's actually a beautifully happy song in a way, it just takes a long road of sadness to get there.
So just looking at these lines:
Your gran died
and your mother died
on Maudlin Street
in pain and ashamed
with never time to say
those special things
So earlier in the song Morrissey sings about a moving house. I like to think of this house as a spirit moving from body to body trying to be released into the world but never quite having the house that she lives in make the right connections.
In this photo somewhere is my grandmother participating in a May Queen Festival, but not the queen from what I gather.
Here she poses with friends in the late 20's. She's the one standing on the right of the mailbox where you can only see "CAL" written, it was taken in Nebraska. One hand points up, one hand points down in her pocket. She was a pointer. Her friend kneeling is doing the Isis thing. She probably saw signs too. She was very dark and reserved. Though she had actual reason to be bitter about life (her husband Bill left her for a woman named Mary and up and moved to Texas, deserting her) I suspect her darkness might have stemmed from being a bit different. She was familiar for some reason with being institutionalized, warned my mother about it who eventually was for a short time.
Here she is singing in a club, perhaps misguided by signs to be a club bunny. My mom is a very complicated thing, but she had this idea that someday everything was going to be okay, she saw the signs that said it would. But two failed marriages, three daughters, one given up for adoption because the timing and circumstances were wrong, no higher education, her life did not bloom in such a way that she had time to "say those special things." But that's my job I guess.
I want to stress that these women lived very normal lives despite being different. Some may say mentally ill but they weren't. It's difficult to describe.
Linda, Amie & Grace. And my teddy bear.
Other parts of the song go into great detail about other parts of this story, I could talk about it for hours but I don't want to. It's actually a beautifully happy song in a way, it just takes a long road of sadness to get there.
TheReader
Wasted 8 of 9 lives...
Wow. I think it's really brave of you to post something so personal CG. And I can understand what you mean about the different but normal aspects to your mum's/grandmothers lives. Lovely photos - I like the one of your Grandma with her friends.
With regards to the song, I hardly ever listen to it, because I find it too difficult.
With regards to the song, I hardly ever listen to it, because I find it too difficult.
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
They were and are very strong women.
I've often wondered, while dreaming about a Viva Hate Tour, if Morrissey could even sing this song today without losing it on stage?
Similar threads
