Morrissey A-Z: "Best Friend on the Payroll"

I mean... the demo had 'more' lyrics with a different first line and is less repetitive with the paper line being used only once so it seems like it was a conscious decision to have a 'simpler' version on the record



This is interesting stuff. I remember reading that SG was originally conceived as a true follow-up to V&I, but that Morrissey changed his mind and instructed the band to pump up the volume and rock out. Listening to this demo reminds me of "Hated for loving", a better song for me.
 
This is interesting stuff. I remember reading that SG was originally conceived as a true follow-up to V&I, but that Morrissey changed his mind and instructed the band to pump up the volume and rock out. Listening to this demo reminds me of "Hated for loving", a better song for me.

A shame that the Miraval Session of Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam" never survived the cutting room floor.
 
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I love the color of the chords and general mood, thank you Alain.

The combination of disappointment and humor along with the originality of the songs subject matter ... wow ! what other artist
can do this?

Only Morrissey can.


MOZ - CLASSIC !!!


:thumb:





I mean... the demo had 'more' lyrics with a different first line and is less repetitive with the paper line being used only once so it seems like it was a conscious decision to have a 'simpler' version on the record

 
This is interesting stuff. I remember reading that SG was originally conceived as a true follow-up to V&I, but that Morrissey changed his mind and instructed the band to pump up the volume and rock out. Listening to this demo reminds me of "Hated for loving", a better song for me.
Yes, Nobody Loves Us didn't come out of nowhere and sounds like a proper Vauxhall song.



The early takes sounded more like Vauxhall or the post-Vauxhall singles Boxers and Sunny.
 
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Interesting picture
Original photo is by Renaud Monfourny

MozMonfourny1991.jpg


The Dean image is a popular source for montages, here with Brando

DeanBrando.jpg


Original with Julie Harris

DeanHarris.jpg
 
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Morrissey released a handful of really good songs in 1995 (e.g. Sunny, Nobody Loves Us, Boxers, Swallow on my Neck) but none of them were on Southpaw Grammar. The title track's OK, Boy Racer's not bad (apart from the last minute or so) and Reader Meet Author is nice enough, but the rest are just truly mediocre including this song. Why this album doesn't sit firmly at the bottom of everyone's list of Morrissey albums, I'll never understand.
 
My view is that this song fits nicely into SG, a decent tune , a half decent album with the singes being really strong and hard hitting..
Can remember buying this and hating the opening track, really hating it....
 
I really like this one.
Yes, it's repetitive but the lyrics still manage to create a striking image with just three basic pieces of information: turn the music down, breakfast in bed, it's not gonna work out.
A catchy tune and a lot of fun to sing along with.

Miraval version is indeed slightly superior but the one I listen to the most is probably the 2009 live b-side version from the BBC theatre peformance posted above.

I also think its revival/debut in 2009 might have been due to working with Jake again, digging out old photographs for single covers etc...
2007/08 also marked the arrival of Damon.
always wondered what happened to damien after THE OMEN.
 
Half a song, but one I love.

Morrissey's economical approach to the lyrics on Southpaw as a whole give the album a slightly unsatisfying ambiguity, but I think there's a world of pathos in a line like "I turn the music down / and I don't know why / this is my house." If he elaborated upon this observation, something in the poetry would be lost. "I could say more / but you get the general idea" he hints a couple songs earlier.

I like how the chaotic nature of the instrumental helps to illustrate the blurred boundaries of the subject at hand, with the minor chord verse barreling into the major chord chorus as if these were pieces of two separate songs.
 
Morrissey released a handful of really good songs in 1995 (e.g. Sunny, Nobody Loves Us, Boxers, Swallow on my Neck) but none of them were on Southpaw Grammar. The title track's OK, Boy Racer's not bad (apart from the last minute or so) and Reader Meet Author is nice enough, but the rest are just truly mediocre including this song. Why this album doesn't sit firmly at the bottom of everyone's list of Morrissey albums, I'll never understand.
While I'm not saying this applies to everyone, I think for some people there is a sense of nostalgia for that whole era that allows them to overlook some faults (I'm guilty of that myself as I feel nostalgic towards Maladjusted which is far from perfect). We were all younger back then and it is easy to romanticize the past.

For Morrissey to issue an album with only 8 songs and with so few lyrical ideas was a mistake in any era, however.
 
I mean... the demo had 'more' lyrics with a different first line and is less repetitive with the paper line being used only once so it seems like it was a conscious decision to have a 'simpler' version on the record



OMG, that acoustic version is far superior. It makes me wonder how SG would have turned out with more time and effort put into it. I liked stuff post SG, but it's where the cracks started to show for me.
 
Still he's called "Best friend on the payroll" not "Lover on the payroll".
A typical Morrissey moment: such a direct song and yet it doesn't address, what exactly it's about. Why can't brothers be lovers, ey? I always loved the album version with it's Hammerhead pop style. The Miraval version sounds flat and misses a lot of instrumentation.
The song is the key for Morrissey's "personal assistants" being more of a Scott Thorson character in general.
 
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Still he's called "Best friend on the payroll" not "Lover on the payroll".
A typical Morrissey moment: such a direct song and yet it doesn't address, what exactly it's about.
Because everybody else does that and it would be fzcking boring.
 
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