BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
The song up for discussion today is "Children in Pieces" - a b-side from 2008 and scooped up on to the Swords compilation as well.
What do we think of this one?
Is the second part of the lyrics sung from his perspective, or does he merely put himself in the shoes of the parent (perhaps his own father)? The latter would make more sense to me. But yeah, very dark stuff here.Interesting the way the first bit tells us about the abuse in industrial schools, and the second bit is someone in authority telling a child he won't help.
It's very noisy.
Is the second part of the lyrics sung from his perspective, or does he merely put himself in the shoes of the parent (perhaps his own father)? The latter would make more sense to me. But yeah, very dark stuff here.
People who don't like distorted guitars will surely disagree but I find the original instrumental demo quite enjoyable.
Morrissey obviously liked the different sound Jesse brought to the band (something I generally agree with), which is not surprising, looking at his own musical reference points.Wow, never heard this instrumental version before. You can really hear how much of it is lifted from Neil Young's "Don't Cry No Tears" and coincidentally enough The Cure's "Boy's Don't Cry." As a demo, it sounds pretty promising but the finished product is just no good for me. Morrissey never finds his footing, which I sadly find to a be a common issue with a lot of what Jesse writes for him.
My take is that the song tries to point out how systematic abuse hardens everyone involved. That's why the narrator in the second verse finds him/herself turning on the kid instead of helping him, which is his/her first impulse.Is the second part of the lyrics sung from his perspective, or does he merely put himself in the shoes of the parent (perhaps his own father)? The latter would make more sense to me. But yeah, very dark stuff here.
Leaked circa 2006.Am I misremembering, or did that instrumental demo actually leak long before the finished song itself emerged? I like the finished song, but I remember some people being disappointed that Morrissey didn't provide a 'better' lyric/vocal.
Improving things is not really Morrissey's thing. He writes what he writes and then sings it, no rewriting and only rarely several takes. Sometimes that works, but often things sound unfinished because of that.Am I misremembering, or did that instrumental demo actually leak long before the finished song itself emerged? I like the finished song, but I remember some people being disappointed that Morrissey didn't provide a 'better' lyric/vocal.
Gustavo is actually from Austin, I think.Typically chuggy meat-and-potatoes rock àla mid-to-late 00’s Jesse - but it works! It’s crunchy as f*** and with a lot punk and spunk to it. Mozzer’s lyrics and vocal melody aren’t half bad either.
Man, I’ve said it before, but remember when the Jesse Tobias chug rock was the worst we could expect from Moz? Somewhere in California, Gustavo Manzur must’ve said ‘hold my beer!’ We didn’t know how lucky we were.