BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
Today's entry in the A-Z is this track from You Are the Quarry. What do we think of it?
Morrissey A-Z: "Come Back to Camden"
- Thread starter BookishBoy
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Today's entry in the A-Z is this track from You Are the Quarry. What do we think of it?
I posted this clip about 8 years ago.
Boz is very proud of this track - you ask him, he'll tell you
A highlight on Quarry for myself at least.
Regards,
FWD.
One of the highlights on You are the Quarry and one of the factors which helped to make it a significantly stronger album than Maladjusted.
Mature lyrics from Morrissey and they conjure up some nice imagery.
Boz is right to be proud of this and, listening to it again this week, the only thing that might be improved is the production. Jerry Finn generally did a fine job with that album, but it's a shame that for whatever reason it didn't have a more authentic sound. I don't know whether this was down to budget or Morrissey not wanting to open things up too much.
In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 40th from 264 solo songs.
Mature lyrics from Morrissey and they conjure up some nice imagery.
Boz is right to be proud of this and, listening to it again this week, the only thing that might be improved is the production. Jerry Finn generally did a fine job with that album, but it's a shame that for whatever reason it didn't have a more authentic sound. I don't know whether this was down to budget or Morrissey not wanting to open things up too much.
In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 40th from 264 solo songs.
D
Deleted member 29417
Guest
One of his best.
BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
Does anyone agree with this Alexis Petridis view on the song, from his 2004 review of YATQ:
"Come Back to Camden offers a vision of Englishness so caricatured it would have caused the lowliest Britpopper to scoff: cockney cabbies, bad weather, tea. The urge to hit fast-forward before he mentions bowler hats, Yorkshire pudding or lovable chimney sweeps is quelled only by the song's enrapturing melody."
"Come Back to Camden offers a vision of Englishness so caricatured it would have caused the lowliest Britpopper to scoff: cockney cabbies, bad weather, tea. The urge to hit fast-forward before he mentions bowler hats, Yorkshire pudding or lovable chimney sweeps is quelled only by the song's enrapturing melody."
D
Deleted member 29235
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No. It isn't a 'vision of Englishness' that Morrissey is portraying, rather it's a specific, personal nostalgia that he's relating. I would assume that Morrissey was living abroad (LA?) when he wrote it so he's just reminiscing on a place and time that probably seemed very far away, both in time and distance.
I posted this clip about 8 years ago.
Boz is very proud of this track - you ask him, he'll tell you
A highlight on Quarry for myself at least.
Regards,
FWD.
As he should rightly be. If you've visited his record shop - you'll know for certain.
D
Deleted member 29235
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I think it's his second-best album. There's hardly a duff track on it. One might even argue that it's the last decent album he made.
D
Deleted member 29417
Guest
No.
They'd stereotyped him as some evil English nationalist by then & he heard what he wanted to hear.
It's clearly a description of someone's home, the taxi they got, the cup of tea they drank (& it's only the tea & the taxi that's remotely 'English' - although they're not) & the person they love.
Plus the fact the person lounging with their knees up and apart is probably a bloke bothered them if the ENDLESS jibes in his press cuttings are anything to go by.
BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
It's such a dim-witted misreading of the song, isn't it? Just completely ignoring the personal aspects of the lyric which obviously make it nothing about a "vision of Englishness". And why are the taxi drivers "cockney"? No mention of that in the song. Sigh.
I just love this song so much. (Yes, the production could be sharper / more lush.) The little details, the emotional heft of the whole thing, the nostalgia, the voice. It's just gorgeous.
D
Deleted member 29417
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The sheer arrogance of thinking only England has tea & taxis.
The rest of us just drink river water & walk.
Southport Grandma
Active Member
Wasn’t “I Know Who I Love” supposed to offer a similar themed contribution to “Maladjusted” until Morrissey removed it from the running order.
J
Janice
Guest
I can’t recall how I felt about this when Quarry was released, which is annoying me. The only Quarry track to not get played live in 04, and 4 years on, everyone convinced it was going to be included in the Rounhkuse shows. Interesting it took 7 years, and after 2 outings, was never to be seen again. Maybe Morrissey isn’t quite as fond of it as Boz.
My own opinion is it’s best played as part of Quarry, as oppose to on its lonesome.
My own opinion is it’s best played as part of Quarry, as oppose to on its lonesome.
Yes, and probably both of those roads lead to Jake - especially if sharing space together...
There's a host of ties to that area for him, but that seems the most significant influence.
Regards,
FWD.
(The archive here notes that the band Noise Is The Best Revenge that SER joined after a while had a song called I Know Who I Want 🤔)
One might argue that, but one would lose the argument.
A truly lovely song that could only be improved by more nuanced production (one of my perpetual criticisms of M's music). I was driving around one night back in 2004 with a Morrissey-loathing friend of mine and when the strings faded-in on this track, she said "The Simpsooooonns..." which unfortunately I've never been able to un-hear since. Perhaps now you'll be similarly cursed for having read this.
Mike Rourke
Well-Known Member
Odd but I think I must be the only person who's never liked this song.
General cliches (about talkative taxi drivers), Morrissey lyric cliches (about being alone for evermore), clumsy phrasing (discoloured dark brown staircase), crap grammar (here you'll find my heart and I), plodding music and horrible synth strings.
Glad others like it though, and always nice to see Boz's songs appreciated.
General cliches (about talkative taxi drivers), Morrissey lyric cliches (about being alone for evermore), clumsy phrasing (discoloured dark brown staircase), crap grammar (here you'll find my heart and I), plodding music and horrible synth strings.
Glad others like it though, and always nice to see Boz's songs appreciated.
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