Morrissey A-Z: "Happy Lovers at Last United"

BookishBoy

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member



Our song for today is this one, a track from the "Everyday Is Like Sunday" recording sessions but not released until the 2010 reissue of Bona Drag.

What do we think?
 
A nice song, and could have been placed on a B-side, but seems like it takes various elements from other Morrissey songs of the time and tries to amalgamate them. This, though, leads to a feeling of aimlessness in the structure, with no real point of tension release (I.e. one big hook). There are some great moments: the “he’s so nice” part has got a good vocal melody and the strings add that final touch of drama to an otherwise normal chord progression.
6/10
 
Excellent, excellent melancholy guitar pop, with all the right ingredients to make a classic Moz hit - yet relegated to, at first, oblivion, and then given a second chance on the BD reissue. Deserves so much more. I’ve always loved it and I listen to it quite often.
 
Yes, these songs were a real treat when we got to hear them after all those years.
Lovely guitars, fun lyrics (foreshadowing Driving Your Girlfriend Home somewhat), very enjoyable tune.
When even the leftovers of the recording sessions in 1988 were this good you know that those were the golden days.

8,5
 
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That's the first time I've heard this song. The vocal melody is almost as dull as HKIMN and the lyrics are uninspiring. Considering the strength of the other b-side songs that were around at this point, it's no surprise that this one remained stashed behind the chaise longue for so long.
 
This song clearly captures "his sound" at the time. As pleasant as it may be, one can see why it wasn't released formally until much later.

With each play, it's as if he stretches his vocals to fit the melody at times, leaving an awkward taste in my ear (if you catch my drift!)
 
far from being my favourite track from that era but as it's a bonus track from a reissue it'd be silly to be too harsh when judging it.
 
i have mentioned this a few times on here,for me this is my ultimate M song,the sound,the voice,love how he gets two people back together then they dump him,wish it had better production though.vivamozz.
 
This was a very nice surprise when it eventually became available to listen to. It's not top tier Morrissey obviously, and the production sounds unfinished, but it's a likeable song from a very strong era.

As perhaps another person mentioned a few weeks ago, in some ways it would have been sensible for Morrissey to save the 3 Everyday is Like Sunday b-sides for a second studio album. Especially with tracks like this, Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness, Safe Warm, Lancashire Home etc. all available at the time. I think one of the many secrets to Morrissey's appeal is the layers to his back catalogue, though.

Interesting that while we know that Morrissey saves song titles up for years, this track also shows that he also reuses vocal melodies. The "She's so kind" section appearing again in Ouija Board, Ouija Board.

In the poll on the other board it ranked 196th from 264 solo songs.
 
A pleasant song but the music feels small compared to morrisseys presence on the track. It’s pretty simple
 
Happy Lovers At Last United is one of these largely forgotten semi-precious gems from those early solo years and, I feel, certainly rivals a few of those sublime b-sides which preceded Bona Drag. The mind’s eye image of Morrisey running around Sloane Square or Primrose Hill, revelling in his secret role of playing matchmaker just makes me smile – it seems, so un-Morrisseyesque.

This song sits well with some of those other ‘throwaway’ tracks of the time, such as Striptease With A Difference, Born To Hang and the simply wonderful Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness. If Morrissey can release Honey, You Know Where To Find Me as a 10” single, there is no reason why he couldn’t scoop up some of these gems and release a lovely little EP of rarities to, if anything, just satiate my need.
 
That's Enough For Me said:
Songs are often unreleased at the time for good reason.
Click to expand...

I agree, this one’s my least favorite of the VH outtakes. Though, it’s a bit mind boggling, the quality and quantity of songs that was done in that short period of time.
 
plot breakdown...

Morrissey wanting to correct some bad karma, plays cupid and go-between to bring two people back together again. And as soon as his mission is accomplished he becomes to them a third wheel discarded. And though happy to see them back together, I sense that he may be a bit irked that it didn’t turn into a threesome! Well, we’ve all been there before. ;)
 
Morrissey as the understanding but bitchy third party, who listens to both sides. Musically brought to perfection in "Driving your girlfriend home", but here a bit more angular and not as smooth. A completely finished piece, that has been put aside. There are probably not many of them. Would have been a good but not very good B-side back then.
 
Ketamine Sun said:
plot breakdown...

Morrissey wanting to correct some bad karma, plays cupid and go-between to bring two people back together again. And as soon as his mission is accomplished he becomes to them a third wheel discarded. And though happy to see them back together, I sense that he may be a bit irked that it didn’t turn into a threesome! Well, we’ve all been there before. ;)
Click to expand...

Summed up so nicely , as always. :)

My favourite thing about this has always been his delivery. He's really not too enthusiastic about the whole endeavour, but he's a decent enough guy to pretend otherwise. It's all very relatable, getting tangled-up in other people's relationship problems is terribly annoying.

A lovely little song that forms an inseparable trinity with Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness and Lifeguard On Duty in my mind.


I'm not the type to boast, as you know...

Oh yes, you are!
 
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I'm glad this was recovered from the vaults, and it does have a certain charm. That said, I can see why it was never released. The music is limp and Morrissey's vocal performance with all those strange noises and vowels, he almost sounds like a caricature of himself - when people do an exaggerated Morrissey impression for a comedy song on YouTube, this is what they sound like. I can see why he wanted to move away from that persona. 5 out of 10
 
It was so nice when this one leaked alongside "Lifeguard on Duty" and we were transported right back to that classic Street sound. Even though this is a pretty slight track, I think the lyric still significantly contributes to a greater portrait of the queer experience that Morrissey has been developing over the course of his entire career.
 
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