BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
Today's song is this Morrissey/Whyte composition. Released as the first single off the You Are the Quarry album, it reached #3 in the UK.
What do we think of this one?
Morrissey A-Z: "Irish Blood, English Heart"
- Thread starter BookishBoy
- Start date
Today's song is this Morrissey/Whyte composition. Released as the first single off the You Are the Quarry album, it reached #3 in the UK.
What do we think of this one?
Gregor Samsa
I straighten up, and my position is one of hope.
Exuberant, riotous, defiant and passionate. What. A. Comeback. A fantastic rocker from Moz and the lads, not so much lamenting his outsiderhood, but rather flaunting it, saying ‘this is who I am, these are my convictions, now sod off.’
This Charming Bowie
Welcome to this knockabout world
Simply fantastic. A powerful rocker that rocks between eager tension and glorious release, detailing the trials and tribulations of Morrissey: “never racist nor partial”.
I’ll leave it up to Simon Goddard to finish this one up:
“Not so much the essential Morrissey as the literal essence of Morrissey”.
I wholeheartedly agree.
10/10
I’ll leave it up to Simon Goddard to finish this one up:
“Not so much the essential Morrissey as the literal essence of Morrissey”.
I wholeheartedly agree.
10/10
A
Anonymous
Guest
A good song yes but musically overrated (quiet verse loud chorus 15 years after the Pixies and Nirvana were doing this) and the lyrics now ruined by his latter day politics. Sick to death of Labour and the Conservatives? Try the far right instead! More specifically a party dismissed by Nigel Farage as too racist.
M
Mozzer1980
Guest
Maybe one of the greatest " comeback single " in the music history . Timeless classic . Glorious milestone in his artistic career .
This song title was suggested as the album name long before what ultimately became You Are The Quarry.
First mentioned in The Irish Times in 1999:
"In fact, the new album - which I have finished writing but has yet to be recorded, is called Irish Blood, English Heart. It's funny, because U2 are always portrayed as being famously Irish and this is the great unsaid: aren't half the band English? All you have to do is hear The Smiths' surnames - Maher, Morrissey, Joyce and Rourke. It was only actually Andy Rourke's mother who was an English parent - all the other parents were Irish. It's an interesting story."
The album title was again shared 2 years later by Q magazine (along with direct quotes from the above article) which helped fuel the rumour.
The full quote about being Irish & the above is from The Irish Times in 1999.
Alain having the track basically done/recorded in 1998 probably helped it surface as a Morrissey track title a year later (he'd written it in '96 - as stated via Quarry Twitter listening party).
It would also explain why it was aired so early via gigs.
The proto-tune wasn't bad to be fair.
Given he'd already recorded it, it would have been interesting to see how it was included/requested to be used/offered up for what became IBEH.
The IBEH video wasn't overwhelming, but it gave me something to put on the video jukebox for once after a long hiatus.
Seeing it alongside 'new' tracks during the 'comeback' was a great live experience.
Still listening to it 17 years later - so it can't be that bad.
Regards,
FWD.
First mentioned in The Irish Times in 1999:
"In fact, the new album - which I have finished writing but has yet to be recorded, is called Irish Blood, English Heart. It's funny, because U2 are always portrayed as being famously Irish and this is the great unsaid: aren't half the band English? All you have to do is hear The Smiths' surnames - Maher, Morrissey, Joyce and Rourke. It was only actually Andy Rourke's mother who was an English parent - all the other parents were Irish. It's an interesting story."
The album title was again shared 2 years later by Q magazine (along with direct quotes from the above article) which helped fuel the rumour.
The full quote about being Irish & the above is from The Irish Times in 1999.
Alain having the track basically done/recorded in 1998 probably helped it surface as a Morrissey track title a year later (he'd written it in '96 - as stated via Quarry Twitter listening party).
It would also explain why it was aired so early via gigs.
The proto-tune wasn't bad to be fair.
Given he'd already recorded it, it would have been interesting to see how it was included/requested to be used/offered up for what became IBEH.
The IBEH video wasn't overwhelming, but it gave me something to put on the video jukebox for once after a long hiatus.
Seeing it alongside 'new' tracks during the 'comeback' was a great live experience.
Still listening to it 17 years later - so it can't be that bad.
Regards,
FWD.
After over six years in the wilderness, after poor Morrissey’s soul had been rejected by Satan, our favourite Mancunian took it upon himself to spend even longer in the desert – hoping perhaps for Satan to return to him for further temptations? The years rolled by, Y2K came and went and many (not me!) began to forget about our good looking man about town. And then….. whoomph!
Irish Blood, English Heart was Morrissey’s triumphant return to the fore, a strutting rocker which (in my opinion and coupled with First Of The Gang To Die), reignited his career and saw him through the rest of that increasingly distant decade. Playing this today it still manages to send a shiver up my spine and instantly takes me back to my life circa 2004/2005. Mostly good memories, some sad – but almost all recollections have this number, You Are The Quarry or an associated B-Side or two providing a musical narrative.
Irish Blood, English Heart was Morrissey’s triumphant return to the fore, a strutting rocker which (in my opinion and coupled with First Of The Gang To Die), reignited his career and saw him through the rest of that increasingly distant decade. Playing this today it still manages to send a shiver up my spine and instantly takes me back to my life circa 2004/2005. Mostly good memories, some sad – but almost all recollections have this number, You Are The Quarry or an associated B-Side or two providing a musical narrative.
Orson Swells
Well-Known Member
The Johnny Panic version really shows you just what Morrissey's lyrics, phrasing and vocal melody brings to a piece of music. While Alain's take on it is okay if rather forgettable, Morrissey's is simply fantastic.
GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn
Well-Known Member
I remember hearing this on the radio at the time thinking it sounded unlike anything else. The intro and the "rising from the ocean bed" riff (as he described it to Finn) paired with that voice and lyrics only Morrissey would write, were excellent attention grabbers, which is why it was the perfect and only logical choice for comeback single. Maybe one of the best career decisions he's ever made which also happens to be a great artistic choice (or maybe it was the other way round?).
It still sounds fresh and thrilling and has aged better than some other Quarry songs and if heard at the right moment, those opening lines still give me goosebumps.
(On a side note, the biggest wtf-moment I had last year regarding Morrissey was talking to someone who used to be a big fan (quiff, glasses and all) and had always celebrated this song and album in particular and was now trying to explain to me, that this track was somehow one of his rrrracist songs because it mentions the flag. Not very bright of him not to have picked that up during the previous 16 years, I guess.
Nuance is dead, boys.
He still loves The Smiths and early solo singles though (but not Viva Hate, because rrrracist), so everything is peachy
)
It still sounds fresh and thrilling and has aged better than some other Quarry songs and if heard at the right moment, those opening lines still give me goosebumps.
(On a side note, the biggest wtf-moment I had last year regarding Morrissey was talking to someone who used to be a big fan (quiff, glasses and all) and had always celebrated this song and album in particular and was now trying to explain to me, that this track was somehow one of his rrrracist songs because it mentions the flag. Not very bright of him not to have picked that up during the previous 16 years, I guess.
Nuance is dead, boys.
He still loves The Smiths and early solo singles though (but not Viva Hate, because rrrracist), so everything is peachy
)
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Phranc & Open
I've known no war
Without a doubt a great song and one that will be remembered by music enthusiasts as a feat of the late Morrissey. Even people who didn't know much about Morrissey in 2004 were thrilled because it was a departure from the 90s. More modern perhaps, yes. It could be, that Jerry Finn, as Blink 182's producer, created a completely different perspective on the uninhibitedly nostalgic Morrissey sound. The production has no spaces in between, is sober and almost clinically pure. This was probably en vogue shortly after the millennium (Post-Rock), but in the long run, I would have liked to hear the new live songs from 2002 recorded alternatively, with more "production". All this didn't stop me from moshing unrestrained during IBEH's live performances.
Trivia:
Always liked Morrissey's white dinner jacket and the very attractive college girl in the background of the video.
Trivia:
Always liked Morrissey's white dinner jacket and the very attractive college girl in the background of the video.
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Gregor Samsa
I straighten up, and my position is one of hope.
This guy sounds unbearable.I remember hearing this on the radio at the time thinking it sounded unlike anything else. The intro and the "rising from the ocean bed" riff (as he described it to Finn) paired with that voice and lyrics only Morrissey would write, were excellent attention grabbers, which is why it was the perfect and only logical choice for comeback single. Maybe one of the best career decisions he's ever made.
It still sounds fresh and thrilling and has aged better than some other Quarry songs and if heard at the right moment, those opening lines still give me goosebumps.
(On a side note, the biggest wtf-moment I had last year regarding Morrissey was talking to someone who used to be a big fan (quiff, glasses and all) and had always celebrated this song and album in particular and was now trying to explain to me, that this track was somehow one of his rrrracist songs because it mentions the flag. Not very bright of him not to have picked that up during the previous 16 years, I guess.
Nuance is dead, boys.
He still loves The Smiths and early solo singles though (but not Viva Hate, because rrrracist), so everything is peachy
GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn
Well-Known Member
Well, he's the "star DJ" of the local "indie scene" (it's as pathetic as it sounds) and has been for the better part of 20 years, so he has a reputation to maintain
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Gregor Samsa
I straighten up, and my position is one of hope.
Ha! Well, I guess he has.Well, he's the "star DJ" of the local "indie scene" (it's as pathetic as it sounds) and has been for the better part of 20 years, so he has a reputation to maintain
That's Enough For Me
Member
I knew everyone would like this one.
I'm convinced it's liked more because it's a powerful comeback rather than the merits of the song itself.
I never took to it, mostly because of the 'MADE offff/afRAID offfff' melody and the fact that I guessed how it would sound before I got to the chorus.
Overrated in my book and liked more for what it signified (comeback) than it would be if he released it as his next single.
I'm convinced it's liked more because it's a powerful comeback rather than the merits of the song itself.
I never took to it, mostly because of the 'MADE offff/afRAID offfff' melody and the fact that I guessed how it would sound before I got to the chorus.
Overrated in my book and liked more for what it signified (comeback) than it would be if he released it as his next single.
BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
This is a weird one for me. Objectively it's a very well constructed pop/rock song. It's well played, it's well sung, it's dynamic, it's a great live track and the lyrics mean a huge amount to Morrissey (obviously!).
It just doesn't resonate with me on a personal level because I've never cared about national identity (not in a woke sense) or where people come from. (Also the Labour/Tories line has always pissed me off: one of them, however cackhandedly, will try to make people's lives slightly better, while the other party really couldn't give a shit.)
It just doesn't resonate with me on a personal level because I've never cared about national identity (not in a woke sense) or where people come from. (Also the Labour/Tories line has always pissed me off: one of them, however cackhandedly, will try to make people's lives slightly better, while the other party really couldn't give a shit.)
D
Deleted member 29417
Guest
I remember hearing this on the radio at the time thinking it sounded unlike anything else. The intro and the "rising from the ocean bed" riff (as he described it to Finn) paired with that voice and lyrics only Morrissey would write, were excellent attention grabbers, which is why it was the perfect and only logical choice for comeback single. Maybe one of the best career decisions he's ever made which also happens to be a great artistic choice (or maybe it was the other way round?).
It still sounds fresh and thrilling and has aged better than some other Quarry songs and if heard at the right moment, those opening lines still give me goosebumps.
(On a side note, the biggest wtf-moment I had last year regarding Morrissey was talking to someone who used to be a big fan (quiff, glasses and all) and had always celebrated this song and album in particular and was now trying to explain to me, that this track was somehow one of his rrrracist songs because it mentions the flag. Not very bright of him not to have picked that up during the previous 16 years, I guess.
Nuance is dead, boys.
He still loves The Smiths and early solo singles though (but not Viva Hate, because rrrracist), so everything is peachy
How do they not notice that it's him singing about how distressing it is to grow up between two cultures with a history of violence?
D
Deleted member 29417
Guest
He was enraged about the Iraq war.
I think identity matters to him because he's not sure what he is.
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