Morrissey A-Z: "Irish Blood, English Heart"

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

Yes, well that becomes your writing style. Then again, I guess one could argue that freedom from identity becomes your identity, lol.
Either way, I feel it is healthier if one can be brave and embrace the unknown.
I hope Morrissey will someday have at least one large dose psychedelic experience. I feel that everyone should have at least one before they croak, it really changes one’s perspective ever after, as to what is and what is not really important.

So according to that theory the ecstasy he took just wasn't enough?
Or the wrong drug?

 

[Deleted member 29417]

Yes, well that becomes your writing style. Then again, I guess one could argue that freedom from identity becomes your identity, lol.
Either way, I feel it is healthier if one can be brave and embrace the unknown.
I hope Morrissey will someday have at least one large dose psychedelic experience. I feel that everyone should have at least one before they croak, it really changes one’s perspective ever after, as to what is and what is not really important.

Mmm. I suspect I'd rather he stopped having them.

 

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

I slag England off quite a lot. I didn't even know I was doing it until the Scottish Indy Ref made one of my friends really sensitive & she'd look sad everytime I said something negative & I'd think God, I've done it again. And then would have to reverse ferret in embarrassing ways.

I wonder if Morrissey's family did that & he'd be under the table thinking but I'm English?

Coming from a background where any type of pride or identification with our home country remains a big no-no until today and where slagging off our culture has basically become an integral part of our culture, it's always been confusing to me how other people take derogatory comments about their country so personal (big deal, especially with Americans...). But it's fascinating.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

So according to that theory the ecstasy he took just wasn't enough?
Or the wrong drug?

Yes, the right dose is necessary.
A lot of people have had poor experiences because they haven’t had the right dosage or correct setting, it’s complicated. And
yes I was thinking a psilocybin might do the trick.

Mmm. I suspect I'd rather he stopped having them.

I’m not talking prescription meds.
He probably wouldn’t be in the mess
he’s in now if he had the experience.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

Coming from a background where any type of pride or identification with our home country remains a big no-no until today and where slagging off our culture has basically become an integral part of our culture, it's always been confusing to me how other people take derogatory comments about their country so personal (big deal, especially with Americans...). But it's fascinating.

Maybe she feared I thought less of her because of something she couldn't help - being born in England.

I was just whinging.

One time I did feel proud of Scotland was when an American evangelical called us a land of darkness ruled by homosexuals.

 

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

Maybe she feared I thought less of her because of something she couldn't help - being born England.

That's probably it. And exactly the point I will never fully understand.
If someone insulted me based on my native country I'd just laugh it off (or secretly agree because that's how we do it).

 

[Deleted member 29417]

That's probably it. And exactly the point I will never fully understand.
If someone insulted me based on my native country I'd just laugh it off (or secretly agree because that's how we do it).

Same. But I did have to make it clear I didn't dislike her or her Englishness. I couldn't have taken looking at that wee hurt face.

 

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

Same. But I did have to make it clear I didn't dislike her or her Englishness. I couldn't have taken looking at that wee hurt face.

Yeah. Like I always have to stop myself from rolling my eyes and making snide comments when talking to American friends - because obviously #notallAmericans but also there's a lot about their country that sucks but none of it is their fault

 

[Deleted member 29417]

The title inspired a book/spin-offs about English-Irish pop & whatever this other book is:

 

[Bluebirds]

You know a song has caught the popular imagination when....
attending a football match between Wales and Northern Ireland in 2004 (or it could have been 2005) a Northern Irish fan was waving his red hand banner down St Mary's Street in Cardiff with the words 'Irish Blood, English Heart' emblazoned on it. Pretty sure that it's not meant to be a song for Ulster Unionists but maybe you could ask Arlene Foster?
Incidentally Northern Ireland's anthem is God Save The Queen which went down like the proverbial lead balloon before the game.

 

[Ben Budd]

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

Interesting take.

I do a Saturday night online slot at present (hoping to go live when real life comes back after the summer) and I'm happy to play this song in my set. It does get a debate going about Morrissey etc, and whilst I am a lost fan, as it were, my problems with the man lie away from this track. If anything it is defiant in the face of casual racism, promoting pride in a mixed heritage etc. The Labour and Tories line was powerful when I was 17, less so now - I can't say I am a fan of people bemoaning "they're both the same!!!" when so many people's lives would be better off were one not in power and the other in opposition.

Completely apropos, props to Alain Whyte for knocking it out of the park on this one. I remember at the time, when I was in college when this came out, that my guitarist muso mates just loved that verse riff. Simplistic and powerful. Morrissey had to get the lyric right, and he did.

f*** it, I'm gonna put this on now.

 

[Jen M]

There's no way I could've appreciated IBEH in 2004. I never could've related to the lyrics, and it was too loud (I had surgery on an ear around that time leaving me with ultra-sensitive hearing.)

Today I do. While I don't know much about Morrissey's experiences, I gather what it may be about from the interviews I've seen about his reasons for leaving England for more freedom (from surveillance, taxes).

I cannot say I know enough about UK politics to pinpoint its complete meaning. What I can say as an American is that it has great meaning for me. If I replace "English Heart" with "American Heart," I feel what he feels. The lyrics, "And no regime can buy or sell me," is an immense statement in a nation whose musicians spout off statements fed to them by God knows who. "And I will die with both of my hands untied" in the next verse is a grander statement implying he would die rather than submit to these controlling forces.

Has Morrissey accomplished this in the years since? Moreso than 98 percent of the other musicians I've seen including the smaller net worth indie ones. How he remains in LA and is able to function somewhat independently is a happy mystery.

 

[Verso]

Like "First of the Gang to Die," this one is forever cemented in warmth and fondness simply for what it represented to us in 2002: light at the end of the tunnel. A little moody, a little corny, but ultimately a tight song that appeared with much more intention than some of the material Morrissey had last left us with.

I remember feeling disappointed when the title of the LP was changed to You Are the Quarry after been initially named after this song, as the latter just seemed like a much stronger set of words. But in retrospect, maybe it was a little too on the nose, a little too basic. Still don't think You Are the Quarry is a great title, but there's far more ambiguity than Irish Blood English Heart.

 

[MozIsGod]

Maybe one of the greatest " comeback single " in the music history . Timeless classic . Glorious milestone in his artistic career .

YATQ should have had this song as the album's opener instead of America Is Not The World. Hell, even It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small (b-side) would have made a good opener to Quarry. Anything other than AINTW...

 

[crotty32]

Great pop/rock song,one that is a great singalong at the gigs 10/10

 

[Jen M]

After sampling a few of Quarry's songs in this series, I picked up a copy of it at the record store!