Morrissey A-Z: "Maladjusted"

BookishBoy

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member



We start on the M's with this Morrissey/Boorer composition, the title track of the Maladjusted album.

What do we think of this one?
 
Masterpiece. A bloody masterpiece, from his most underrated album of all time. Hell, one of the most underrated albums ever, period. Love the stream-of-consciousness lyrics, the grinding, ‘out there’ music and heavy guitar work and that voice that just soars on top of it all and all the way through. I’ll be damned if this isn’t in my Moz top 5.
 
Love it, comes to mind most stifled Friday’s ;)
Joni-inspired, very inspired all the way.
Unfortunately the rest of the album didn’t reach this level.

9,1
 
I'd put this right up there with his best album openers: Alsatian Cousin, You're Gonna Need..., etc. I just wish more of the Maladjusted album sounded like this.
 
Top 5 for me. The 25Live version is my ‘go to’.
So many brilliant and playful lines woven around a pretty nondescript piece of music. This really illustrates Morrissey’s songwriting genius. He may not be a musician as such, but the melody he creates with phraseology and enjambment is unique.

love this:

“…When the gulf between
All the things I need
And the things I receive
Is an ancient ocean wide, wild, lost, uncrossed…”

5/5
 
It brings me back to living as a young runaway. Terrible times, but they wouldn't have been so bad, had I had Morrissey for a partner in crime.
 
such a good song,love the maladjusted album,so many great lines like "keep thieves hours".M at his best.
9 stevenage/10 overspills.
 
My favorite Morrissey song. My favorite lyrics, along with "Late Night, Maudlin Street," and I love the music. 10/10
"Well, I was fifteen
What could I know?
When the gulf between
All the things I need
And the things I receive
Is an ancient ocean
Wide, wild, lost, uncrossed
Still I maintain there's nothing
Wrong with you"
 
A great opener and a great song on a weak album. Leads you into thinking that you’re getting more of the gritty distortion slathered over Southpaw Grammer (which, for the record, is my 3rd favourite Moz album) and takes a stream of consciousness approach to winding lyrics around this construction. Perhaps these overshadow the tune somewhat (something that originally was going to be much longer- I’m glad they cut it down because unlike “Teachers” or “Southpaw”, it doesn’t have much melodic movement): getting into the mindset of a teenage girl while also portraying those who foresee her “judgement”. Ditto @SuedeMoz: I wish more of the album sounded like this. But, overall, one of a few songs that stand on their own from Maladjusted.
8/10
 
A fine opener and that is almost entirely down to Morrissey. Musically this is nothing special at all, and I can understand why some people dislike it for that reason, but it contains more interesting lyrical ideas than the entire Southpaw Grammar album.

Some of the reviews at the time lavished praise on this one while understandably criticizing the rest of the album.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 43rd from 264 solo songs.
 
Love this song; very dark, sinister even. Lyrically, very clever; vocally, superb.
Wunderbar.
 
Fantastic start to an album that falls off a cliff soon after.

'Still I maintain there's nothing wrong with you' 'As the Fulham Road lights stretch and invite into the night' being my favourite lines.

Great track.
 
I cannot fathom the dislike for Maladjusted the album. I cannot fathom how you can be a Morrissey fan and dislike an album that is quintessentially Morrissey. It’s warm, inconsolably melancholic, filled with ringing guitars, sweet melodies, drama, quirkiness and deeply personal lyrics. Sure, most of us can do without Papa Jack, but the rest? Bless them all.

Is it a mass psychosis initiated by the media? Wouldn’t bet against it.
 
The.Truth. said:
My favorite Morrissey song. My favorite lyrics, along with "Late Night, Maudlin Street," and I love the music. 10/10
"Well, I was fifteen
What could I know?
When the gulf between
All the things I need
And the things I receive
Is an ancient ocean
Wide, wild, lost, uncrossed
Still I maintain there's nothing
Wrong with you"
Click to expand...

Are you me? 😉
 
Gregor Samsa said:
I cannot fathom the dislike for Maladjusted the album. I cannot fathom how you can be a Morrissey fan and dislike an album that is quintessentially Morrissey. It’s warm, inconsolably melancholic, filled with ringing guitars, sweet melodies, drama, quirkiness and deeply personal lyrics. Sure, most of us can do without Papa Jack, but the rest? Bless them all.

Is it a mass psychosis initiated by the media? Wouldn’t bet against it.
Click to expand...
I love PJ...very sad song, but will save any further comments for when we get to it, in a few weeks.
 
This track is spectacular, in the elite "top n" group with the likes of 'Speedway' and 'Nobody Loves Us', and probably the most underrated in that company.

I love 'Now My Heart Is Full' - it may be the "top 1" for me, in fact - but this is the most exciting album opener in Morrissey's back catalogue. There are so many good lines - "SW6, with someone like you", "keep thieves' hours", "as long as it slides", "an ancient ocean wide", and so on.
 
MrShoes said:
He/you are we. Isn't that why we are all here? Or perhaps its what keeps us returning or screaming mad in the opposite direction? Sounds cryptic - yes I know. But bottom line - aren't we all maladjusted to a certain extent?
Click to expand...

That's so poetic, MrShoes.

"I am she
And he is me" ? 🤔
 
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