Morrissey A-Z: "Munich Air Disaster 1958"

[BookishBoy]

Today's song is this Morrissey/Whyte composition, a B-side of "Irish Blood, English Heart" and also included on the deluxe YATQ.

What do we think?

 

[The.Truth.]

Not my favorite of the YATQ bonus tracks but it's okay.
6/10

 

[This Charming Bowie]

Aptly, this is a mournful piece, dispatching in just over 2 minutes. I've grown to really like it since I first heard it - perhaps due to its overplay in live sets over the past few years. A classic Whyte guitar figure morphs into a self-deprecating chorus narrowing the focus of the tragedy to the present day, where Moz "wishes" he could've gone down with them to save himself from modern life. Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly as it's Morrissey) the song turns into an almost celebratory march, led by the drums and aided by the staccato guitars as well as synth strings powering us towards a finish. It may be seen as light thanks to the length, but I believe it packs a lot of musical (at least) change in the 2 minutes it's around for.
Also, its title is taken from a Bee Gees song, as I'm sure you're aware: "New York Mining Disaster, 1941"
8/10

 

[MrShoes]

A song that "sounds" like it came from an earlier Morrissey period. I suppose that if Alan wrote it then that's why...

 

[BookishBoy]

I sometimes wonder if the 1958 in the title is the number of times he intends to play it live...

 

[gordyboy9]

always liked this,think because of its connection to old style fitba which i grew up on,voice is good on this too.when you look at the tragedy in the match yesterday with christian eriksen it shows life can be easily started and easily stopped.
8 munichs/10 disasters.

 

[gordyboy9]

I sometimes wonder if the 1958 in the title is the number of times he intends to play it live...

bookish its been played 77 times live over 20 odd years,thats actually not that much.maybe it just seems more.

 

[BookishBoy]

bookish its been played 77 times live over 20 odd years,thats actually not that much.maybe it just seems more.

Oh it was just a cheap joke. I quite like the song and it's a great one to play at any Manchester shows but outside of that...well, there are other songs I'd much rather hear. (But then I guess we all think that, right?)

 

[gordyboy9]

Oh it was just a cheap joke. I quite like the song and it's a great one to play at any Manchester shows but outside of that...well, there are other songs I'd much rather hear. (But then I guess we all think that, right?)

a few of the songs in the a-z i have actually marked down for the simple fact that they have been played that many times live that i just cant listen to them now,first of the gang being the obvious one.

 

[It'smylifetowreckmyownway]

Not for me. A waste of two minutes live when he could be playing 'Found Found Found'.

 

[Kostia]

One of a number of rather dubious Morrissey songs that Morrissey seems to love. Luckily this one is only 2 and a half minutes, never making an impression on anyone

 

[Amy]

Quite a nice song, if a bit bland. It has a very typical, familiar mid-tempo "Morrissey sound" and I get the impression that wherever he plays it, it reminds Moz of home.

 

[Janice]

Oh it was just a cheap joke. I quite like the song and it's a great one to play at any Manchester shows but outside of that...well, there are other songs I'd much rather hear. (But then I guess we all think that, right?)

I get your point
it’s been a mainstay since 2017. Which considering it was only done 20 or so times prior to that, from 2004-2017, does feel like it’s been played forever .

 

[dotmatrix522]

I like it ok enough when I’ve heard it live, but I don’t find it memorable enough to ever add it to my own playlists.

 

[Flibberty]

This is another of those songs where the vocal melody is much more important than the actual music. The tune itself is forgettable, and I can't say that I would ever want to listen to an instrumental version.

Lyrically I guess it is Morrissey harking back to his youth as the disaster will still have been on plenty of people's minds as he was growing up.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 159th from 264 solo songs.

 

[CJM]

I would always have put this song down at being around 4 or 5 minutes long - refreshing my memory today I am surprised that it is a 150 second piece! I suppose this is my subconscious telling me that I am not overly keen on Munich Air Disaster 1958. It is fine, it is OK for what it is (a beneath the middle-of-the-road B-Side), but it is certainly not worthy of being played live 77 times! I, like others here, have just heard this one too many times; whatever thin sheen this song may have had in 2004 has slowly been polished away to almost nothing through overplay. Get it off the stage!

 

[That's Enough For Me]

A song that the term 'Lumpen' was invented for.

 

[ThePoliticalRevolution]

this is a bathroom breaker for old poltii!

 

[Mayfly]

It's not my favorite YATQ b-side either, but when he played it on the LIHS tour, I was happy to hear this warmer and less aggressive sound for a change.

I always wondered if the MEN arena attack of 2017 inspired him to bring it back on the setlist, his way of saying "Manchester, I love you and stand by you".

 

[Mozmar]

I love this, not only from a 'song' perspective, but more because of what it represents: a fine tribute to the Busby Babes, of which I believe there is only one current living survivor - Sir Bobby Charlton.
Another one of those songs which only Moz could write. Wonderful.