Morrissey A-Z: "Reader Meet Author"

Not the time alphabetically...but, for me, 'Southpaw' is one of his greatest songs...I have just listened to it after reading your post and, whilst it meanders a bit at the end, it is brilliant meandering.
I do like both Teachers and Southpaw. But for me the tracks from The Operation to Do Your Best... could be his worst four-song sequence on any album.
 
I do like both Teachers and Southpaw. But for me the tracks from The Operation to Do Your Best... could be his worst four-song sequence on any album.
I would have 100% agreed with you...Until 'LiHS' appeared...any four-song sequence on that unfortunate train wreck of an album could be considered the worst of his career.
 
..and there a still people walking this planet who dislike the Southpaw vibes!
Great contender for the loved rubric "Should have been a single".
Yes, it should have been the second single from the album.
Much more playful than Boy Racer and the small string section in the mioddle is wunderbar.
yeah like the middle bit with the violins or is it keyboards sounding like violins.
 
yeah like the middle bit with the violins or is it keyboards sounding like violins.
I am sure, he earned enough money with Vauxhall to effort a real string section. It's a wonderful little accent, that I love in pop music. Don't smear it with string syrup but use it discreetly and dynamically. Another example would be "Mermaids" by Paul Weller from the Heavy Soul Album 1997. Ah yes, the 90's.
 
This is a really strong song - one of his strongest since 1994. His strong songs are the ones I like best.
 
Oh, noooooo!
I don't know the era in which you came in, P&O but I do know that for many who started with the Smiths, 'bland thrangfest' sums up our views for much of Moz's solo work since that's what it is in comparison to Marr's craftmanship.

For those who came in around Southpaw, it may well indeed be remembered as 'quintessential Moz', as a poster phrased it.

One person's throwaway song is another person's all time classic.

For me, songs like this had me wishing for the end of the Boorer/Whyte era all the way back then.
 
I don't know the era in which you came in, P&O but I do know that for many who started with the Smiths, 'bland thrangfest' sums up our views for much of Moz's solo work since that's what it is in comparison to Marr's craftmanship.

For those who came in around Southpaw, it may well indeed be remembered as 'quintessential Moz', as a poster phrased it.

One person's throwaway song is another person's all time classic.

For me, songs like this had me wishing for the end of the Boorer/Whyte era all the way back then.
I came in between Bona and Uncle, only realized the Viva Hate phenomen from a distance. Everything he did from 88-97 has a special place in my heart. Let it be eclectical, glam, rockabilly, pop or rock. After that, he lost it somehow from year to year, but I was too addicted to go away. The Smiths is a completely different body of work.
 
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Southpaw is a weird album, a weird time. Lillywhite's production on Vauxhall is so so
so good. What happened on the two after? we'll never know.

This song has a good hook and feel. And the words, original as only Morrissey could be.
 
Southpaw G is easily Morrissey's worst album - it's the only album that doesn't have at least one great song.
It's got two or three pretty good ones though including this, probably the best one on the album.
Love the guitar sounds and melodies, and the strings are nice too. Bit of a 'classic rock' feel about it which isn't usually my cuppa tea, but I like it here.
 
Funny to see the mixed opinion of this one. I consider it to be one of Morrissey's last truly intelligent lyrics: a nuanced diatribe against disingenuous journalists that feels like more than five minutes was spent thinking about it. The music is a fairly pedestrian Alain composition, but compared to the overwrought and overproduced material of the past decade or so, this feels pretty lean and well-written.
 
I've never been blown away by this one. It's got good energy to it and has some great lines but there's something about Morrissey's voice on this track that doesn't quite hit the spot, for me. (Which is weird, as it's normally his voice that I love above all else, in loads of songs.)
Morrissey was known not to be in good voice when recording SG, and I think this is the track where you can hear it the most.
 
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