Morrissey A-Z: "Seasick, Yet Still Docked"

Skylarker said:
I think the thing that makes those songs stand apart from each other is that Pigsty seems to generally be more about getting older and reflecting and being generally more jaded. Whereas Asleep is almost adolescent...it is nearly too melodramatic but for how beautifully he sings it and how shocking it is to hear such a blunt, almost unpoetic evocation of wanting to die. I think that the power of Asleep is that it pulls no punches and it just comes right out as what it is: a suicide note.
Click to expand...

Yes, mostly I agree, but I wasn’t comparing Asleep and Pigsty.
Just thought Pigsty and Seasick would sound good together.



Skylarker said:
The reason I think Seasick is the best of his songs that cover the theme of never finding love is because it's this sublime blend of self-pity, anger, self-loathing, despondency...but the narrator just kind of drifts. Doesn't threaten to off himself, isn't yet re-catalyzed by age to try again (like he is in Pigsty 13 years later.) And I just love the cyclical shape of the words; how he sings them...what do they call that in music? A round? How he just sings couplet after couplet and there is no chorus and no ending or resolution narratively. In that sense it's similar to Last Night I Dreamt...

Whereas Asleep is so seemingly final and Pigsty is kind of...open to interpretation as to where he is in life and whether or not he's actually resigned himself to being alone.
Click to expand...
 
A crown jewel. The title sentiment is an apex Morrissey-ism. It's wed to a tune that somehow manages to plumb the depths of melancholy while being effortlessly jaunty - like a drunken sea shanty that has trailed off to sadness as the night winds down, an actual clock ticking away at the outset. I really began to appreciate this song as a classic once Alain and Boz had revealed over the years that Mick Ronson produced all the background guitars and atmosphere with an eBow. It's not so much a frame for a picture as a world unto itself for the song to live in, sounding at times like seabirds and feeling like a veritable "fog." This song alone supports Ronson being an underappreciated genius.
 
Jamie said:
A crown jewel. The title sentiment is an apex Morrissey-ism. It's wed to a tune that somehow manages to plumb the depths of melancholy while being effortlessly jaunty - like a drunken sea shanty that has trailed off to sadness as the night winds down, an actual clock ticking away at the outset. I really began to appreciate this song as a classic once Alain and Boz had revealed over the years that Mick Ronson produced all the background guitars and atmosphere with an eBow.
Click to expand...


Jamie said:
It's not so much a frame for a picture as a world unto itself for the song to live in, sounding at times like seabirds and feeling like a veritable "fog." This song alone supports Ronson being an underappreciated genius.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
I've always wanted to like this song a little more than I actually do. To my ears, it sounds like a dress rehearsal for Vauxhall where the promise of this kind of composition would fully actualize. I was pleased to hear it the last time I saw M live, but the performance was pretty poor and strangely served to only accentuate the plodding nature of the song. Much better in 1992, but that's not a surprise.
 
Verso said:
I've always wanted to like this song a little more than I actually do. To my ears, it sounds like a dress rehearsal for Vauxhall where the promise of this kind of composition would fully actualize. I was pleased to hear it the last time I saw M live, but the performance was pretty poor and strangely served to only accentuate the plodding nature of the song. Much better in 1992, but that's not a surprise.
Click to expand...
Ah, at last. Someone who feels the same! I really wanted to like this song, too, but there just isn't enough going on musically. The verse is great. But then we get it again. And again. And again. Repeat 6 times. And that's it. Great songs don't specifically need choruses but they really need more than one musical section, and that's all this one's got. Other songs mentioned in this thread all have at least two musical parts including Asleep. The 'sing me to sleep' first part, and then the 'don't feel bad for me' section. The words, the singing and the arrangement in Seasick are fantastic. It's just crying out for an extra musical section.
 
MozIsGod said:
I've always loved the live version of "Seasick..." but the 2009 version pales in comparison to the version on Beethoven Was Deaf.
Click to expand...
But even the 2009 version is better than the one most recently performed, where Boz's rhythm guitar is practically muted and a synth plays the lead with a very loud and cheesy tone. I found it hard to get into.

 
MozIsGod said:
I've always loved the live version of "Seasick..." but the 2009 version pales in comparison to the version on Beethoven Was Deaf.
Click to expand...
I love the version on BWD too but imo this 2009 live version is the definitive version
 
Yeah, I don't have any issue with the 2009 performance and, unlike the Beethoven Was Deaf recording, that one hasn't been given a perfect sound quality official release.

Morrissey's voice is much clearer and truer on the live album, but the arrangement from 2009 is more of an attempt to replicate the Your Arsenal version.
 
Seems apt today:




I seem to be developing a habit of posting about songs by He Who Shall Not Be Named, without writing about him. Here's another.

I dont think Alain Whyte gets the credit he deserves. He was Steven's chief (though not exclusive) songwriting partner and lead guitarist from 1991 to 2007, far longer than one John Maher. In that time, he was responsible for large swathes of solo career highpoints Vauxhall and I and Your Arsenal, as well as the comeback albums You Are The Quarry and Ringleader of the Tormentors

newamusements.blogspot.com

Blue Friday: Seasick, Yet Still Docked (cover)

Blogging on issues cultural, musical, cinematic, political and otherwise since 2005.
newamusements.blogspot.com newamusements.blogspot.com
 
It’s a tranquil still waters kinda simple song mostly about the repetitive pacing. It’s nice as it’s got that warm quality that some love from morrissey which contrasts with the sadness of the lyrics. I feel like if you don’t or haven’t lived the songs subject matter then this ones not gonna appeal much which is where I think I’m at with it as beyond the subject the music doesn’t do to much (kinda like mt joy) but for me the vocal melody isn’t that interesting (unlike mt joy). Now that said I almost always associate this song with I know it’s gonna happen as when I first listened it was hard to tell where one started and the other ended and they sort call and respond to one another. Taken together it makes for a powerful moment on the album with tomorrow the final part of the trilogy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Tags
morrissey a-z
Back
Top Bottom