I agree, Mozette, I have an image in my mind of Moz standing in front of a load of paps and journalists, flash blubs flashing in his finest Gucci suit for this premiere. Too bad there are no photos.
Ta very much, Anin!
I'm sure I'm not the only one very keen to hear the rest of your impressions of Mozzer's to-do at the Pigalle Club.
I have a fondness for Pigalle in Paris...the sleaze and Mozzer's connection to it (was found in a bar there earlier this year by fans and chose it as a background for the pix below from a '92 interview)
Is it just me or did anyone find the lyrics to "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore" disturbing for possibly describing a rape? My emphasis in bold.
Your voice it might say 'no'
But the heart has a will of its own
Your voice it might say 'no'
But the heart has a will of its own
It's not your birthday anymore
There's no need to be kind to you
and the will to see you smile and belong has now gone
It's not your birthday anymore
did you really think we meant
all of those syrupy, sentimental things
______that we said?
It cannot be given
and so it must be taken
it cannot be given
and so it must be taken
All of the gifts that they gave can't compare in any way to the love I am now
giving to you right here right now on the floor
all of the gifts that they gave can't compare in any way to the love I am now
giving to you right here right now on the floor
It's not your birthday anymore
there's no need to be kind to you
and the will to see you smile and belong has now gone
It's not your birthday anymore
did you really think we meant
all of those syrupy, sentimental
___things that we said yesterday?
I like both albums for very different reasons but if I had to give up one or face the firing squad it would be You Are The Quarry. Years Of Refusal is entirely different though particularly the production. The sound is rougher. For me this is getting close to a perfect Morrissey album. I like the immediacy of it. It's pretty basic rock/pop. Lots of drums. When I say basic I must mean perfect.
thanks EP babe & Je Suis Julie - yep, love can be strange
Humm, not really. The way I see it it might be about romantic desilusion - a situation where you don't get along anymore and yet you still want each other. You know you shouldn't ( Your voice it might say 'no') but the heart has a will of it's own. A sort of love/hate situation.
I actually know a couple like this. They were once together and are now separated for 5 years - they are still hurt and can't possibly get along , however they still want each other and it still "happens" and it's quite damaging.
I agree with you, it seems Mozzie is doing strange things here, without the consent of his partner...It reminds me the lyrics: "I m' gonna get you".
My god, Morrissey, making love savagely on the floor...How fascinating!
Moz used to joke when prefacing this song live that he himself is privy to Jack the Ripper's thoughts. Hmmm...what are you telling us about yourself, Moz? I have a story about this song done live in 2002, but I'll save it for another time/post.
Interesting! Thanks for the reply. It seems that most people agree with JustMe's interp.
I would agree that the narrative seems to come from a "romantic delusion" (and as a couple of m-soloists have oh-so-kindly suggested, I am well acquainted with delusion )...but I think the delusion in this song sounds very one-sided and coming from the aggressor.
As much as I am disturbed by what I read into some of his lyrics, I very much enjoy the frisson of Morrissey's deviance or even what might be called evil. Diverging or even contradictory interpretations can co-exist (and often do) in Morrissey's work. It's what makes it so rich and interesting!
Oh, here I thought I had a comrade in thought and then you have to go and make it horny! But before you got into Moz-rutting-savagely-on-the-floor mode, you alluded to a song that I was thinking of when I thought of "It's Not Your Burfday Anymore" as a look into a rapist's mind -- "Jack the Ripper"! Not that Jack the Ripper was a confirmed rapist, but the elements of sexual sadism and misogyny cannot be lost on those who ponder his brutal murders of prostitutes.
"You don't refuse, but you don't agree" -- maybe she can't agree because she's disembowelled and dead. Or it's hardly true consent if someone is holding a knife to your throat. I get chills as well as the urge to laugh with this lyric. Moz used to joke when prefacing this song live that he himself is privy to Jack the Ripper's thoughts. Hmmm...what are you telling us about yourself, Moz? I have a story about this song done live in 2002, but I'll save it for another time/post.
Another song that goes in a similar sublime vein -- romantic and cruel, attractive and terrifying -- is "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side". Who else but Moz has the charm to pull off such a song? He talks about a "plundering desire for love" (a pretty, poetic way of saying rapist tendencies?) and about "hatred" and "murderous desire" and makes it sound so sympathetic and alluring.
Now I must face it: We are no better than Twilight fans. We adore the "vampire" that Moz is. He is this incredibly attractive and misunderstood monster. No matter how much he proclaims his hideous evilness, we love him all the more for it and desperately wish to be his victims er--lovers.
"Something Is Squeezing My Skull" (Morrissey, Alain Whyte) – 2:38
Diazepam...Valium...Temazepam...Lithium
Are there any other songs about anti-depressants? Has anyone else written so directly about them? It would be interesting to compare.