Songs "Obviously" About Johnny Marr

[Dirk McNasty]

Someone recently mentioned "Angel, Angel..." as a song Moz has admitted to be about Johnny Marr. Which got me thinking about the various other nefarious candidates: "I Won't Share You", "Billy Budd", "He Knows I'd Love To See Him" and "Disappointed" I think are "obviously" about Johnny. So I wonder what others might be. "Hand In Glove" perhaps. "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" seems very likely. A lot of Viva Hate I would say, "Suedehead" and "Break Up The Family" for example. I was always suspicious of "Hold On To Your Friends" and "The More You Ignore Me..." because they appeared just after their briefly re-ignited friendship faltered again. And I always felt that "... Playboys" was aimed in Johnny's direction. Has anyone got any better guesses!?

 

[nonesoever]

Why don't you just say 'any song he ever wrote, was written with Marr in mind'? in a sense that may be true as well.

> Someone recently mentioned "Angel, Angel..." as a song Moz has
> admitted to be about Johnny Marr. Which got me thinking about the various
> other nefarious candidates: "I Won't Share You", "Billy
> Budd", "He Knows I'd Love To See Him" and
> "Disappointed" I think are "obviously" about Johnny.
> So I wonder what others might be. "Hand In Glove" perhaps.
> "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" seems very likely. A lot of
> Viva Hate I would say, "Suedehead" and "Break Up The
> Family" for example. I was always suspicious of "Hold On To Your
> Friends" and "The More You Ignore Me..." because they
> appeared just after their briefly re-ignited friendship faltered again.
> And I always felt that "... Playboys" was aimed in Johnny's
> direction. Has anyone got any better guesses!?

 

[The Forgotten Man]

Songs That Are Not About J. Marr

Ah, no!

Suedehead was about James Dean.

The Last of The Famous was about Reggie & Ronnie Cray.

 

[The Forgotten Man]

Possibly, the cover of "East West."

East west
Over the ocean
Perpetual motion
Travelling around

No rest
Singing and playing
Night out and day in
Doing the rounds

What a great life this must seem !

Swelled joints
Everything classy
Nothing is tacky
Only the best

Lush girls
Older and dying
Sighing and crying
"this is success !"

What a great life this must seem !

But when I hear your voice
Singing out
The bells of home
Are ringing out
And I feel all alone
(and I think of my home)

Cold times
A wind through the houses
The bleakness arouses
A longing to leave

Time flew
I wanted to see you
Somehow I could not do
Because of success

What a strange life this can be !

But when I hear your voice
Singing out
The bells of home
Are ringing out
And I feel all alone
(and I think of my home)

 

[Dirk McNasty]

Re: Songs That Are Not About J. Marr

Ah, well... Playboys wasn't about Reg & Ron, but a character who idolises them. On another level, I think this is Moz saying to Johnny (possibly the "dear hero imprisoned") that he is the last great pop star there is and Johnny should work with him again. Hence "Such things I do just to make myself more attractive to you... have I failed?" Which he did, of course.

As for Suedehead, Johnny had a suedehead haircut late in 86, I think. And Morrissey could be saying "I'm so sorry" for the split up of The Smiths... and "it was a good lay" could be a flippant reference to their time together in the Smiths. But then I am a sucker for a conspiracy theory...

Anyway, both songs come hot on the heels of the Smiths split and it's very likely a lot of song from this period refer to it.

> Suedehead was about James Dean.

> The Last of The Famous was about Reggie & Ronnie Cray.

 

[nonesoever]

Re: Songs That Are Not About J. Marr

'Break Up The Family' certainly is, but not the others.

What about that Princess Diana conspiracy theory someonesuggested once?

> Ah, well... Playboys wasn't about Reg & Ron, but a character who
> idolises them. On another level, I think this is Moz saying to Johnny
> (possibly the "dear hero imprisoned") that he is the last great
> pop star there is and Johnny should work with him again. Hence "Such
> things I do just to make myself more attractive to you... have I
> failed?" Which he did, of course.

> As for Suedehead, Johnny had a suedehead haircut late in 86, I think. And
> Morrissey could be saying "I'm so sorry" for the split up of The
> Smiths... and "it was a good lay" could be a flippant reference
> to their time together in the Smiths. But then I am a sucker for a
> conspiracy theory...

> Anyway, both songs come hot on the heels of the Smiths split and it's very
> likely a lot of song from this period refer to it.

 

[King Leer]

Suedehead haircut...

I don't think it'd be referred to as a suedehead if someone cut their hair *down* to that length. It refers to a skinhead's pate growing out from regulation length.

The song probably about one of the skinheads that may have bullied Morrissey in the early 70s, from whence the fascination with them never really left.

 

[Gabriella]

Re: Songs That *Are* About J. Marr

What about "Speedway"? (Given that Johnny M. worked as a speedway operator, as Rogan helpfully pointed out.)

Speedway could be about more than one person, of course. I don't buy the "it's all about journalists" theory, though on one level it probably is.

I agree about "Last of the Famous," and isn't it ironic that Johnny sent him a postcard after that?

 

[King Leer]

Neat "Billy Budd" fact...

I've always found this charging obviously about Johnny, and one day, while looking through a collection of Melville's literature, I noticed that his famed story "Billy Budd" appeared right next to one of his poems..."John Marr".

Both are about sailors.

 

[Gabriella]

Re: Neat "Billy Budd" fact...

> I've always found this charging obviously about Johnny, and one day, while
> looking through a collection of Melville's literature, I noticed that his
> famed story "Billy Budd" appeared right next to one of his
> poems..."John Marr".

> Both are about sailors.

Fascinating... Apparently "John Marr and other sailors" was a privately printed collection of poems Melville published in 1888. He was living in obscurity then and his fame was pretty much gone.

There was a brief description of it on the web that I thought was interesting - some parallels with Moz!

>>John Marr and Other Sailors (1888) movingly figures Melville's sense of his own situation as an aging poet alienated from his social, political, and literary milieu. By way of a close reading of the individual poems, I show that poetry for Melville is a private, self-directed, and ironic art, one whose primary activity is an ironic elicitation of subversive latent meanings.

 

[Bollocks for Breakfast!]

Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby, Gabby

Dear Gabby (I can't spell your first name):

I thought your analysis of Billy Budd / John Marr via Melville as applied to Morrissey was brilliant.

Now when did our little Johnny Marr send Morrissey a postcard, and where are you getting that information from?

 

[nonesoever]

Re: Gabby

I don't remember where and when, but one of the two said something
about a postcard after the release of Playboys saying 'well done'
or something to the extent.

> Dear Gabby (I can't spell your first name):

> I thought your analysis of Billy Budd / John Marr via Melville as applied
> to Morrissey was brilliant.

> Now when did our little Johnny Marr send Morrissey a postcard, and where
> are you getting that information from?

 

[Dirk McNasty]

Re: Songs That *Are* About J. Marr

I actually forgot about "Speedway". That's another possible -- he does sing "in my own Strange-way" after all, doesn't he? I'm glad you agree about Playboys! You are the only person who ever hs so far! Yes, I remember the postcard well... but sadly the message of the song failed, didn't it?

What about "Speedway"? (Given that Johnny M. worked as a
> speedway operator, as Rogan helpfully pointed out.)

> Speedway could be about more than one person, of course. I don't buy the
> "it's all about journalists" theory, though on one level it
> probably is.

> I agree about "Last of the Famous," and isn't it ironic that
> Johnny sent him a postcard after that?

 

[Dirk McNasty]

Re: Neat "Billy Budd" fact...

> Fascinating... Apparently "John Marr and other sailors" was a
> privately printed collection of poems Melville published in 1888. He was
> living in obscurity then and his fame was pretty much gone.

Yes, I read this book around the time of "Vauxhall" and was astonished. Moz must have seen it and picked up on the parallels, I'm sure.

 

[Dirk McNasty]

Re: Suedehead haircut...

> I don't think it'd be referred to as a suedehead if someone cut their hair
> *down* to that length. It refers to a skinhead's pate growing out from
> regulation length.

Maybe, but Johnny's hair does look like a suedehead...

 

[Dirk McNasty]

Re: Songs That Are Not About J. Marr

> 'Break Up The Family' certainly is, but not the others.

I'm almost completely certain Billy Budd, He Know I'd Love To See Him, and Disappointed are. And, of course, he actually admitted Angel, Down We Go Together is about Johnny...

 

[Dirk McNasty]

And I forgot about Southpaw... with the "You ran back to Marr" line, etc.

> Someone recently mentioned "Angel, Angel..." as a song Moz has
> admitted to be about Johnny Marr. Which got me thinking about the various
> other nefarious candidates: "I Won't Share You", "Billy
> Budd", "He Knows I'd Love To See Him" and
> "Disappointed" I think are "obviously" about Johnny.
> So I wonder what others might be. "Hand In Glove" perhaps.
> "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" seems very likely. A lot of
> Viva Hate I would say, "Suedehead" and "Break Up The
> Family" for example. I was always suspicious of "Hold On To Your
> Friends" and "The More You Ignore Me..." because they
> appeared just after their briefly re-ignited friendship faltered again.
> And I always felt that "... Playboys" was aimed in Johnny's
> direction. Has anyone got any better guesses!?

 

[israeli lad]

my list -

well - some of my notions are taken from LASID - and i m not ashamed of it.
let's start with "i wont share u", continue with break up the family (well i was just following you), and "lucky lisp" (will my name be on your guest list)
"billy bud" and speedway (in my own strangeway - reffering to johnny's feelings during the recordings of that album).
other songs in question mark - "hand in glove", "alsatian cousin" (which focuses on the feeling of being betrayed) "best friend on the payroll" (doesn't it make sense?) and that's all.

 

[Gabriella]

> And I forgot about Southpaw... with the "You ran back to Marr"
> line, etc.

"I'd Love To" as well. Don't you think?

 

[Gabriella]

Re: Suedehead haircut...

> Maybe, but Johnny's hair does look like a suedehead...

I've always thought that it was interesting how macho Johnny was looking towards the end of the Smiths. You can't help but wonder if he was trying to proclaim his heterosexuality, though it may have had the opposite effect, since Moz seems to like tough boys!