The Moz/Smiths Top 100, Part 237: MY DEAREST LOVE

[Suedebread]

It is a personal thing, not an exact science.

 

[someofusisturningnasty]

First off, I gave it an eight. I'm not bashing the song. I just don't see how one can give "How Soon Is Now" and all its undeniable brillance the same score as "My Dearest Love." It was one great lyric,
"Where the grotesquely lonely meet the grotesquely lonely
and they whisper
just very softly"

Beyond this is there really anything that hasn't been song better by Morrissey before? I disagree that "My Dearest Love" offers "stunning" vocals. Stunning to me is: "And there's a club if you'd like to go; you might meeet somebody who really loves you; but you go on your own; and you stand on your own; and leave on your own; and you go home and cry and you want to die." That was stunning.

A little context people.

Oh wait you're right, thanks for telling me what I must think and feel.

I hereby refine my score to a 4/10

 

[Vauxhall95]

Oh wait you're right, thanks for telling me what I must think and feel.

I hereby refine my score to a 4/10

Cretan. I wrote what I felt. I could give a rat's behind if you change your opinion. The idea that "My Dearest Love" is "Perfection" is totally laughable. Yes, we all have favorites but if one cannot tell the difference between classic The Smiths and Morrissey tracks and merely good quality Morrissey (I gave it an eight jerkweed!) you are myopic. At this point, I really could care less about being "PC." It's getting to the point one cannot say anything remotely disparaging without being considered a "bad fan." I'm not the one hurdling projectiles, merely words. There is this predominant trend on this board that if it's newer it makes it somehow better. Seriously, does anyone listen to old Morrissey or is it just Years of Refusal on endless replay? The horror... The horror...

 

[King Leer]

An excellent b-side -- definitely near the top of this decade's offerings.

I do have to agree with several other posters that giving it the same score as the best songs Morrissey has ever recorded is a major stretch, but if you feel it is, go for 9 or 10!

What I will say about My Dearest Love is that it's part of an unbroken line of lyrical themes and atmosphere that stretches back to the earliest days of The Smiths. It's at once a typically Morrissean (?) track but with the weight of many years behind it. Musically it's part of Alain's recent heavier, slower tracks such as Pigsty and Ganglord. All three have a sinister touch I really like.


On a tangent, I have to say that the Pitchfork review for "Swords" is very well written. I can't agree with a 5/10 assessment of course, but if a review is critical I want it to be written by someone who knows their subject and this writer definitely does.

 

[celibate]

a 7

the same as 'because of my poor education' comment

maybe I've been too generous, a 6, his singin the music the lyrics, it's
like a car who need fresh oil, or drive on it's last drops of gasoline

 

[somebody loved me]

One of the best track from the recent years, a solid 9 here!

 

[Anaesthesine]

I have a visceral reaction to this song; I swoon every time I hear it, and I can't help dancing.

It is exactly what Morrissey should be doing more of these days - light that Torch!

Simple, well-written, well-produced, superbly sung.

10

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Pretty close to perfection and undoubtedly one of his finest songs of the decade. A 9. And a half.