Well worth reading:
And the source of:
"Morrissey had this song, 'I Keep Mine Hidden' which was basically Morrissey saying, 'I'm sorry Johnny, I'm a complete f*** up but please forgive me,'" reveals Grant Showbiz. "With lots of specific references, it was a very direct song."
Regards,
FWD.
Thank you for this, i had read this interview, back in the day and forgot about this.
It would explain why he took it off his fave song list. We get embarrassed by our apologies.
Really, though, there can't have been "lots " of references.
I mean look at the lyrics, they are sparse ( though obviously, it may mean more than it first appears)
"
Hate, love and war
Force emotions to the fore
But not for me, of course
Of course
I keep mine hidden
Oh...
I keep mine hidden
But it's so easy for you
Because you let yours flail
Into public view
Oh, oh...
Yellow and green
A stumbling block
I'm a twenty-digit combination to unlock
With a past where to be 'touched'
Meant to be 'mental'
Ooh, I keep mine hidden
The lies are so easy for you
Because you let yours slide
Into public view
Oh...
Use your loaf!"
A quick break down, as I feel unwell-
Ok, "hate love and war" - why hate love and war ?
One positive, one negative, hate them both for what they bring forth.
Some people like emotions coming forth but not M of course, of course, he keeps his hidden (except he doesn't, what some of us adore, from sky to floor, is the fact M's emotions are always to the fore)
"I keep mine hidden but it's easy for you. Because you let yours flail into public view" - M likes to keep his private life private, he isn't into public displays. Meanwhile, Johnny would swan around with whom he likes, with Ange holding hands, strengthen the ties that bind
The best lyrics, and so very true of lots of us more repressed sons from overbearing mothers,
"
Yellow and green A stumbling block I'm a twenty-digit combination to unlock With a past where to be 'touched'
Meant to be 'mental'
Yellow and green - could be Prozac ( that didn't o on sale until 1987 ) or a benzo
He's a combination to unlock, due to the very British disease of emotions being all over the place, due to repression etc
Repression and religion give birth to the lyric " where the past meant to be touched meant to be mental"
That could mean to touch someone, to like sex was seen as being animal-like, mental.
OR to be "touched " (gay) in the past, seen as being mental
Back to how hard M finds it navigating the socialized world -
"The lies are so easy for you Because you let yours slide into public view"
This could be read as M taking a swipe calling Johnny a lair, which there is proof he can be (can't we all?)
BUT I think its the wider context, that day to day life , to get by one has to live a lie, that social interaction is based on lies and falsehoods
Essentially, saying Johnny can put on a social front and get by. He can only be himself.
As I say , there could be more to it, than this reading but not much more