There is a light...

SRA

the queen is still ill
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I know it's arguing semantics and I could be made to look foolish but is the official title of the song There Is A Light That Never Goes Out or There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out?

Only I presumed it to be the former, and on most websites its listed as such, but the CD has it as 'And it never...'. Im pretty sure the original title of the song 'There is a light in your eyes that never goes out' but obviously he changed it.

Any ideas?
 
Is the "light" in the lyrics a light in someone's eyes? Could it be a real light of some kind?
 
Queen is Dead CD, has it as 'And it never goes out...'.

Worm, I think without sounding wishy washy it can be any light you want, clearly it has a double meaning to him or he wouldnt have changed the original title.

Also is it 'I want to see people and I want to see life' or 'want to see light'? Again varying different accounts. That might give you an insight, if its the latter then it proves it really can mean anything, the light of the city, the light in someones eyes; I read it as a song of slender hope for someone in utter despair or hopelessness. But it's a great song and can mean anything to anyone, the sign of a truly great writer I think, being completely direct and poignant in his own mind but still leaving it open to interpretation and a certain ambiguity.

Anyway yes, thanks for the info :)
 
Is the "light" in the lyrics a light in someone's eyes?

Yes - according to the lyrics in the first version of the song: "There is a light in your eyes that never goes out" apparently - lets hope for that Smiths rarities boxset.

Queen is Dead CD, has it as 'And it never goes out...'.

Well it's definately printed as 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' on my CD - unless your talking about the the actual sung lyrics, rather than a misprinted title as I thought?
 
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sid james said:
Yes - according to the lyrics in the first version of the song: "There is a light in your eyes that never goes out" apparently - lets hope for that Smiths rarities boxset.



Well it's definately printed as 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' on my CD - unless your talking about the the actual sung lyrics, rather than a misprinted title as I thought?
I'll dig it out for you, it's on my iTunes.

As far as I can see it's the official TQID CD, Warner Music UK ltd etc., WEA?

Oddly on the back it's 'That never goes out', but on iTunes (automatically copied straight from disc into iTunes) it says 'and it never goes out', which is a bit odd.

Nevermind. At least it's cleard up, was nagging :)
 
Really? The original line was "light in your eyes..."? Is that in Rogan or "Songs That Saved Your Life"? I don't mean to sound skeptical, I've just never come across that, or maybe I've just forgotten. I have a pet theory that the song is really about Morrissey's mother and if the original line is "light in your eyes..." I am totally and completely wrong.
 
Worm said:
Really? The original line was "light in your eyes..."? Is that in Rogan or "Songs That Saved Your Life"? I don't mean to sound skeptical, I've just never come across that, or maybe I've just forgotten. I have a pet theory that the song is really about Morrissey's mother and if the original line is "light in your eyes..." I am totally and completely wrong.
I just dug out Goddard's 'Songs That Saved Your Life' (good book!) and it seems, well...I was half right!

The song had, apparently, always been called There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, but, to quote

It's intriguing to note how on his initial vocal take, the literal meaning of the song's title was clarified in the final refrain 'there is a light in your eye and it never goes out'. Oddly, this explanatory revelation was omitted from the finished record, which procured greater ambiguity as a result.

he then footnotes

[84] The original lyric may have been a throwback to another of Morrissey's favourite girl groups, The Shirelles, specifically their 1961 Gerry Goffin/Carole King penned classic 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' and the line: 'Tonight the light of love is in your eyes'

So it wasnt the title but a lyric at the end which Goddard seems to think explains the title, at least.

Almost unquestionably the song is about love and the other person is seemingly a beacon (if you excuse the crass pun/reference) of hope for Mozz, so it could quite plausibly be his mother but it doesnt seem like a parental love, would you wish for your mother to be killed alongside you? It seems more of a distant-love. I know it's not very popular with Mozz himself, but I still do think it was about Johnny Marr...although admittedly that's because it's the only friendship of Mozzers that is known in any kind of detail.

All in all though, most important, it really is a beautiful song. Quite incredible.
 
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Thanks for digging that out. I'll trust Goddard on that one. If he says he sang that lyric, I'm sure he did.

My interpretation of the song does not rest on the idea that the person he is singing to is his mother. It is a song of longing for another person, certainly. But it's also a song about home. The "strange fear" which causes him not to ask under that darkened underpass is intertwined with feelings of love and hatred for his home, and for his mother. When I listen to the song I hear him pulling away from total romantic abandonment rather than submitting to an eroticized death wish, no matter how much he seems to want to take a header into a double-decker bus.

I still like that reading, but it's pretty implausible if Morrissey sang "There is a light in your eyes". I'd always assumed Morrissey was showing wonderful cleverness by being literal when people thought he was being metaphorical: the "light" was a light in his home. No matter how desperately you wish to escape, home is always there waiting. (Then again, he later wrote that "no one stays up for you".)

Anyway, that was always a secondary interpretation of mine. Obviously the song is first and foremost about his idealized love for another person, and it has a firm root in his past. I recall a TV interview in which he said something like "I was very lonely and I didn't know anyone and I didn't go anywhere. There were certain nights when I just wished somebody would call, and take me anywhere-- just to drive through the centre of the city would be for me quite remarkable". I've always taken the song at that level, too, and yeah, it's a great song. For my money, The Smiths' best. The video is incredible too, the only good thing Jarman did for the group.
 
One of my theories is that it's about someone having an affair. They can't go home because they've been kicked out.

That could fit in with his mum or dad if that was the reason their marriage broke up.
 
Interesting possible development in this discussion...

Mozz in a recent interview with The Times:

My question is: does this pattern of unrequited love continue? “Well, there was once more yearning than there is now. One can now put things into perspective and can turn away very easily, shrug your shoulders and say, ‘What’s the point?’ There’s other things in my life to be passionate about. But when you’re a teenager and in your early twenties it seems desperately eternal and excruciatingly painful. Whereas as you grow older you realise that most things are excruciatingly painful and that is the human condition. Most of us continue to survive because we’re convinced that somewhere along the line, with grit and determination and perseverance, we will end up in some magical union with somebody. It’s a fallacy, of course, but it’s a form of religion. You have to believe. There is a light that never goes out and it’s called hope.

Seems to confirm the song is about hope, shirley?

Any thorrrts chums?
 
Yes, but in the same article he claims that another journalist wrote that he said he was in love, but in fact it was a misquote! Who knows what to believe? Maybe he actually said "There is a light that never goes out and it's called Hope and Anchor".

"Light" as a beacon of hope doesn't seem right to me. Too vague, too general. But I suppose it's possible. There is a strong current of hope in the song, yes, but I don't think it's the "light".

Morrissey wouldn't use an interview to lay out what one of his songs is about unless he was just explaining a meaning that was already obvious. When ambiguity comes into play, he usually avoids the question or uses more ambiguity to skate away from it. "There Is A Light" is one such ambiguous song I don't think he'd pin down as he did in this article.

And don't call me Shirley.
 
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