What is I Won't Share You about?

Umm... ok?. Laughed at the last part, not sure how I'm meant to respond (or where you got some of those ideas, ha).
Am I supposed to guess some stuff about you now? :lbf:
i could tell you some salient things about him. like the fact that maybe if he had a dude squad like moz's to ride around in that car of his he wouldn't be such a prickly little pear. you dont see mozzer looking all glum when riding around with his dude squad.
 
I really don't think the theme here is much different than other songs written by M, obsessive love that is not returned because he is not worthy

The note I wrote as she read
She said, "Has the perrier gone
Straight to my head
Or is life sick and cruel, instead?"

That is a woman who read a note from his character in this song and she is horrified he has these feelings for her

The More You Ignore Me is like that
Tomorrow is like that
How Soon is Now
There is a Light
there's a really long list of this repeated theme

This theme is so common with him, but it does not mean that the actual incident is autobiographical and you can't pick and choose the lyrics, they are clearly about a woman and a man, not a group breaking up

I wont share you, this time is mine

Obsession
 
Umm... ok?. Laughed at the last part, not sure how I'm meant to respond (or where you got some of those ideas, ha).
Am I supposed to guess some stuff about you now? :lbf:
I'm not Jeremy Brett. I'm just talking shit. I know nothing about you. It's absolutely not personal.
 
i could tell you some salient things about him. like the fact that maybe if he had a dude squad like moz's to ride around in that car of his he wouldn't be such a prickly little pear. you dont see mozzer looking all glum when riding around with his dude squad.
Hahahahahaha
 
A lot of people really take his lyrics to heart. And believe they’re entirely his life story…. I don’t.
There are some songs, like How Soon is Now, which I think is totally him and how he felt at the time, and I could be completely wrong about that too.
I not very emotional about him and the Smiths and I am not heartbroken and all that dramatic stuff, but I recognize the emotion in the songs, if that makes sense.
He is just a great writer, imo and is really able to write about emotions and human experiences in ways people can really connect, but I completely agree with you that they are not his entire life story, but there are some-
Hairdresser on Fire
Mr Shankly
Bigmouth
are just a few
But then you have songs like National Front Disco that are about a situation he wants to say something about, he just writes about a variety of things, like any good songwriter should
I think people need to believe all the songs are autobiographical because they are somewhat fanatical and want to feel a stronger connection to him
 
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There are some songs, like How Soon is Now, which I think is totally him and how he felt at the time, and I could be completely wrong about that too.
I not very emotional about him and the Smiths and I am not heartbroken and all that dramatic stuff, but I recognize the emotion in the songs, if that makes sense.
He is just a great writer, imo and is really able to write about emotions and human experiences in ways people can really connect, but I completely agree with you that they are not his entire life story, but there are some-
Hairdresser on Fire
Mr Shankly
Bigmouth
are just a few
But then you have songs like National Front Disco that are about a situation he wants to say something about, he just writes about a variety of things, like any good songwriter should
I think people need to believe all the songs are autobiographical because they are somewhat fanatical and want to feel a stronger connection to him
Oh, I believe there are some very specific songs that are quite personally about him, but I definitely don't believe 100% of them are, at least, not from my perception.
 
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I think people are being far too literal when it comes to things like "this song references a woman, so it can't be about a male relationship" - obviously Morrissey is going to use some poetic license to slightly disguise things, and not be completely factual and baldly 'on the nose' (especially if those lyrics might be referring to your bandmate and creative partner).

Similarly, I think people are trying too hard to make a clean divide between the autobiographical songs, and those which are clearly inspired by other sources ('A Taste of Honey' etc). Even when he's riffing heavily on someone else's work, Morrissey is picking those subjects and characters which resonate with him at a personal level. This is clearly the case, as several of these lyrics end up going over the same general themes, even if they are influenced by completely different works.

So, all the 'influenced' lyrics can be said to have some kind of autobioraphical content. Simiarly, I believe all those lyrics that people cling to as 100% autobiographical have at least some fictionalised content - even if it's just to jiggle real-life events slightly to make a better lyric, find a better rhyme, or disguise things which are slightly too painful (or boring) to tell entirely straight. Even if Morrissey is trying to be honest, the lyrics are constructed art (as is his actual autobiography) - always allow for poetic license and never mistake them for literal truth.

In my opinion, something like 'I Won't Share You' can be both about Marr and some other scenario about a male/female relationship breakup at the same time. Clearly, his relationship with Marr was playing on his mind at the time, and he has elsehwere referred to Marr's musical 'unfaithfullness' in sexual terms ("Monogamous I, polygamous he"). Maybe he used those feelings intentionally whilst writing the scenario of these lyrics, or maybe they were entirely unintentional and just crept out into what he intended to be a completely different scenario. But it seems fairly obvious that his relationship with Johnny coloured the lyrics of this song to a large degree.
 
I don’t quite get this song. It sounds lovely but it’s a bit vague to me. Who’s the woman drinking Perrier writing notes to Morrissey? Doesn’t fit with the idea it’s a song about Morrissey being jealous of Brian Ferry. Not to me anyway.
 
Manchester was a small place when this came out. Many of us fans gathered in the pubs and clubs assumed it was about Marr as news was already out that the Smiths had split when the album was released.

Rogan thinks it's about Marr too.

No-one actually knows though.
 
Is it not about Rolos?
 
What's happened to the real Smiths A-Z? I was expecting 'Last Night I Dreamt...' by now.
 
the feeling of the songs is still the same even without the context. the first time i heard a smiths song--"this charming man"--the essence of all of that was there in it, and i knew what it was about, even if i couldnt articulate it. it's interesting learning about the background and picking apart this 'essence' and seeing all the components of it, everything that goes into it, but it's not necessary.

agree with both you and @Amy It’s also important and interesting to note that Morrissey has fans that may not entirely
understand the English language, but are still extremely passionate in their love for him/his art. Which speaks immensely about the power of his unique voice. A subject that’s not really discussed, surprisingly.
 
Is he rejecting someone? Is he being rejected BY someone?
A bit of both, really. As much as people focus on the clear sorrow at the end of the relationship, there is also a note of determined willfuness to break free and move on that seems to echoe Morrissey's imminent solo carrer: "I want the freedom, and I want the guile...". So there are definately some slightly mixed signals there.
 
agree with both you and @Amy It’s also important and interesting to note that Morrissey has fans that may not entirely
understand the English language
, but are still extremely passionate in their love for him/his art. Which speaks immensely about the power of his unique voice. A subject that’s not really discussed, surprisingly.
Is this post autobiographical?
 
This is what it's about. Look at Morrissey's face - does it lie?

 
Whatever the case, it’s a shame he omitted the last part of the song when he’s done it live recently.
 
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