The publication of Morrissey’s autobiography this fall has been a major event in both the musical and literary worlds, and for those who’ve yet to pick up the aptly titled “Autobiography,” now’s your chance: Publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons has given us 5 copies of the just-published U.S. hardcover edition to give away to lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs readers.
TO ENTER: Since this is all about Morrissey’s prose, to enter, please leave a comment below naming your favorite Moz lyric — The Smiths or solo, a whole song or just a line or two — and offer up a few words explaining why. If you’re using the Slicing Up Eyeballs app, please email your entry to info@slicingupeyeballs.com with the subject line “I will die without Morrissey’s autobiography.”
RULES: Contest is limited to U.S. residents only (sorry, those are the publisher’s rules). We’ll take entries until 5 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 27. After that point, we’ll select 5 winners at random and contact them via their provided e-mail addresses. One entry per person.
UPDATE: The contest is now closed. Thank you all for entering. Winners will be emailed shortly.
I was looking for a job and then I found a job and heaven knows I’m miserable now.
Let me get my hands on your mammary glands
“Now I know how Joan of Arc felt… As the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt…” I don’t know why, but that is the best line ever in melancholy pop music :)
“Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me.” Nobody — NOBODY — does loneliness and depression like Morrissey.
“Boot the Grime of This World in the Crotch, Dear.”
It has always been my favorite line. Essentially, I’ve always used it as permission to call out the bullshit when I see it … for anyone associated with producing the metaphorical grime. I love the addition of “Dear” at the end of the statement. It reminds us that we are still capable of being endearing as we boot said grime. Perhaps, booting grime in the crotch is what makes us endearing. Oh, Moz.
“I am the son and heir
of nothing in particular”
When actually performed…. it could be interpreted as “sun” and “air”… kind of speaks to the ego and the morose that is Morrissey.
There’s more to life than books, you know. But not much more.
“The grease in the hair of a speedway operator is all this tremulous heart desires”
“The devil will find work for idle hands to do”….this line always speaks to me because I often see people do questionable things when they’re doing nothing…plus it’s my favorite Smiths song.
“Sing your life, any fool can think of words that rhyme”
“If a double decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” Because it encapsulates, in a darkly humorous way, my love for my wife, who I’d give the bio to.
“I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice.”
Slant rhyme and very clever.
REJECTION IS ONE THING BUT REJECTION FROM A FOOL
IS CRUEL and I don’t mind if you forget me..My favorite because it is so to the core true!! His lyrics are medicine to the soul!!
Favorite lyrics: ” I would go tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear”
and “Oh the alcoholic afternoons, that we spent in your room, meant more to
me then any, any living thing on earth.”
Why? Simple, brilliant imagery turned into poetry.
I wear black on the outside, cause black is how I feel on the inside
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know it’s serious
my my my my my my baby
“Everyday is like Sunday. Everyday is silent and grey.”
I know it’s about Borth, but growing up in Seattle before it was a boomtown, it really captured how it felt to be in the Pacific Northwest in the late 80s.
“You had to sneak into my room just to read my diary. It was just to see, just to see, all the things all the things you knew I’d written about you. Oh, so many illustrations.” – Because this reminds me of someone I used to date, who religiously kept journals with illustrations.
So I broke into the Palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said: “Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing”
I said: “that’s nothing – you should hear me play piano”
And when at last it does
I’d say you were within your rights to bite
The right one and say, “what kept you so long ? ”
“what kept you so long ? “
forgot to “explain why” and I guess because I just like it a lot.
My favorite Morrissey lyrics are from The Smiths song, “Accept Yourself.” This is the ultimate ode to self-doubt, and the idea that someone else could be as insecure as I was during my younger years was a blessing of sorts.
The Smiths – “Accept Yourself”
“Every day you must say
So, how do I feel about my life?
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself?
I am sick and I am dull
And I am plain
How dearly I’d love to get carried away
Oh, but dreams have a knack of just not coming true
And time is against me now…oh
Oh, who and what to blame?
Oh, anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself, for heaven’s sake?
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Every day you must say
Oh, how do I feel about the past?
Others conquered love – but I ran
I sat in my room and I drew up a plan
Oh, but plans can fall through (as so often they do)
And time is against me now…
And there’s no-one left to blame
Oh, tell me when will you…
When will you accept your life?
(The one that you hate)
For anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Every day you must say
Oh, how do I feel about my shoes?
They make me awkward and plain
How dearly I would love to kick with the fray…
But I once had a dream (and it never came true)
And time is against me now…
Time is against me now…
And there’s no one but yourself to blame
Oh, anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Anything is hard to find; for heaven’s sake !
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself ?
When?
When?
When?
When?”
Oh … sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking
When I said by rights you should be
Bludgeoned in your bed
The first time I actually heard the lyrics and their juxtaposition tot he melody.
“So yes there are things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie” – I’m single so that line is my current motto
Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care
‘Please excuse me from gym, I’ve got this terrible cold coming on, it grabs me and devours, it kicks me in the showers.’
I love how this reveals itself to be about bullying but so subtly.
“I must move fast, you understand me ”
One of my favorite lines from Frankly Mr Shankly
To me it’s a reminder to slow down oddly enough. Hurrying through life is no way to go. That line has always stood out to me.
“Scratch your name on my arm with a fountain pen…this means you really love me…”
Such an evocative lyric; romantic and passionate and a little melodramatic (like Moz himself).
You’re the one for me, Fatty!!
I would go out tonight but I haven’t got a stitch to wear
I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
but heaven knows I’m miserable now
I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
and heaven knows I’m miserable now
“Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people…” favorite song because once I’m out, “I never never ant to go home”. ;-)
Oops. “Scratch MY name on YOUR arm….”
Oh, it was a good lay, good lay
It was a good lay, good lay
It was a good lay, good lay
Oh
The truth set him free….
Is evil something you are, or something you do?
“You’re the one for me fatty”
Hide on the promenade
Etch a postcard :
“How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here”
In the seaside town
That they forgot to bomb
Come, come, come – nuclear bomb-From every day is like Sunday
something about semi-abandoned places (in this case, a beach out of tourist season) adding Armageddon imagery (apparently based on the book The Beach) . the person writing the postcard portrays their loneliness and even though it is just a few lines, you can picture the person writing the postcard and feeling melancholy.
I am hated for loving
I am hated for loving
Anonymous call, a poison pen
A brick in the small of the back again
I still don’t belong
To anyone…I am mine
The saints smile shyly down on you…
I just like the way it rolls of his tongue.
Oh hello
I am the ghost of Troubled Joe
Hung by his pretty white neck
Some eighteen months ago
I travelled to a mystical time zone
And I missed my bed
And I soon came home …. I listened to head on the door from the cure for hours but this song and album, although emasculating in nuances made me the lover I am. Depeche Mode had pop/dreamy songs but the analog feel of morrissey was tactile.
“There’s too much caffeine in your blood stream and a lack of real spice in your life.”
Everyday boredom. Just living to work.
Hang the DJ.
And I will never stand naked in front of you
Or if I do, it won’t be for a long time.
“If you must write prose and poems
The words you use should be your own
Don’t plagiaries or take on loan”
“Oh the alcoholic afternoons when we sat in your room/They meant more to me than any, any living thing on earth”.
“A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
While Wilde is on mine
So we go inside and we gravely read the stones
All those people all those lives
Where are they now?
With the loves and hates
And passions just like mine
They were born
And then they lived and then they died
Seems so unfair
And I want to cry
You say: “ere thrice the sun done salutation to the dawn”
And you claim these words as your own
But I’ve read well, and I’ve heard them said
A hundred times, maybe less, maybe more
If you must write prose and poems
The words you use should be your own
Don’t plagiarise or take “on loans”
There’s always someone, somewhere
With a big nose, who knows
And who trips you up and laughs
When you fall
Who’ll trip you up and laugh
When you fall
You say: “ere long done do does did”
Words which could only be your own
And then you then produce the text
From whence was ripped some dizzy whore, 1804
A dreaded sunny day
So let’s go where we’re happy
And I meet you at the cemetery gates
Oh Keats and Yeats are on your side
A dreaded sunny day
So let’s go where we’re wanted
And I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
But you lose because Wilde is on mine”
“I am the son and the heir…of a shyness that is criminally vulgar”
Just because the first time I heard it, I thought it was “sun” and “air” and thought, “Jeez, what a pretentious ass.” Then I heard the second line and laughed, thinking, “Brilliant!”
from ‘Girl Afraid’
“But she doesn’t even LIKE me!
And I know because she said so.”
because who hasn’t been there?
If I don’t win this I’ll feel that
the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
They said, ” there’s too much caffeine in your bloodstream and a lack of real spice in your life”
“Rejection is one thing but rejection from a fool is cruel.” Too many faves to pick but this line makes me laugh.
I would go out tonight… but I haven’t got a stitch to wear
“Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl’s mothers are bigger than
Other girl’s mothers”
// A simple sociological, evolutional and demographical observation, interpreted to mean everything … or nothing. But regardless, has never, not once, ceased to bring a smile to my face.
So I broke into the palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said “Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing”
I said “That’s nothing – you should hear me play piano”
It’s just a perfect example of his humor and self-deprecation.
And if a ten ton truck
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure and the privilege is mine
I was a small, fat child in a welfare house
There was only one thing I ever dreamed about
And fate has just
Handed it to me – whoopee
@JasonD just posted my favorite, so I’ll go with this:
“I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder”
Pain, indeed!
“I said
‘I like it here, can I stay?
I like it here, can I stay?
And do you have a vacancy for a backscrubber?'”
Because…. well, I dunno, to me this one kinda speaks for itself, no :)
Right now this one fits the season.
“But sometimes I’d feel more more fulfilled making Christmas cards for the mentally ill.”
I just might die with a smile on my face afterall.
” I wear black on the outside as black is how I feeeeeel on the inside. and if you think I’m a little strange, well that’s because I am. But I know that you would like me, if only you could see me..”
In the 80s I DID wear a lot of black and also had a lot of tragedy so really DID feel dark on the inside. I had many friend but those who didn’t know me, once they met me, would be surprised at how friendly and approachable I was. This lyric captures me in high school perfectly.
I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside.
There’s a club, if you’d like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry
And you want to die
Definitely my pick. The lyric of his that related to my personally and made me become a big fan.
Yep, that’s mine too. Just classic MOZ.
Oh, give yourself a break before you break down.
You’re gonna need someone on your side.
And here I am!
And here I am!
Well, you don’t need to look so pleased.
This one says it all!
“and if you think peace is a common goal, that goes to show how little you know”
pretty true of humans
“You see: to someone, somewhere, oh yeah…
Alma matters
In mind, body and soul
In part, and in whole.”
And why? Because I went through a period in my life when I was miserable and most of my clothes were black.
Dang those publishers rules. When will us Canadians get some lovin?
Let me get my hands on your mammary glands!
“Such a little thing
A fumbling politeness
The difference saved me”
Beautiful gem of a song. A side of Morrissey that he doesn’t show too much. Leave me alone I was only singing…. Introverts can relate.
“The pain was enough to make a shy, bald Buddhist reflect and plan a mass murder.” – “Stop Me if you’ve Heard this one Before,” The Smiths
This classic Moz line encapsulates the profound sadness that characterizes his work, its depth rising to a level of absurdity that can only be reached with his distinctive sharp and hyperbolic wit.
“Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools,
Spineless swines, cemented minds.”
I grew up in Manchester and can vouch for this!
oh, glenn… don’t come to the house tonight…
because there’s somebody here who’ll take a hatchet to your ear.
brilliant turn.
“Fifteen minutes with you – well, I wouldn’t say no!” reminds me of all my far away friends.
“Call me morbid, call me pale, I’ve spent 6 years on your trail, far too long chasing your tail…and if you have 5 seconds to spare, let me tell you the story of my life: 16, quiet and shy, I went to London and I, I booked myself a room at the Y…WCA, I said I like it here, can I stay? and do you have a vacancy for a back scrubber?”
I mean, we’ve all been there, haven’t we? It’s so poignant in its absurdity.
“…what she asked of me at the end of the day – Caligula would have blushed.” I think what made lines like this, and really all of Moz’s writing is that it sounds great when he sings it, but there’s a cadence and flow that makes it great for spoken word as well.
It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate it takes strength (guts) to be gentle and kind.
Burn down the disco. Hang the blessed DJ. Because the music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life…hang the blessed dj from Panic. This plays out almost everyday of my life when someone else is in control of the music. There are a few exceptions which are a bright spot in the darkness.
“I smoke because I’m hoping for an early death, and I need to cling to something.” This line from “What She Said” said exactly how I felt in my mid 20’s when I was a depressed, partying, self-deprecating mess. Whenever I listen to this song, it’s like looking through a photo album full of pics from that time in my life – fun but tortured times. Lol!
“Last night I dreamt, that somebody loved me. No hope, no harm, just another false alarm.”
This song was the soundtrack to my deepest bouts of teenage despair. I was certain that if I ever decided to end it all, this would be what was playing when they found me.
the poor and the needy are selfish and greedy.
why? because i’m being poor needy and greedy begging for a free book!
“Oh, I didn’t realise that you wrote poetry
I didn’t realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry, Mr. Shankly…” from Frankly, Mr Shankly has always been a favorite. I love the story, and I LOVE the way this line is delivered. Morrisey’s scathing remarks are so softened by the pep.
“Some girls mothers are bigger than other girls mothers” – quite possibly the most truthful line Morrissey has ever sung.
My favorite lyric has always been “I Know it’s Over”. The lyrics express both desperation and resignation. He begs “sad veiled bride, please be happy” and for her new love, to “give her room”; knowing he is out of the picture, but still invested in her happiness, nails the complexity of love lost. I also find it interesting that the song begins in the first person ( *I* know it’s over), then switches to her response, (“If *YOU’RE* so funny /clever/ good looking)”, which transitions into the 3rd person when he sings “I know…because tonight is just like any other night”, suddenly making the song about the listener. “That’s why YOU’RE on your own tonight”. It’s a clever device-we don’t just relate to the lyrics, we are woven into the narrative.
That, a wonderfully epic composition by Johnny Marr and lines like “Loud loutish lover, treat her kindly though she needs you more than she loves you” make this, if not my favorite Smiths song, certainly one of their more moving.
Come, Armageddon! come!
So Nihilistic…and it’s my favorite solo Moz song.
The Smiths “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
I think this song summarizes the transition from your 20s to your 30s.
During my 20s it was all about going to pubs, clubs and drinking beer until your only choice is to make poor decisions as regards lovers, friends, education, or even driving home in the haze of a drunken hour (or sleeping in your car).
The ironic dilemma between being miserable when you don’t have a job and once you get it you are miserable as well. You must sell your freedom in order to purchase a false freedom enslaved by money.
Same applies to love: you crave freedom when you are in an unhappy suffocating relationship, but you wish you had someone to hold you during Christmas. And thus you grow bitter towards friends’ engagements and baby showers.
As I grow up I find myself getting lonelier and it is precisely because I decided to stop giving valuable time to people who don’t care if I live or die.
And now, finally in my liberating 30’s I am still trying to stop being miserable either single, in love, jobless, employed, popular, friendless, etc.
Maybe I should just stick to my cats like Mr. Morrissey…
“Spending warm summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg”
There’s obviously a million great answers to this question, but this line has always struck me as just completely random and strange. I mean, why Luxembourg? It could be anywhere. Maybe the book I’m about to win will have the answers….
Take me out tonight because I want to see people and I want to see life.
Really, the whole song. Reminds me of when I was a teenager and never wanted to go home.
Spending warm summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg…
“There’s a lack of real spice in my life” so yeah, this book would probably help.
“But sometimes I’d feel more fulfilled making Christmas cards with the mentally ill…”
I don’t love and/or like my job very much. It does corrode my soul while paying my way. Sometimes when I’m leaving meetings and walking back to my office I quietly hum this to myself.
Spending warm summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg
Just excellent meter, phrasing, and a more than a hint of absurdism. It plays against Marr’s guitar figure perfectly. It was really tough just to pick one example…
“Spending warm summer days indoors,
Writing frightening verse
to a buck-toothed girl
in Luxembourg”
(from “Ask”)
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, so I’ll go with this one…
It’s poetry, really. So much imagery conveyed through just a few words, with a touch of whimsy… I see the influence of James Joyce or Eliot’s “The Waste Land”.
Just brilliant! What was “frightening”— the raw emotions? or some deep, dark desires he could only confess to someone far away?
And why mention her crooked teeth? So funny but evocative of much more…
Morrissey’s writing and unique voice + the music of Johnny Marr (et al)= something quite magical. Moz’s solo work is often great, but can’t even compare to the lasting power of many of The Smiths’ songs.
“It’s death for no reason, and death for no reason is murder”.
Brave of Morrissey to write such a fierce, heartfelt song like Meat is Murder (and title the album that!).
Would you put your arms around me?
(I won’t tell anyone)
Tomorrow
Does it have to come?
All I ask of you is one thing that you’ll never do
Every second of my life I only live for you
And you can shoot me
And you can throw me off a train
I still maintain
I still maintain
“Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together”
Nothing like fear and desperation to win over true joy and happiness…
She said : “Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing!”
I said : “That’s nothing – you should hear me play piano.”
A lyric for frustrated musicians everywhere. A frustration that can definitely send you straight to “the pub that wrecks your body.”
“The same old joke since 1902”
This entire song displays the corruption that can develop in school systems, and this line perfectly encapsulates the outdated methods and refusal to change of some instructors, and administrators of other institutions in general.
The boy with the thorn in his side, behind the hatred there lies a murderous desire for love.
Drank TOO much, said TOO much and there’s nowhere to go but down!
Come on. Classic!
“Send me the pillow…
The one that you dream on…
Send me the pillow…
The one that you dream on…
And I’ll send you mine…”
It’s my favorite because it sparked the flame of romance, imagination, passion and Romanticism in my youth that I’ve kept alight ever since…
Thank you!
Dana
“When the gulf between the things I need
and the things I received is an ancient ocean wide.
Wild. Lost. Uncrossed.”
I don’t think anyone has ever described frustration and disappointment with one’s status in life more poetically than that.
“poor twisted child
so ugly, so ugly
poor twisted child
oh hug me, oh hug me
one November
spawned a monster
in the shape of this child”
This entire song evokes emotion, the emotion of judging others, the emotion of setting yourself free, the emotion of compassion!
There were times when I could have murdered her
But you know, I would hate anything to happen to her
“Barbarism Begins At Home”
Trouble Loves Me:
Ready with ready-wit
Still running ’round
On the flesh rampage
– at your age !
Go to soho, oh
Go to waste in
The wrong arms
Still running ’round
Trouble loves me
Seeks and finds me
To charlatanize me
Which is only
As it should be
Oh, please fulfill me
Otherwise, kill me
When the song gets to this verse, the line “ready with ready wit” has always made me smile as a nice combination of words. I also like the word “charlatanize”.
Punctured bicycle
on a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet?
Opening lines to my favorite Smiths song.
When you sleep/I will creep/Into your thoughts/Like a bad debt/That you can’t pay/Take the easy way/And give in/Yeah, and let me in
This line is so manipulative and desperate. I feel like this was how I handled teenage romance, and listening to Morrissey was like talking to a friend.
“In my life, why do I give valuable time, to people who don’t care if I live or die.”
I also love the cover of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable now by ACT – Claudia Brucken
***It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite among a bevy of greatness, but if I am forced to choose I will have to go with my first love “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.” Its deep, melodic tone & range from baritone to falsetto alone is enough to stir one’s heart, but then the lyrics themselves are simply moving. As Morrissey asks “…why do I give valuable time to people who don’t care if I, live or I die.” We have all at one point or another posed this question in our own lives; thus this beautifully composed prose holds a special place in many & my heart.***
There is soooo many…but, “Let me get my hands
On your mammary glands” Why? Because it is funny, controversial, weird, silly, and I just love to hear it always! That goes for all his lyrics!
It’s so easy to laugh its so easy to hate. It’s takes strength to be gentle and kind…… It’s a very comforting line in the song. I love you Mozz!!!!!
I dreamt about you last night
And I fell out of bed twice
You can pin and mount me like a butterfly
But “take me to the haven of your bed”
Was something that you never said
Two lumps, please
You’re the bee’s knees
But so am I
Fame fame fatal fame it can play hideous tricks on the brain …. But still I’d rather be righteous or holy any day
Some girls are bigger than others. Some girls’ mothers are bigger than other girls’ mothers.
“Nature is a language, can’t you read?” As a person who feels very close to nature and who feels puzzled by those who don’t seem to care about it, this resonates with me.
“…and is evil just something you are, or something you do?”
-Sister, I’m a Poet
It’s a wonderful thought to ponder. Is evil something that lies in the heart of a person, or something that just lives in vile actions committed by them?
Only from the mind of MOZ!!!
“you don’t like me but you love me
either way you’re wrong. You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.”
I learned about The Smiths in high school when I was a freshmen, she was a senior and they where amazing. Not sure where she is but this songs still brings it all back.
Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
-Ask
Poor woman
Strangled in her very own bed as she read
But that’s OK
Because she was old and she would have died anyway
Don’t blame the sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan
Because he’ll never, never, never, never, never, never do it again
(not until the next time)
“There’s more to life than books you know, but not much more”
Words I live by!
And I’m not sorry for
For the things I’ve done
And I’m not looking for
Just anyone
And if a ten ton truck
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure and the privilege is mine..
“And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die” Because when we are driving in his car and hes taking me out and I don’t care where he takes me and the window is down and this song is blaring and we are singing these words at the top of our lungs …nothing feels more real or true at that moment …everytime!<3
So many to choose from, so I’ll go with…
“Oh, there is a place
A place in hell
Reserved
For me and my friends
And if ever I
Just wanted to cry
Then I will
Because I can”
I have a place reserved too!
Rubber Ring – Don’t forget the songs that made you cry; and the songs that saved your life.
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does.
I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside
Stop me, oh oh oh, stop me! Stop me if you think that you’ ve heard this one before.
Unruly boys
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking”
Favorite song lyric because it talks about barbaric discipline. Also has a sweet rythme!
Burn down the disco, hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
I was looking for a job, and then I found a job. And Heaven knows I’m miserable now.
I was looking for a job and then I found a job. And Heaven knows I’m miserable now.
‘You can pin and mount me like a butterfly’
Enough said!
“I will be in the bar with my head on the bar…”
Why? It’s genius obviously.
“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I’m miserable now”
That song was sort of the gateway for me, into the Smiths and Morrissey’s music. Can’t pinpoint why, or what about it that did it for me – who knows the source of the magic of a melody or a lyric or a voice?
“Farewell to this land’s cheerless marshes*
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with a head in a sling
I’m truly sorry, but it sounds like a wonderful thing.”
(*I always thought it was “cheerless marches”). Anyway, love this poetic opening from “The Queen Is Dead”. The imagery of the hunted boar, and the setup to an epic and comical anti-royalist rant. Love love.
There will be blood on the cleaver tonight.
growing up and as a teen I was really into 80’s hardcore DC and Bay area punk rock. I ignored the Smiths for obvious reasons. As I grew older and became a musician myself and delved deeper into other sub genres or rock n roll I rediscovered The Smiths and realized never to judge a book by its cover. Morrissey’s lyrics were full of so much angst that I could have identified with as a young man. Not only that but they were at times surprisingly dark and humorous. I’m now a huge fan of The Smiths and think he’s one of the best lyricist of rock music today.
There’s a club if you’d like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die
“I was delayed, I was waylaid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said lied I’d to her ?”
And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I’ll tell you the story of my life
(I guess Moz found more that 5 seconds worth of material to write about)
When you cycled by
here began all my dreams
the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
and you never knew
how much I really liked you
because I never even told you
oh, but I meant to
:)
Many favorites but I always liked this one has always been a favorite:
The death of a disco dancer
Well, it happens a lot ’round here
And if you think Peace
Is a common goal
Well, that goes to show
Just how little you know
The death of a disco dancer
Well, I’d rather not get involved
I never talk to my neighbour
I’d just rather not get involved
Love, peace and harmony?
Love, peace and harmony?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
…but maybe in the next world
The title alone is golden.
This is one also:
So, ask me, ask me, ask me,
Ask me, ask me, ask me
Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the bomb, the bomb, the bomb,
the bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb
That will bring us together
If it’s not Love
Then it’s the bomb
Then it’s the bomb
That will bring us together
Stop me, stop me, stop me if you think that you have heard this one before. Nothings changed oh I still love you, only slightly less than I used to.
“And when I’m lying in my bed, I think about life and I think about death, and neither one particularly appeals to me.”
Not just for the cynical poetry of the line, but for the way Moz delivers such a downer line in such an up-tempo tune.
Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people
Who are young and alive
This is my theme song! Sometimes when I am feeling low I get in this mood where i can’t be home; I just need to be out and about around people who are having a good time; and I never want to go home; I just want the night to last forever. .
“Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people
Who are young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven’t got one anymore”
I remember this lyric in particular because of being in my mid/late teens, feeling lonely and out of place, especially with the opposite sex, hanging with a few close friends driving around Lancaster confused and scared of my future.
or: Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it’s serious. Do you think she’ll pull through? Do you really think she’ll pull through?
“i am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar” “i am human and i need to be loved, just like everybody else does.” “and if i seem a little strange, well that’s because i am.” & basically every lyric from half a person.
oops sorry i have more than one
Frankly, Mr. Shankly, since you ask
You are a flatulent pain in the arse
Because it’s good to know that even Morrissey makes fart jokes.
“I wear black on the outside, because black is how i feel on the inside”
“Unlovable”
Frankly Mr Shankly this position I’ve held it pays my way and it corrodes my soul
Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head.
or…
Don’t forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life.
**I have that tattooed on my feet.
In my life why do I smile
at people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?
Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
And then leave me alone
Don’t try to wake me in the morning
‘Cause I will be gone
Don’t feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I will feel so glad to go
There’s gonna be some trouble
A whole house will need re-building
And everyone I love in the house
Will recline on an analyst’s couch quite
Soon
Your Father cracks a joke
And in the usual way
Empties the room
Tell all of my friends
(I don’t have too many
Just some rain-coated lovers’ puny brothers)
Dallow, Spicer, Pinkie, Cubitt
Rush to danger
Wind up nowhere
Patric Doonan – raised to wait
I’m tired again, I’ve tried again, and
Now my heart is full
Now my heart is full
And I just can’t explain
So I won’t even try to
Most of his lyrics are great but this one is really resonating with me at the moment.
Nobody wants my love
nobody needs my love
yes you’ve made yourself plain
yes you’ve made yourself very plain
In my life
Why do I give valuable time
to people who don’t care if I
live or I die?
As the flames rose to her Roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt
Can you squeeze me
Into an empty page of your diary
And psychologically save me
I’ve got faith in you
“Now see her pointing to the frisbee
With a memory so fuzzy “
An illustration of Morrissey’s adept use of the provocative, poetic, romantic and humorous thoughts of youth:
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine
Oh, there is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
Without a doubt, my fave lyrics are from There is a Light That Never Goes Out.
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine
I know it’s obvious and almost trite to say so, but for me these lyrics are the essence of love. It’s not always a perfect, pretty thing, and I believe everyone has known someone with whom they feel such a connection and passion that they don’t care what they’re doing as long as they are with that person.
The ultimate expression…to die by your side – a pleasure and privilege. To make the transition from life to whatever comes next with someone you love is romantic, maudlin, bizarre, creepy, beautiful, passionate, dramatic, and yet so simple.
Just. Love.
“For whether you stay
Or you stray
An inbuilt guilt catches up with you
And as it comes around to your place
At 5 A.M.; wakes you up and laughs in your face”.
I think every married person is destined to feel in this way at least once in their married lives. For Morrissey to capture the condtradiction between mankind’s animalistic instinct to procreate and the societal norms which have favored marriage to one life partner instead of experiencing the emotional highs and lows of intertwining with many different individuals speaks to the depth and volume of Morrissey’s acerbic mind. Simply put, the man is a genius.
Party time prep:
“I would go out tonight, But I haven’t got a stitch to wear”
Morning after: “Girlfriend in a coma–it’s serious”
Some of my favorite lyrics are from “I Won’t Share You”. I love the line “The note I wrote as she read, she said: ‘Has the Perrier gone straight to my head?'” For the sheer beauty of the words. I’d have to site “Oh, life tends to come and go. That’s ok, as long as you know I won’t share you, no. I won’t share you.” as my favorite because of how sincerely sweet and psychotically obsessed it sounds at the same time. Also, what a way to end the final album of such a seminal band? Seems to sort of sum things up, dunnit?
okay another one: this is my favorite song:
“And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt
Oh …
Bigmouth, la … bigmouth, la …
Bigmouth strikes again
And I’ve got no right to take my place
With the Human race”
And now I know how Joan of Arc felt…
In my life. Why do I smile? At people who I’d much rather kick in the eye…
That line says it all my friend..
WAY, WAY TOO many choices for this, but I’ll go with one more recent: “Let Me Kiss You” from “You Are the Quarry”.
This track resonates with me b/c I’ve felt like saying this too several men in my life…my heart is open, even if my physical appearance isn’t quite up to snuff. Just let me kiss you and you’ll see, we are meant to be <3 xoxo MOZ 4 EVS!
Full song lyrics:
There's a place in the sun
For anyone who has the will to chase one..AND I
I think I've found mine
Yes, I do believe I have found mine
So, close your eyes and think of someone you physically admire
And let me kiss you, let me kiss you
I've zig-zagged all over America and I cannot find a safety haven
Say, would you let me cry on your shoulder
I've heard that you'll try anything twice
Close your eyes and think of someone you physically admire
And let me kiss you, let me kiss you
But then you open your eyes and you see someone that you physically despise
But my heart is open, my heart is open to you.
“Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since 1962”
As a senior in highschool I finally heard The Smiths for the first time. I had left class early because my braces that I had worn for four years were finally going to be removed. After my appointment, I went by the record store and purchased the cassette of Hatful Of Hollow. Although it took a while to really “get” them, I will never forget the feeling of hearing that acoustic version of “Back To The Old House” for the first time. True magic!
“Because the music that they constantly play
IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE.” Perfectly sums up FM radio will I was growing up.
she has now gone
from this Unhappy Planet
with all the carnivores
and the destructors on it
Like the phrasing of this stanza.
Favorite lyrics from The Smiths song:
“I Know It’s Over”
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
And as I climb into an empty bed
Oh well, enough said
I know it’s over, still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go, oh
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
See, the sea wants to take me
The knife wants to slit me
Do you think you can help me ?
This one of my favorite songs because I listened to it over and over again when I was thirteen, and depressed. It expressed exactly how I felt. It would bring me to tears every time I listened to it, and it still does sometimes.
I never wanted to kill
I am not naturally evil
Such things I do
Just to make myself
More attractive to you
Have I failed ?
Last of “The Famous International Playboys” is my favorite Moz song ever. I love his solo stuff more than The Smiths because nothing is more self indulgent and narcissistic. I relish that!
“I am human and I need to be loved. Just like everybody else does.”
I’m sure everyone has felt like this at some point in their lives. I know I have.
“Why pamper life’s complexities
when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?”
Hearing “This Charming Man” made me run out and get my first Smiths record with all it’s bad ass music and introspective lyrics. It sure made a man of me.
I know I need hardly say
How much I love your casual way
Oh, but please put your tongue away
A little higher and we’re well away
The dark nights are drawing in
And your humour is as black as them
I look at yours, you laugh at mine
And “love” is just a miserable lie
You have destroyed my flower-like life
Not once – twice
You have corrupt my innocent mind
Not once – twice
I know the wind-swept mystical air
It means : I’d like to see your underwear
I recognise that mystical air
It means : I’d like to seize your underwear
What do we get for our trouble and pain ?
Just a rented room in Whalley Range
What do we get for our trouble and pain ?
…Whalley Range !
Into the depths of the criminal world
I followed her …
Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools
Spineless swines, cemented minds
Sir leads the troops, jealous of youth
Same old suit since 1962
He does the military two-step
Down the nape of my neck
I wanna go home, I don’t want to stay
Give up education as a bad mistake.
——————
I love how this song talks about how bad it is for some (I was one of them) who has a HORRIBLE time in school – the teachers, the bullies, the admin – they all ganged up on me, cause I was a “freak”.
‘with your jean belt wrapped around your arm
oh, sunny, my heart goes out to you.
and with a needle pressed onto tight skin
sunny, i cry when i see where it’s taken you.
i’m here, i won’t move…
i’m here, i won’t move….
i’m here, i will not move…’
this is just a classic, sit in a corner, relate and cry morrissey sad lyric for me.
-also-
‘the more you ignore me, the closer i get. you’re wasting your time.’
“But sometimes I’d feel more fulfilled
Making Christmas cards with the mentally ill
I want to live and I want to love
I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of”
Classic Morrissey wit, exemplified through the whole song “Frankly Mr. Shankly” from the perfect album “The Queen is Dead”.
please, please, please, let me get what I want. God knows it would be the first time.
“Share some greased tea with me”
“And you think they’re sad because you’re leaving
But did you see Jealousy in the eyes
Of the ones who had to stay behind ?
And do you think you’ve made
The right decision this time ?”
–
Fluently encapsulates the bittersweet melancholy of leaving comfort for the unknown
“There’s a club if you’d like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home and you cry
And you want to die”
Don’t rake up my mistakes I know exactly what they are and what do you do? Well you just sit there. I’ve been stabbed in the back so many, many times. I don’t have any skin well thats just the way it goes
I never wanted to kill
I am not naturally evil
Such things I do
Just to make myself
More attractive to you
Have I failed? ~ The Last of the Famous International Playboys
Stop me ohohoh stop me. Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before.
no other lyric than this :
“Today I am remembering the time
When they pulled me back
And held me down
And looked me in the eyes and said
You just haven’t earned it yet, baby
You just haven’t earned it, my son
You just haven’t earned it yet, baby
You must stay on your own for slightly longer
You just haven’t earned it yet baby
And I’m telling you now … ”
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby
“can you squeeze me
into an empty page of your diary
and psychologically save me
i’ve got faith in you…………..”
hairdresser on fire……
ironicallllllly song always makes me happy :)
“There are more than enough
to fight and oppose
why waste good time
fighting the people you like
who would fall defending your name”
Sometimes I need to be a better friend.
‘Life is very long when you’re lonely’
Because it is.
“But don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life”
“Yes, you’re older now
And you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones
Who ever stood by you”
Pretty much sums up why I love Smiths/Morrissey. This music is as important to me today as it was when I first heard it. Maybe more. If anyone ever asks why I’m a Smiths Morrissey fan I just refer them to Rubber Ring.
The boy with the thorn in his side
Behind the hatred there lies
A murderous desire for love
How can they look into my eyes
And still they don’t believe me ?
How can they hear me say those words
Still they don’t believe me ?
And if they don’t believe me now
Will they ever believe me ?
And if they don’t believe me now
Will they ever, they ever, believe me ?
————–
Without going into too much detail, this song just sums up my life story.
I am tempted to say “all the provocative ones”… (whether about personal or national politics) but I’ll go for a bit of salacious cheer with “you can pin and mount me like a butterfly”
“close your eyes and picture someone you physical desire,and let me kiss you.
but then you open your eyes and see someone you physical despise, but my heart is open-my heart is open to you”
“I am human and I need to be loved – just like everybody else does.”
Fits me perfectly.
haven’t had a dream in a long time
see, the life I’ve had
can make a good man bad
this whole song is actually my favorite song. the lyrics are sad, but the song puts me in a good mood every time i hear it. i just love it!
“Will never marry.” Sums up my relationships and emotions.
There is a light that never goes out
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine
This is true love!
This is really tough.
“Yes, you found love, but you weren’t at peace with your life.
Home late, full of hate despise the ties that bind. I’m so glad to grow older, to move away from those younger years, I’m in love for the first time and I don’t feel bad.”
‘Break Up The Family’ is probably one of my favourite Morrissey songs and I feel that it’s a bit underrated.
I love too many songs and specific lyrics to pick one favorite,but RUBBER RING has become especially dear as I’ve gotten older and The Smiths prophetically understood they would be forever frozen the same in time and my history…
“But don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now
And you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you”
Ask me,
I won’t say no,
how could I?
I like “Reel Around the Fountain” because it reminds me of an older girl that I am close friends with.
“Fifteen minutes with you
Well, I wouldn’t say no
Oh, people said that you were virtually dead
And they were so wrong”
I dreamt about you last night
And I fell out of bed twice
You can pin and mount me like a butterfly
But “take me to the haven of your bed”
Was something that you never said
Two lumps, please
You’re the bee’s knees
But so am I
This grouping of words paint a picture of longing that I never heard or even thought of for a young 20 somthing in the ’80’s but felt so deeply.
I wear black on the outside, ’cause black is how I feel on the inside.
Why I chose this? Because it explains why I wear black!
Easily my most favorite Morrissey song from a lyrical standpoint is “Maladjusted”. The lines I find most rewarding and striking most closely to home being “Jeer the lights in the windows of all safe and stable homes, but wondering then, what could peace of mind be like?”
The entire song reminds me of my early teenage years, where so many changes (both good and bad) transpired. The song really strikes close to the core.
“I wear Black on the outside
‘Cause Black is how I feel on the inside”
For a line that is likely meant to be serious, it makes me chuckle a little every time I hear it.
Even in my youth, during my Death Rock days it made me laugh. On the other hand I identified with it’s message.
I recall dramatically declaring to my mother, “Never!”, when she said I would grow out of wanting to wear black all of the time.
Did I grow out of it? No, but now I do add a little color now and then.
But don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now
And you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you.
This is exactly why I love Morrissey. Rubber Ring.
Etch a postcard, ‘how i dearly wish i was not here’
“And when I’m lying in my bed, I think about life and I think about death, and neither one particularly appeals to me.”
I love this line because I can completely relate to it. :)
There’s a lyric from ‘Nowhere Fast’ that perfectly articulates a feeling that was hidden deep in me, that I didn’t even know I had, a sort of whimpering malaise: ‘And when I’m lying in my bed / I think about life / And I think about death / And neither one particularly appeals to me.’ When I first heard that, it was a moment (a sad moment, mind) when everything clicked for me.
Well, it’s either that or ‘I tried to surprise you / I crept up behind you / With a homeless chihuahua / You cooed for an hour / You handed him back and you said / ‘You’ll never guess / I’m bored now’ — ‘King Leer’ speaks to me on a whole other level.
“‘You’re just another person in the world
You’re just another fool with radical views
You’re just another who has maddening views
You want to turn it on its head
By staying in bed !’
I said : ‘I know I do'”
The great thing about Morrissey are his contradictions. Only he can so artfully blend raging, fierce indignation with spoiled, entitled apathy.
Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play
WHY? well because I work at the crappiest bar that constantly plays the worst music in the whole entire world, which i have to suffer through nitely and everytime I hear a song about strippers or molly I think of these lyrics…
A world war
was announced
days ago
But they didn’t know
Nothing’s changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love
so you go and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home
and you cry and you want to die….
this feeling never leaves me
“Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
and as I climb into an empty bed…
Oh well, enough said.”
I’m sure at one time or another, each of us has had the feeling of being unwanted, unloved & have felt totally “removed” from this world. Moz expressed those emotions perfectly in “I Know It’s Over.”
Favorite lyrics:
In Morrissey’s version of “Moon River,” the lyrics are changed slightly:
“Two drifters off to see the world
I’m not so sure the world deserves us”
and
“We’re after the same rainbow’s end
How come it’s just around the bend?
It’s always just around the bend?”
I have to think Johnny Mercer would approve.
Well my favorite song is cemetery gates but one of my favorite lines is a Morrissey line. “Trudging slowly over wet sand. Back to the bench where your close were stolen.” It reminds me of my trips to England and visiting small coastal towns. No my clothes weren’t stolen. :)
Probably my favorite Moz lyric, from when he was with The Smiths, is from “Handsome Devil.”
“Let me get my hands
On your mammary glands
And let me get your head
On the conjugal bed”
When I first heard that I was blown away by the cleverness and wittiness of it. I hadn’t heard lyrics like that before, and it’s stuck with me to this day. Overall, I would have to say though that my overall favorite Morrissey album is Vauxhall and I. It helped me get through some rough times in college and I’ll never forget it as a result.
It’s my life to wreck – Alma Matters
Do you know how animals die?
Kitchen aromas aren’t very homely
It’s not “comforting”, cheery or kind
It’s sizzling blood and the unholy stench Of MURDER
It’s not “natural”, “normal” or kind
– vegetarian/vegan for 28+ years
“The pain was enough to make a shy bald Buddhist reflect and plan a mass murder.”
Brilliant and funny lyric from Morrissey. Nothing’s changed, I still love him…only slightly, only slightly less than I used to.
“And if I seem a little strange, well that’s because I am.”
I have this quote on all of my “about me” profiles on social media. Morrissey taught us all to embrace the fact that were were not like the others and to be grateful for that fact.
“with loves and hates and passions just like mine, they were born, they lived and then they died”
A unique way to say how it is!
“In my life why do I smile at people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“I am so very sickened/I am so sickened now.” Perfectly encapsulates the lyrical stylings of Moz.
The opening lines of Strangeways have always stuck with me. Let’s see how well I can do them from memory…
“I am the ghost of troubled Joe, hung by his pretty white neck
some eighteen months ago:
I traveled to a mystical time zone, but I missed my bed, and I soon came home
They said there’s too much caffeine in your bloodstream, and a lack of real spice in your life
I said leave me alone because I’m alright dad, surprised to still be on my own…”
why do I smile at people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?
“When Im lying in my bed
I think about life and I think about death
and neither one particularly appeals to me”
I always have loved this lyric in particular because i feel as if most people feel this way.. most of the time. Nobody chooses to be brought into this life. But most people don’t want to be dead either.
Hand in glove
The Good People laugh
Yes, we may be hidden by rags
But we’ve something they’ll never have
Hand in glove
The sun shines out of our behinds
Yes, we may be hidden by rags
But we’ve something they’ll never have
And if the people stare
Then the people stare
Oh, I really don’t know and I really don’t care
There’s no shame, ohhh no…
Ohhh no…
so you go and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home
and you cry
and you want to die
Sing your life
any fool can think of words that rhyme
many others do
why don’t you?
I interpret these lines to have a positive “Carpe Diem” message. The Moz rules!!!
‘Most people keep their brains between their legs’.
—Such a Little Thing–
“…don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life…”
because “…they were the only ones who ever stood by you.”
Thanks for offering this. You’ve had many, many excellent submissions thus far, so I’ll go with a simple one I use regularly: … fair enufff (I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish)
Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people
And they’re young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven’t got one
Anymore
“In my life
Why do I smile
At people who’d I’d much rather kick in the eye”
“What she asked of me at the end of the day,
Caligula would have blushed” from “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by The Smiths. Having watched the film “Caligula” starring Malcolm Mcdowell, this lyric always stood out because of the imagery it evokes knowing what Caligula was well known for. A brilliantly twisted little lyric that brings a smile every time I hear it and of course Moz sings it with such a cool, calm tongue-in-cheek touch.
Life is a pigsty
“Please don’t cry
For the ghost and the storm outside
Will not invade this sacred shrine
Nor infiltrate your mind
My life down I shall lie
If the bogey-man should try
To play tricks on your sacred mind
To tease, torment, and tantalize
Wavering shadows loom
A piano plays in an empty room
There’ll be blood on the cleaver tonight
And when darkness lifts and the room is bright
I’ll still be by your side
For you are all that matters
And I’ll love you to till the day I die
There never need be longing in your eyes
As long as the hand that rocks the cradle is mine”
This song meant so much to me as a teenager and i really thought i understood it…until i became a parent…nothing reaches the depths of understanding like being a parent and reading these lyrics…
Sing your life, any fool can think up words that rhyme, many others do – why don’t you? Do you want to? Ohhh, Sing your life – walk right up to the microphone and name — all the things you love — all the things that you loathe…
“A dreaded sunny day
so I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
while Wilde is on mine”
English lit graduate now chasing an MFA –- how could I choose another line?
“Why do you come here, when you know it makes things hard for me?” As if everyone hasn’t lived through that situation….
Paint A Vulgar Picture
“What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm”
Still Ill
“And if you must, go to work tomorrow
Well, if I were you I wouldn’t bother
For there are brighter sides to life
And I should know, because I’ve seen them
But not very often”
It just wasn’t like the old days anymore, no it wasn’t like those days
I’m I still ill?
It makes me think fondly about days gone past but melancholy to know I’ll never get to relive them ever again.
“Spending warm summer days indoors. Writing frightening verse. To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg Ask me, ask me, …
Moz @ his best !!
So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home and you cry and you want to die.
I unfortunately resonated with this lyric every weekend when I was in my college years and I went to clubs with my friends. They always hooked up, I helped them hook up, and I was always the good “friend” with lots of guys friends who was a wallflower. There was something comforting in the lyric that someone else had felt the same empty loneliness that I felt at the time.
“And when I’m lying in my bed I think about life and I think about death And neither one particularly appeals to me”…. I discovered the Smiths when I was 15 and miserable. This lyric always made me so grateful that I wasn’t the only one who ever felt that way….somedays it still does…
Beware, I bear more grudges than lonely high court judges
When you sleep, I will creep into your thoughts like a bad debt
That you can’t pay, take the easy way and give in
Yeah, and let me in, oh let me in, oh let me, oh let me in…
He knows, he knows. Or, I think he does. ‘Cause when I lived in the arse of the world… He knows, he knows.
“and all the best things in life are behind glass,
money.. jewelry.. and flesh”
Why did you give me
So much desire?
When there is nowhere I can go
To offload this desire
And why did you give me
So much love
In a loveless world
When there’s no one I can turn to
To unlock all this love
And why did you stick me in
Self-deprecating bones and skin
Jesus – do you hate me?
Why did you stick me in
Self-deprecating bones and skin
Do you hate me? do you hate me?
Do you hate me? do you hate me?
These lyrics are from “I have forgiven Jesus”. They sound so dramatic and intense I feel like they are a great representation of Morrissey’s poetics.
I booked myself in at the Y.W.C.A.
I said, “I like it here, can I stay?
I like it here, can I stay?
Do you have a vacancy for a back-scrubber?
Brilliant, dark humor that I love from him.
“There is a light that never goes out” because there’s a glimmer of hope even in the darkest times. Would love to win the book :-)
“And if you have five seconds to spare, then I’ll tell you the story of my life.”
Because, with his wit, that’s all Moz ever needed. But I’d love to read the autobiography anyway.
“So, the choice I have made, may seem strange, to you…but, who asked you anyway, it’s my life, to ruin, my own way…” These lyrics from Alma Matters have always spoken to me because they express exactly how I feel about being judged. My choices are my own!
I used to dream and I used to vow….I wouldn’t dream of it now.
Dear hero imprisoned……..
I don’t know but I’ve always loved the last of the famous international playboys.
You’re the one for me Fatty…..
“And do you have an opening for a backscrubber?”
This was the first line I remember hearing from the Smiths, and it turned me into a big fan of them and Moz!
And if you have 5 seconds to spare, I’ll tell you the story of my life. 16 clumsy and shy I went to London and I, booked myself in at the Y….WCA. I said I like it here can I stay? I said I like it here can I stay? Do you have a vacancy for a back-scrubber.
“it’s so easy to laugh it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind….
love is natural, love is real…but not for you my love, not tonight my love”
i listened to this song at least 3 times a day during my sophmore year of high school. it put into words the feelings that were exploding in my head.
Writing frightening verse, to a bucktoothed girl in Luxembourg
– always a sucker for that line.
“It takes strength to be gentle and kind…”
So simple, thoughtful and beautiful.
Love me some Morrissey. Would love to read the book
“First day on the job you find: everyone lies, nobody minds.”
Always thought of “the job” being life itself.
“And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine”
I love all The Smiths songs, but this one makes me think of my best friend in high school (back in 1986). We were walking around in downtown Portland, OR, singing this song at the top of our lungs around midnight. And we meant every word! The looks we got from passers-by: Such a happy memory . . .
“Break up the Family, and let’s begin to live our lives. I want to see all my friends tonight.”
Because Morrissey know what is required to live life.
“And when I’m lying in my bed, I think about life and I think about death, and neither one particular appeals to me.”
Oh, let me get my hands On your mammary glands And let me get your head On the conjugal bed
Kitchen aromas aren’t very homely
It’s not “comforting”, cheery or kind
It’s sizzling blood and the unholy stench
Of MURDER
These are my favorite Morrissey lyrics because they help to reduce animal suffering and promote compassion and respect for all living creatures.!
The entire song of November spawned a monster. The song is beautiful and mesmerizing, the lyrics are cold, honest, hopeful and address a flaw in all as humans. His ways with words, in all of his songs are fulfilling, helped me put names to feelings I had growing up.
The passing of time
And all of its crimes
Is making me sad again
The passing of time
And all of its sickening crimes
Is making me sad again
But don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
and so we crept throught the park. NO! i cannot steal a pair of jeans off a clothesline for you. But you without clothes? Oh i could not keep a straight face. Me with out clothes? well a nation turns it’s back and gags…. oh oh…. i’m packed
i love this entire song as possibly one of my fav Moz/Smiths song ever. he looks at the guy hes with naked and can’t keep a straight face? i guess he could only come up wih a “gay” face” and when he says “me without clothes? well a nation turns its back and gags. hes such a handsome devil yet he has no self confidence whatsoever. we all love Morrissey and would jump his bones without thought, but the beauty is that he himself doesnt feel loveable. I find myself feeling this same way
Keats and Yates are on your side but Wilde is on mine.
“If your God bestows protection upon you
And if the USA doesn’t bomb you…”
Moz has so many great ones, most of which I have already seen listed above, but this is one of my favorites from his latter day career. The song seems to admit he has finally found love, only to recognize love’s fleeting nature if God turns a blind eye or if the USA turns an active one towards it. Brilliant.
“But when your profession is humiliation.” A perfect way to describe teachers. At least when I was growing up.
And if you ever need self-validation, just meet me in the alley by the railway station. – classic Smiths homoeroticism
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us,
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die.
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us,
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine.
It’s the most romantic sentiment in any song ever. I recorded a song years ago that references it. (“Where the f***’s my ten ton truck?”)
“They said there’s too much caffeine in your bloodstream and a lack of real spice in your life” because it brings forth the image of a young man becoming independent, seen by parents as sitting around wasting time at coffee shops, but all the while transforming into self dependence.
“Send me the pillow…The one that you dream on…Send me the pillow…The one that you dream on…And I’ll send you mine” from: Some Girls are Bigger than Others
Could you imagine a 15 year old boy using this as a pick up line?
I wear black on the outside, because black is how I feel on the inside.
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I’d like to smash every tooth
In your head
Heaven Knows I Am Miserable Now as I dn’t yet have the new Moz memoir. Morrissey for me is a light that never goes out. He was my savior n high school when he made it ok to be different and verbalized the angst and depression I felt in high school in the 1980’s.
‘Why pamper/ponder life’s complexities when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?’
There’s been debate on the internet of this line, but either way reminds me to just chill out and enjoy what I have, rather than stress over everything – which I do so well.
“There’s a club if you’d like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die”
When I was coming to terms with my sexuality in my early 20’s(I always knew I was gay,but never had the opportunity to act on it),I started going to “gay nights” and gay bars…this lyric always stood out in my mind during those years…I was pretty shy,and very lonely…I would go out in hopes of meeting someone,if even just to kiss(I didn’t expect to meet Mr. Right…lol)…then would go home alone and depressed,then do it all over the next night…I just felt this lyric really summed up the gay scene,at least from my point of view. Everyone seemed lonely looking for love and going home alone :(
:(
“I know because tonight is just like any other night
That’s why you’re on your own tonight
With your triumphs and your charms
While they are in each other’s arms”
This song captures the pain of being alone and the added pain of the moments that you realize that you may not be as charming as you think/thought you are.
“I was driving my car, I crashed and broke my spine. So yes, there are things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie.”
I forgot to add, I can relate on a very literal level to the lyrics I quoted. I have been someone’s sweetie once or twice (or a few times) in my life, but I also did break my neck/upper spine in a car crash once (and I was the driver). I recovered, but it was a brutal 3 months.
Hearing side one of “Meat is Murder” through the wall that a high school friend and his much cooler older brother shared saved me from years of tired classic rock and awful hair metal.
“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour but heaven knows I’m miserable now..” I chose these lyrics because my best friend and I used to frolick around NYC together and even London, always laughing and playing and loving our dear Moz, and now we are 3,000 miles apart and all is quiet.. so this book would be a gift as a gesture towards keeping us close and young. thanks. <3
Unhappy Birthday
“Reissue, repackage, repackage
re-evaluate the songs…”
Funny how often this has happened to both his solo catalogue and that of the Smiths! Very often have I bought both and felt deceived, but I love it all…
There is a place, a place in hell, reserved for me and my friends
“and if a double-decker bus, crashes into us..to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die”…
reason: i chose this one for me and my husband, married for 17 years now, we usually go for a ride in his motorbike. this will be a song that i dedicate to the both of us if something bad happens while we are on a ride.
“I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside”
I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said I’d lied to her ?
You half expect Morrissey to channel John Lovitz, “Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Sincerely B.S. tales of where he was.
There are so many good one but the lyric I always say in my head is “My love is as sharp as a needle in your eye. You must be such a fool to pass me by.”
It’s a toss up between:
“oh, make no mistake, my friend
all of this will end
so sing it now”
and
“You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way”
To me, the first serves as a reminder to take advantage of opportunities that may not come your way again. The second reminds me of the idea that we are all individuals empowered to make our own decisions free from the criticism of others.
Thank you, Moz, for your poetic turns of phrase.
Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to
Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to
So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
ASK ME – I WON’T SAY “NO” – HOW COULD I?
Coyness is nice, and
Coyness can stop you
From saying all the things in
Life you’d like to
So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
ASK ME – I WON’T SAY “NO” – HOW COULD I?
Spending warm Summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg
ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together
Nature is a language – can’t you read?
Nature is a language – can’t you read?
SO… ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together
If it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb
Then it’s the Bomb
That will bring us together
SO… ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
ASK ME, ASK ME, ASK ME
Oh, la…
“This night has opened my eyes and I may never sleep again”- we have all had nights like that which change us forever. His lyrics express our feelings which we haven’t been able to utter out loud.
I might walk home alone but my faith in love is still devout.
Love, peace and harmony ?
Love, peace and harmony ?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
…But maybe in the next world.
Death of a Disco Dancer – The Smiths
With everything going on in the world today it makes it hard to believe in love peace and harmony.
“I’m writing this to say
In a gentle way
Thank You – but no
I will live my life as I
Will undoubtedly die – alone”
Reason: Three strikes, I’m out.
You’re the one for me, fatty
You’re the one I really, really love
Cute, non insulting song. Love it
And so I drank one/
It became four/
And when I fell on the floor/
I drank more.
Pretty much a metaphor for my life.
“and if a ten ton truck kills the both of us. To die by your side, well the pleasure the privilege is mine.” Such a depressing way to claim your love for someone. Love it!
My favorite line is “I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does.” It says so much in that one sentence and the way he sings it is almost haunting. The whole song “How Soon is Now” is my favorite. I’d love to read his autobiography.
“And if we can destroy them
You bet your life we will
Destroy them”
-from We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
Reason: This is at the heart of every friendship I’ve ever had.
So beautifully nuts, from the melodramatic Frankly, Mr. Shankly:
….But sometimes I’d feel more fulfilled
Making Christmas cards with the mentally ill
I want to live and I want to Love
I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of….
There are so many lyrics that I love! It’s so hard to choose! This is one of the many that I adore……..
“She was left behind, and sour
And she wrote to me, equally dour
She said : “In the days when you were
Hopelessly poor I just liked you more…””
I never wanted to kill
I am not naturally evil
Such things I do
Just to make myself more attractive to you
Have I failed?
Lyrics from “The Last of the famous International Playboys” though extreme in the sense of killing for the attention or love of another can relate to anyone who seeks attention, love or approval from someone. We often do things out of our natural character to get this attention and in many cases left with nothing. Why? Because these actions are not who we truly are and it is transparent.
“Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me…”
Just the most intense longing ever put into music and lyrics. Who doesn’t feel unloved at times?
I crashed down on the crossbar and the pain was enough to make a shy, bald buddhist reflect and plan a mass-murder.
In my life
Why do I smile
At people who I’d much rather kick in the eye
That smirk or glance that says to people “hi, I am friendly”…fools!!!
“I entered nothing and nothing entered me,
‘Til you came with the key and you did your best but
As I live and breathe
You have killed me, you have killed me”
Perfect song for angsty teenage romance years. Why do we fall in love with people who just abuse us?
“i have been thinking, what, with my final brain cell, how time grips you slyly in its spell”
Shoplifters of the world, unite and take over
“You have never been in love, until you’ve seen the sunlight thrown, over smashed human bone.”
I adore you, Morrissey, really, but I umm… I maybe have to disagree with you in regards to that statement. All joking aside, the above lyric embodies the wonderful juxtaposition between cheerfulness, horror, and sarcasm that makes me love Morrissey and The Smiths.
I tried to surprise you
I crept up behind you
With a homeless chihuahua
You “coo”-ed for an hour
You handed him back and said :
“You’ll never guess – I’m bored now”
Out of all of Morrissey’s songs, The Smiths or solo, I have never gone back and listened to a particular lyric over and over and over as much as I did with this part of King Leer when I purchased Kill Uncle 22 years ago. Something about the image in my head when I listened to it.
“Nothing’s changed, I still love you oh I still love you,
Only slightly only slightly less than I used to, My Love”
This is my favorite. It relates to me and where my heart was toward the end of my marriage.
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I’d like to smash every tooth
In your head
The Mozzer in print:)
My favorite Morrissey lyric is “Irish blood, English heart, what I’m made of / There is no one on earth I’m afraid of / And I will die / With both of my hands untied” It makes me imagine Morrissey as a revolutionary and wonder what he might be up to. It also sounds very cool with the bass line running underneath it.
“So you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry and you want to die.”
My entire sophomore year of college.
I’m doing very well
I can block out the present and the past now
I know by now you think I should have straightened myself out
Thank you, drop dead
For all the people out there with ‘issues’. Some of the best Morrissey lyrics. Thanks.
“Ask me I won’t say no, how could I?”
“When you cycled by, there began all my dreams, the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. And you never knew, how much I really liked you, because I never even told you, oh but I meant to.”
SIGH. Although I suspect he knew despite my never saying so. And I never will go back to the old house (my college campus).
“Oh mother I can feel
The soil falling over my head
And as I climb in to an empty bed
Oh well
Enough said”
“If you’re so very good looking
Then why are you on your own tonight?”
Scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen… This means you really love me.
“Let me whisper my last goodbyes, I know it’s serious”
This was the first Smiths’ song I ever played for my son when he was like 2 years old. He DJ’s at his college radio station and gave me credit for introducing him to great music like this!
“First Of The Gang To Die”
one who stole from “the rich and the poor, and the not very rich and thevery poor.”
“Wish I knew the way, to reach the one I love.
There is no way.
Wish I had the charm, to attract one I love. But you see, I’ve got no charm.
Oh no.
Tonight I’ve consumed, much more than I can hold.
Oh, this is very clear to you.
And you can tell,
I have never really loved.
You can tell, by the way,
I sleep all day.
And all of my life, no one gave me anything.
No one, has ever, given me anything. ”
Seasick yet Still Docked is pure Morrissey poetic genius. From the title (not even one foot out into life’s adventure yet, but already anxious and ill), to the succinctly chosen simple words that make Moz so biting and clever. From the beginning’s “Scavenging through life’s very constant lows” to the finish “You must be such a fool, to pass me by”, it simply rings of longing, charming self-deprecation, desperation, and how we sometimes feel rejected or alone when life becomes heavy and bears down upon us.
This song embodies Moz’ insecurities, none of which we would think he would have, yet he is human and of course, he does.
That final line, a last low brow attempt to make one’s self feel better in the face of rejection by making the other person feel foolish? Incredible. Morrissey is inspiring and speaks in song the way no one else does. Wishing him the best success in this book and that he, in wisdom, is no longer “so far from where, he intended to go”.
Michele
“As the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt.”
Just an interesting visual.
Why did you stick me in self-deprecating bones and skin, Jesus?
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know it’s serious
“The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get”
“Beware! I hold more grudges than lonely high court judges.
When you sleep I will creep into your thoughts like a bad debt
that you can’t pay. Take the easy way and give in. Annnnd Let me in.”
Truly a song about obsessive love and all around creepiness with a great melody.
This is too hard to do, there are too many good ones. But here is one i’m feeling right now.
There’s more to life than books you know, but not much more.
Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow. Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear
And don’t go home tonight – Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you
The one that you love and who loves you!
Amid concrete and clay
And general decay
Nature must still find a way…
(Stretch Out and Wait)
Reminds me that despite all the melancholy and grey we endure – the body and mind seeks pleasure and light, and life persists, like a flower growing up through cracks in the pavement. Love the whole song, but those lines especially.
It also brings to mind my favorite Oscar Wilde piece (which of course I was led to by Moz), Panthea, which begins like this:
Nay, let us walk from fire unto fire,
From passionate pain to deadlier delight,–
I am too young to live without desire,
Too young art thou to waste this summer night
Asking those idle questions which of old
Man sought of seer and oracle, and no reply was told.
For, sweet, to feel is better than to know,
And wisdom is a childless heritage,
One pulse of passion–youth’s first fiery glow,–
Are worth the hoarded proverbs of the sage:
Vex not thy soul with dead philosophy,
Have we not lips to kiss with, hearts to love and eyes to see!
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE
“It’s so easy to laugh. It’s so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.”
Because it’s so so true!
Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet?
Punctured bicycle/on a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet?
“How can they look into my eyes
And still they don’t believe me
How can they hear me say those words
And still they don’t believe me
And if they don’t believe me now
Will they ever believe me?
And if they don’t believe me now
Will they ever believe me?”
(The Boy With The Thorn In His Side)
I like these lyrics because I ask my self this all the time when people think I’m lying. How do they know I am not telling the truth, and why don’t they believe me. If I am being sincere and honest, it shows through my eyes…but I guess they’re just bad at noticing the obvious. I guess it just depends on what type of person you are. If you notice the true nature of people and truly know them as who they are, you would be able to tell these simple little details that might not be as obvious to some others. That’s why I like this song, because “A Boy With The Thorn In His Side” (just that sentence) really describes frustration, which is apart of everyday life and growing up, so it’s extremely relevant to me as a sixteen year old.
I would happily lose both of my legs
For me its “Sing Your Life”, this song spoke to me and gave me the courage to sing when most of my young adult life i was too scared to. I may not be a Glorious singer but i have many songs ive written and sang over the years. all thanks to Morrissey. heres what ive been doing THANKS MORRISSEY!
http://www.soundcloud.com/john-salopek
Sing your life
Any fool can think of words that rhyme
Many others do
Why don’t you ?
Do you want to ?
Oh…
Sing your life
Walk right up to the microphone
And name
All the things you love
All the things that you loathe
Oh, sing your life
The things that you love
And the things you loathe
Oh, sing your life
Oh, sing your life
La, la-la, la-la, sing your life
La, la-la, la-la, sing your life
Others sang your life
But now is a chance to shine
And have the pleasure of
Saying what you mean
Have the pleasure of
Meaning what you sing
Oh, make no mistake my friend
All of this will end
So sing it now (sing your life)
All the things you love (sing your life)
All the things you loathe
Oh, sing your life
The things that you love
And the things you loathe (sing your life)
Oh, sing oh…
Oh, sing oh…
La, la-la, la-la, sing your life
La, la-la, la-la, sing your life
Don’t leave it all unsaid
Somewhere in the wasteland of your head, oh
Head, oh, head, oh, head, oh
And make no mistake, my friend
Your pointless life will end
But before you go
Can you look at the truth ?
You have a lovely singing voice
A lovely singing voice
And all of those
Who sing on-key
They stole the notion
From you and me
So, sing your life (sing your life)
Sing your life (sing your life)
Oh, sing your oh…
Oh, sing your
Sing your life
Sing your life
Sing your life
Oh, sing your oh…
(sing your life)
(sing your life)
Sing your life
(sing your life)
“I decree today that life
is simply taking and not giving” ….
“Under the iron bridge we kissed
and although I ended up with sore lips
it just wasn’t like the old days anymore
no, it wasn’t like those days
am I still ill?”
The first quote is still very relevant on Earth today. The rest is simple poetic brilliance, filled with rich imagery for me.
Songs and lyrics of Real Life.
Infinite Inspiration.
Morrissey for eva.
I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smeltthe last ten seconds of life
I carshed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald buddhist reflect
And plan a mass-murder
Absolutely may favorite lyric ever!….It is so vidid and powerful, this poor bastard riding to see his girl and having his nuts cracked, oh the pain just thinking of it!
“When you cycled by
Here began all my dreams
The saddest thing I’ve ever seen”
I love this lyric, it gives me chills every time I hear it. The sadness in Morrissey’s voice beckons the memories to come flooding back, lost friends and missed opportunities….
Beware, I bear more grudges than lonely high court judges
Creepy reference to creepy penal systems everywhere.
Read more: Morrissey – The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get Lyrics | MetroLyrics
To die by your side is a pleasure….
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
How Soon is Now from the Smiths Meat is Murder
It was 1986 and this was the first song I ever heard by the Smiths. The music was very deep for a kid from exurbia like me going to school in the city. I had just had a few rough years at another school and was searching for acceptance. I found many new great friends at my new school-Towson State University. The Smiths and Morrissey’s crooning was something I had never heard before and resonated deeply with me. Meat is Murder was the first Smiths/Morrissey album I ever owned and helped lead me down a wonderful new path of alternative first wave music that I lived and loved and still do today.
Jeane, I’m not sure what happiness means, but I look in your eyes and I know that it isn’t there. We tried, and we failed.
Give in to lust,
Give up to lust, oh, heaven knows we’ll Soon be dust…
Just heard Pretty Girls Make Graves a few hours and it’s always been a favorite line of mine <3
“Fame, fame, fatal fame
It can play hideous tricks on the brain
But still I’d rather be famous than righteous or holy
Any day, any day, any day.
But sometimes I’d feel more fulfilled
Making Christmas cards with the mentally ill
I want to live and I want to love
I want to catch something that I can be ashamed of”
All of Frankly Mr. Shankly, but particularly this part, has always really resonated with me in incredible ways. There’s definitely that feeling of that pull between wanting to be bigger than yourself or letting go and not pushing, at least that’s how I see it. The words also grow with you and gain new meaning at different parts of your life, and I think it can pull out an emotional response no matter what your situation or age. That’s one of the reasons these lyrics (and all of his lyrics) are so powerful; the words are so poetic and just abstract enough, without being intangible, that everyone can find personal meaning behind them.
“The music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life.”
Pretty much sums up the state of music in the 21st century.
“The work you choose has a practical name, but I read much more into your name…Lifeguard…save me from life, save me from life.”
Indeed, can someone be called upon to save me from the people in this world ?
“You left her standing on the platform with this really ragged notion that you’d return.”
I always picture someone trying to escape the life they’ve found themselves in as a means to get a fresh start. But also having to deal with the loss of all those that you are cutting ties with.
Oh -Sing your life,
all the things you love
all the things you loathe
Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it’s really serious
“You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does”
Only Morrissey could combine so much anger and compassion in the same 5 lines.
A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
While Wilde is on mine
I had two Persian cats in the early 90s. Named them Keats and Yeats because of this song. Poets can dwell on death, but they can also bask in the glory of misery.
In only 22 words, Morrissey sums up one’s complete psychological make up with:
“On the seat of a whirling wultzer, her skirt ascends for a watching eye, it’s a hideous trait on her mother’s side.”
From Rubber Ring:
“Don’t forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now
And you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you”
Who else, besides Morrisey, would have the cleverness and sheer audacity to write a song to the people who have outgrown his music, and do it without bitterness?
From “Nowhere Fast” – “I’d like to drop my trousers to the Queen, every sensible child, will know what that means”.
Girlfriend In A Coma, I know, I know, it’s really serious.
Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow
Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear
And don’t go home tonight
Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you
The one that you love and who loves you
Our unsleepable friend
Gets the message on an ill wind
All your friends and your foes
Would rather die than have to touch you
To say the least, I’m truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh
Drank too much
And I said too much
And there’s nowhere to go but down
Young boy, I wanna help you
See these lines, truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh
Don’t talk to me, no
About people who are nice
‘Cause I have spent my whole life in ruins
Because of people who are nice
Oh, this world may lack style, I know
Each bud must blossom and grow, oh
Young girl, one day you will be old
But the thing is I love you now
This is the last song I will ever sing
Yeah
No, I’ve changed my mind again
Goodnight and thank you
Oh, there are just so many, but some favorites:
“Scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen (This means you really love me)”
“The saints smile shyly down on you-they couldn’t get over your 9-leafed clover”
“Most people keep their brains between their legs (don’t you find?)”
Morrissey has entertained me for 20+ years-his lyricism is simply brilliant.
The Smiths – Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
“In my life why do I smile at people who I’d much rather kick in the eye”
Really, which one of us hasn’t had that thought with our co-workers at some point?
“I never, had no one ever”
I know it’s the refrain and title, but it such brilliant little piece of lyricism. It’s obvious yet profound.
“So… scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen / (This means you really love me)”
Who else could write a lyric like that? It is unquestionably so memorable and brutally earnest that I’ve have kept a little place in my heart for it still to this day 25 years after first hearing it.
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before:
I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said I’d lied to her ?
“Speedway” lyrics from “Vauxhall and I”
“In my own strange way
I’ve always been true to you
In my own sick way
I’ll always stay true to you”
This is one of many Mozzer’s songs that gives me goosebumps, but it’s probably my favorite.
“Girlfriend In A Coma” from The Queen Is Dead
“Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s really serious.”
Insipid, understated bliss that could only be pulled off by Moz.
Apparently it’s even inspired a yet-to-be-released, made-for-TV movie star starring made-for-TV stars Hillary Duff and Miranda Cosgrove! Set your DVR’s now!…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2698758/
I can’t wait!
No hope, no harm, just another false alarm…
“Life is a pigsty…”
No explanation needed…
“no regime can buy or sell me”
“Irish Blood/English Heart” came out in ’04, and I was young and fairly wrapped up in election coverage that year.
I can choke myself to please you
And I can sink much lower than usual
But there’s nothing I can do
To make you mine
“There’s a club if you’d like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die”
Just so sad and lonely. Their his powerful lyric ever, IMHO.
Ugh. They’re* LOL
“I still don’t belong to anyone, I am mine”
This line has always resonated with me because loneliness is one of the hardest things to deal with in life…and all you really have is yourself…
“It’s my life to wreck my own way.”
There are so many lines I love that I couldn’t pick just one for all time. Lately, the line above stands out most.
And if a double-decker bus. Crashes in to us. To die by your side. Is such a heavenly way to die
So Sad i can’t win, i live in Europe
“You left
Your tired family grieving
And you think they’re sad because you’re leaving
But did you see Jealousy in the eyes
Of the ones who had to stay behind?”
This resonates with me because I left my life on the East coast to pursue a dream, and my own experience with “loved ones” mirrors the narrator’s. It was a rude awakening to realize that one’s family can be far more subversive than supportive of one’s dreams. It goes against everything we’re conditioned to believe, but it’s no less true.
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine
Let me see all my old friends
let me put my arm around them
because I really do love them
now, does that sound mad?
“for whether you stay, or you stray. an inbuilt guilt catches up with you. and as it comes around to your place, at 5 a.m. it wakes you up and laughs in your face.”
everyone can feel morrissey’s sadness for we are all one.
I find these lyrics very appropriate since I want to read his diary!
You had to sneak into my room just to read my diary
It was just to see, just to see
All the things you knew I’d written about you
“The death of a disco dancer”
One of the only songs that such a simple phrase easily brings up the song in your head.
Love, peace and harmony?
Love, peace and harmony?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
…But maybe in the next world
I’m not happy and I’m not sad.
I’ve always had a giggle over the lyrics to Margaret on the Guillotine ever since hearing my English friends vent their hatred for Thatcher.
So many to choose from, but today I’ll go with, “Rejection is one thing, but rejection from a fool is cruel.” I think it sums up the combination of arrogance and hopelessness that I always associate with Morrissey.
“I was looking for a job and then I found a job. Heaven knows I’m miserable now.”
The often humorous lyrics of Morrissey would work as a self deprecating pathos enabling the most serious of moments to become easier to handle.
“Prudence never pays
And everything she wants costs money
But she doesn’t even like me !
And I know because she said so”
The lyrics from Girl Afraid always make me think of a recent relationship I was in where I gave more when she didn’t give any. I had feelings; she did, but later didn’t. I allowed her to drag me out and waste my energy because I had the inkling of how she felt all along but I decided to not go on my instincts that time. Been in so many of those I get tired of it, but I still put my head up and continue on.
Nature is a language – can’t you read? from Ask
The song is inspirational for the Shy Introvert and that verse is how I feel towards others when I don’t have the guts.
You don’t like me but you love me, either way you’re wrong.
This describes perfectly how people feel about me too!
“And if a double decker bus crashes in to us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die…”
“I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of the nothing in particular.” It’s the truth. I’ve been cursed with shyness and my parents were good people, but weren’t famous…
“Hang the blessed DJ/Because the music they constantly play/It says nothing to me about my life.”
TRUTH.
and when you’re dancing, and laughing,
and finally living,
hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly…
“Rubber Ring” has it all… loneliness, the power of song, a sample from Wilde, et cetera, et cetera…
“A dreaded sunny day . . .”
speaks to albinos everywhere
I was looking for a job and then I found a job and heaven knows I’m miserable now.
lord knows it would be the first time -please please please let me get what I want
when you are tired of everything,this song hits home
“Sweetness, I was only joking when I said by rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed…”
Why is it my favorite? Well, who hasn’t lashed out at a loved one and instantly regretted it? But at the same time, you actually meant it.
“I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside.”
A favorite because it perfectly encapsulated my teen angst :)
Thanks!
“And if a ten ton truck kills the both of us, to die by your side, we’ll the pleasure the privilege is mine”
What’s more romantic than that?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
The more you ignore me
The closer i get
You’re wasting your time
The more you ignore me
The closer i get
You’re wasting your time
I will be
In the bar
With my head
On the bar
I am now
A central part
Of your mind’s landscape
Whether you care
Or do not
Yeah, i’ve made up your mind
The more you ignore me
The closer i get
You’re wasting your time
The more you ignore me
The closer i get
You’re wasting your time
Beware !
I bear more grudges
Than lonely high court judges
When you sleep
I will creep
Into your thoughts
Like a bad debt
That you can’t pay
Take the easy way
And give in
Yeah, and let me in
Oh, let me in
Oh let me …
Oh, let me in
It’s war
It’s war
It’s war
It’s war
It’s war
War
War
War
War
Oh, let me in
Ah, the closer i get
Ah, you’re asking for it
Ah, the closer i get
Ooh, the closer i …
So I broke into the Palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said: “Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing”
I said: “that’s nothing – you should hear me play piano”
I love the juxtaposition of absolute absurdity of these words with that feeling that yes, it could possibly be true. Or perhaps that’s just the way my brain works, lol. Still, The Queen is Dead remains my favorite Smiths song.
I know they take and that they take in turn and they give you nothing real for yourself in return, and when they’ve used you and they’ve broken you and wasted all your money and cast your shell aside. When they’ve bought you and they’ve sold you and they’ve billed you for the pleasure and they’ve made your parents cry…I will be here oh believe me I will be here……believe me.
“It’s time the tale were told
Of how you took a child
And you made him old ”
The first lines of the first album. It’s the beginning of a life long friendship between musician and listener.
“Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, but no harm
Just another false alarm…”
Oh, the story of my life…this is a brilliant song!
So why do you smile
When you think about Earl’s Court ?
But you cry when you think of all
The battles you’ve fought (and lost) ?
It may all end tomorrow
Or it could go on forever
In which case I’m doomed
I’m writing this to say
in a gentle way
Thank You – but no
I will live my life as I
will undoubtedly die – alone
I’m writing this to say
in a gentle way
Thank you…
I will live my life as I…
for whether you stay
or you stray
an inbuilt guilt catches up with you
and as it comes around to your place
at 5 a.m. it wakes you up
and laughs in your face…
Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools, spineless swine, cemented minds
And if a ten-ton truck Kills the both of us
To die by your side.
Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine
BECAUSE IT JUST IS. AND SHE DIGS ME FOR IT!
Loved reading everyone’s favorite lyrics! “I know I’m unlovable, you don’t have to tell me. Message received loud and clear.” For obvious reasons.
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
And as I climb into an empty bed
Oh well. Enough said.
I know it’s over – still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go
Oh …
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
See, the sea wants to take me
The knife wants to slit me
Do you think you can help me ?
Sad veiled bride, please be happy
Handsome groom, give her room
Loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly
(Though she needs you
More than she loves you)
And I know it’s over – still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go
Over and over and over and over
Over and over, la …
I know it’s over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real
And you even spoke to me, and said :
“If you’re so funny
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
And if you’re so clever
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you’re so very entertaining
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you’re so very good-looking
Why do you sleep alone tonight ?
I know …
‘Cause tonight is just like any other night
That’s why you’re on your own tonight
With your triumphs and your charms
While they’re in each other’s arms…”
It’s so easy to laugh
It’s so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
Over, over, over, over
It’s so easy to laugh
It’s so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind
Over, over
Love is Natural and Real
But not for you, my love
Not tonight, my love
Love is Natural and Real
But not for such as you and I, my love
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my …
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can even feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my …
Simply because it’s the single most beautiful piece of music that’s ever graced my ear’s…..depressing, calming…..and because it was there when I needed it. Despite the fact that I’ve read ENTIRELY too much into this song, but the fact remains…..it means something to me. …and I love it!
It was dark as I drove the point home
And on cold leather seats
Well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my
Face after all.
This is just so beautiful..
“I might walk home alone, but my faith in love is still devout” or, “l wear black on the outside because black is what I feel on the inside.” Both true when I was a teenager and still true 25 years later.
“Nothing’s changed, oh I still love you (oh I still love you)
Only slightly (only slightly less)
Than I used to
My love…
Because nothing shows true wry devotion than telling someone you still love them, only a little less…
I dreamt about you last night
And I fell out of bed twice
You can pin and mount me like a butterfly
But “take me to the haven of your bed”
Was something that you never said
Two lumps, please
You’re the bee’s knees
But so am I
“And you don’t care if you’re lost
And oh, you look so tired
(But tonight you presumed too much)
Too much, too much
And if it’s the last
Thing I ever do
I’M GONNA GET YOU
Crash into my arms
I WANT YOU
You don’t agree –
But you don’t refuse
I know you
And no one knows a thing about my life”
The feel and lyrics of this song have always spoken to me. The troubling desire felt by the protagonist and the presumptions made by society mimic portions of my life.
This is the last song I will ever sing
No, I’ve changed my mind again
Good night and thank you.
“Sweetness, Sweetness I was only joking when I said I’d like to smash every tooth in your head” a) because you know he wasn’t joking. b) because you can squeeze in a full growl and some “la-la-la”s into the lyric.
“Wish I had the charm to attract the one I love , but you see I’ve got no charm” – Seasick, Yet Still Docked – Morrissey album Your Arsenal ……
“Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ…”
PANIC. SO much excellence in one song.
I wish I’d gone down
Gone down with them
To where Mother Nature makes their bed
Great lyrical/visual tribute to a terrible tragedy in history.
Morrissey once again nailed it!
You had to sneak into my room
’just’ to read my diary
Oh, it was just to see, just to see
(all the things you knew I’d written about you…)
And oh so many illustrations
Oh, but
I’m so very sickened
Oh, I am so sickened now
It reminds me a of a girl I dated in highschool and left me while I was in the army by sending me a dear john letter with my engagement ring her wrapped in it. I remember coming home after the war she wanted to get back with me and would remind me how much I love her with all the letters I would send. I reminded her how devistated I was when she broke up with me after the all the wedding plans had been set. I then told in the best way I could was play this song for in my car and dropped her off. We never left her driveway!!!! LOL it was good lay, good lay, it was a good lay, good lay. Hahaha!!! this really happened. I love Morrissey!!!!
“Throw your homework onto the fire.”
I’d like to drop my trousers to the Queen
Every sensible child will know what this means
The poor and the needy
Are selfish and greedy on her terms
I agree with Moz’s position on the royal family. They have no use, and steal from the English people.
“Oh what a mess I’ve made of my life….”
I remember listening to that and getting caught up in it but then thinking…”But I’m only 13!!”
Work is a four letter word
Rush to danger, wind up nowhere
Get your vile soul dry cleaned
I Don’t Owe You Anything By The Smiths
Bought on stolen wine
A nod was the first step
You knew very well
What was coming next
Bought on stolen wine
A nod was the first step
You knew very well
What was coming next
Did I really walk all this way
Just to hear you say
Oh, I don’t want to go out tonight
Oh, I don’t want to go out tonight
Oh, but you will, for you must
I don’t owe you anything, no
But you owe me something
Repay me now
You should never go to them
Let them come to you
Just like I do
Just like I do
You should not go to them
Let them come to you
Just like I do
Just like I do
Did I really walk all this way
Just to hear you say
Oh, I don’t want to go out tonight
Oh, I don’t want to go out tonight
But you will, for you must
I don’t owe you anything, no
But you owe me something
Repay me now
Too freely on your lips
Words prematurely sad
Oh, but I know what will make you smile tonight
Life is never kind
Life is never kind
Oh, but I know what will make you smile tonight
I chose this songs lyrics because it reminds of when my dad showed me the smiths for the first time. He had a tape of the first album and I fell in love with the smiths at the young age of 8. Beside being a good memory this song also is just flawless in every way. The lyrics and sound really establish a beautiful picture and story that I enjoy every time I listen to it.
She has now gone
From this unhappy planet
With all the carnivores
And the destructors of it
Wore my tape out!
“Spending warm summer days indoors / Writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg.”
Twisted, hilarious, sad, particular and universal, all at the same time.
“You without clothes, I could not keep a straight face. Me without clothes? Well, a nation turns it’s back and gags…”
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine
“Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to
So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me – I won’t say “no” – how could I?”
This song embraces boldness, and I have some shy tendencies.
From “Is It Really So Strange?”:
I left the South
I traveled North
I got confused, I killed a horse
I can’t help the way I feel
Even after a hundred listens this line still cracks me up. It always makes me think of the scene in Half-Baked with Kenny and the police horse.
“There’s a club, if you’d like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home, and you cry
And you want to die”
This is my favorite Morrissey lyric because it reminds me so very much of myself- a man who desperately wants to be loved but cannot talk to people to initiate such a thing
“It was dark as I drove the point home
And on cold leather seats
Well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my
Face after all.”
Brilliant song. So beautiful.
The rain falls hard on a humdrum town, this town has dragged you down.
– William, It Was Really Nothing
Reminds me of when I was actually able to get out of my humdrum hometown for good.
“I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside” …
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
See, the sea wants to take me
The knife wants to slit me
Do you think you can help me?
This song can be comforting at times.. especially when you are feeling heartbroken. It’s a beautiful song.
“Charles don’t you ever crave…to appear on the front of the Daily Mail…dressed in your mother’s bridal veil” ‘The queen is dead’. because these questions are still relevant today!
Haven’t had a dream in a long time
see, the life I’ve had
can make a good man bad.
Always reminds me of Ferris Bueller.
“The death of a disco dancer
Well, it happens a lot ’round here
And if you think Peace
Is a common goal
That goes to show
How little you know”
You don’t agree –
But you don’t refuse
I know you
From “Mute Witness”
Now see her mime in time so nicely
It would all have been so clear
If only she had never volunteered
“Your taxi is here, my dear”
“No one I ever knew
or have spoken to resembles you
This is good or bad
all depending on my general mood”
Morrissey-I like you
“I’ve seen this happen in other peoples lives, and now its happening in mine.” The chorus, and Marr’s work. This song means so much to me, as a teen, and now oh so much older. It means my favorite song of all time. like so many others, it defies exact translation. The words meant something to Morrissey in the moment, but can mean what we need them to mean in our time. The repeat chorus is both filled with endless doom, and yet endless hope. both beating us down, and cheering us on.
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now-
“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows I’m miserable now…..I was looking for a job and then I found a job but heaven knows miserable now.
In my life, why do I smile…at people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?”
Sums up my twenties.
Hairdresser on fire-
“Can you squeeze me
Into an empty page of your diary
And psychologically save me?
I’ve got faith in you”
(Just a fun song. I felt I needed to offset the first one)
Too many faves to choose from, really.
“All of the rumors keeping me grounded
I never said
I never said
That they were completely unfounded…”
Love the honesty there.
i dreamt about you last night. and i fell out of bed twice.
such a witty turn of phrase
“the sun shines out of our behinds”
i dunno, it just makes me chuckle.
I know, I know it’s serious
”I don’t need more ammunition
I’ve got more than I can spend
I don’t dwell on things I’m missing
I’m just pleased
With the things I’ve found”… Morrissey ‘Ammunition’
Well becuz it’s nothing but the truth, it’s wonderful advice, that we all should take, we all can relate to this. One of his many songs I treasure.
“A strange dust lands on your face…”
Such an evocative phrase from Everyday is Like Sunday. Growing up with the fear of Nuclear Winter, I found it a really powerful image of post apocalyptic survival.
Sweetness, sweetness..I was only joking when I said..I’d like to smash every tooth in your head.
“Bigmouth Strikes Again”
I Love the dichotomy of the melody and lyrics…the first song that I had ever heard that made violence sound so sweet and romantic. Still one of my favorites.
“The strange logic in your clumsiest line….it stayed emblazoned on my mind.
You say, break up the family and lets begin to live our lives.”
Always like that line.
“So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me I won’t say no… How could I?”
…Probably the sneakiest pickup line ever.
Well I wonder
Do you hear me when you sleep ?
I hoarsely cry…
I will cry even more without this book.
Haves cannot stand Have-nots
And my love is under the ground
My one true love is under the ground
Because Morrissey is “my one true love” and I wrote this on the Iron Bridge in Manchester.
All right, contest is now closed. Thank you all so much for sharing your favorite lyrics. Winners will be notified via email shortly.
Extra track and a tacky badge.
Some girls are bigger than others.
You had to sneak into my room
‘just’ to read my diary
“It was just to see, just to see”
(All the things you knew I’d written about you…)
Oh, so many illustrations
Oh, but
I’m so very sickened
Oh, I am so sickened now
This song was the first I heard from Morrissey I was 15yrs old and I was hooked.
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
In our lifetime those who kill
The newsworld hands them stardom
And these are the ways
On which I was raised
These are the ways
On which I was raised
I never wanted to kill
I am not naturally evil
Such things I do
Just to make myself
More attractive to you
Have I failed ?
“Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me.
No hope, no harm; just another false alarm”
Ceiling shadows shimmy by
And when the wardrobe towers like a beast of prey
There’s sadness in your beautiful eyes
Oh, your untouched, unsoiled, wonderous eyes
My life down I shall lie
Should restless spirits try
To play tricks on your sacred mind
Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I’ve held
It pays my way, and it corrodes my soul.
The music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life.
“You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does”
Self explanatory, we all feel the need to be appreciated and loved!
Some girls are bigger than other girl’s mothers…
Oh, mother I can feel the soil falling over my head
It’s Over by a The Smiths
Because this song reminds me of being 13 and listening to it over and over again. It described how I felt.
It was dark as I drove the point home
And on cold leather seats
Well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my
face after all.
I love the music to this song as well!
“I think about life and I think about death and neither one particularly appeals to me.”
Senior quote of a friend of mine in 1991.
“…There are explosive kegs
Between my legs
Dear God, please help me.”
Moz’s lyrics have always been poetic, humorous and sad…often all at the same time. Hearing this for the first time, I remember practically choking on a drink, spewing “Jeezus, Mozzer!!!”.
“There’s too much caffeine in your bloodstream and a lack of real spice in your life”…..
Sums up my life perfectly! ;)
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I’d like to smash every tooth
In your head
Oh … sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking
When I said by rights you should be
Bludgeoned in your bed
There were times when I could
Have ‘strangled’ her
(but, you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her)