Meaning of the last lines to 'When Last I Spoke To Carol'?

DrStatham

Spicy Chickpea Curry
Hey,

For the most part When Last I Spoke To Carol is pretty plain in its meaning, but the last lines always confuse me:

'She had faded to / something I always knew / to the rescue / nobody ever comes out'

Maybe I am just being thick here, but does anybody know what that means?

Cheers guys
 
Direct translation:

"I'm am not a fool, something you always knew, pandering to- The kids of Mexico-Oh OH WOAH WOAH WOAH!"
 
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Seriously. I think it's all a bunch of word salad set to boring music. I don't think there was any real message beyond vague loneliness/generic doomed friendship/romance template, and like I said, pandering to his Latino demographic.
 
Hey,

For the most part When Last I Spoke To Carol is pretty plain in its meaning, but the last lines always confuse me:

'She had faded to / something I always knew / to the rescue / nobody ever comes out'

Maybe I am just being thick here, but does anybody know what that means?

Cheers guys
"to the rescue nobody ever comes" is just phrasing changed to fit the song (nobody ever comes to the rescue reconfigured).
It appears to be Morrissey in all-seeing mode where he can see the plight of Carol to the point of predicting her helpless 'fading' (insinuated demise). The whys and wherefores are debatable obviously, but the language used at the end just appears to be for convenience more than anything. The assumption that the last word of the song is 'out' is not borne out by many versions of the lyrics either.
Regards,
FWD.
 
"to the rescue nobody ever comes" is just phrasing changed to fit the song (nobody ever comes to the rescue reconfigured).
It appears to be Morrissey in all-seeing mode where he can see the plight of Carol to the point of predicting her helpless 'fading' (insinuated demise). The whys and wherefores are debatable obviously, but the language used at the end just appears to be for convenience more than anything. The assumption that the last word of the song is 'out' is not borne out by many versions of the lyrics either.
Regards,
FWD.

Oh thanks, I think I see now. Yeah I was thinking it meant she faded 'to the rescue' and 'nobody ever comes out'! I guess the 'something I always knew' is just referring to the fact Moz knows this state of mind quite well
 
Seriously. I think it's all a bunch of word salad set to boring music. I don't think there was any real message beyond vague loneliness/generic doomed friendship/romance template, and like I said, pandering to his Latino demographic.

Well FWD seemed to explain it well enough anyway. I think it is a decent enough song. It is strangely phrased though.
 
The assumption that the last word of the song is 'out' is not borne out by many versions of the lyrics either.
Regards,
FWD.

Just checked that actually and you are right, looked at the lyric poster thing for YOR and it is just 'to the rescue nobody ever comes'

Cheers
 
Well FWD seemed to explain it well enough anyway. I think it is a decent enough song. It is strangely phrased though.
One could argue I explained it well enough too. The thing that disturbs me about it, is despite the style of music usually lending itself to joy and exuberance, there is none present in the music. It's very flat, calculated sounding, and passionless, like the players had no genuine emotion to invest in it.
 
One could argue I explained it well enough too. The thing that disturbs me about it, is despite the style of music usually lending itself to joy and exuberance, there is none present in the music. It's very flat, calculated sounding, and passionless, like the players had no genuine emotion to invest in it.
I would agree.
The Alain/Jesse tension may come in to play here possibly.
I had even forgotten there was real brass on this track and imagined it as a synth.
Jerry Finn's production was a bit hit and miss in places and this track isn't one of my favourites (that said, Moz certainly gave it a good airing live).
The 'remixes' were pretty uninspired too (although some preferred them to the album version).
Regards,
FWD.
 
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It's a terrible clunker, with no redeeming features lyrically or musically. Latter-career clump-by-numbers.
From reading you here I can’t imagine you appreciate great lyrics or poetry. You despise Morrissey. Is there any poetry/poet you read or appreciate? Would like to know. :confused:
 
He doesn’t like any music, or poetry, just hates all things Moz, because he can.

Carol is certainly one of my faves on Refusal, just behind Paris and possibly Mama.
Having said that Refusal is probably my least favourite Moz-album.
 
"to the rescue nobody ever comes" is just phrasing changed to fit the song (nobody ever comes to the rescue reconfigured).
It appears to be Morrissey in all-seeing mode where he can see the plight of Carol to the point of predicting her helpless 'fading' (insinuated demise). The whys and wherefores are debatable obviously, but the language used at the end just appears to be for convenience more than anything. The assumption that the last word of the song is 'out' is not borne out by many versions of the lyrics either.
Regards,
FWD.
Co-writer on that song I was.
 
the speaker in the song sounds very blasé to me. he sees her drowning but does nothing to help, feeling no need to come to the rescue himself and no guilt about it afterwards. just a frank acceptance that this is the way things are, not just for carol but for a lot of people. I like it for that.
 
Well, it seems to make perfect sense to me. Carol dies because nobody came to her rescue - so this is the moral Morrissey draws from her demise. I always wondered, given the music and the theme, whether it was about/inspired by Kirsty MacColl. Even the names Carol/MacColl are suspiciously similar.
 
Well, it seems to make perfect sense to me. Carol dies because nobody came to her rescue - so this is the moral Morrissey draws from her demise. I always wondered, given the music and the theme, whether it was about/inspired by Kirsty MacColl. Even the names Carol/MacColl are suspiciously similar.

I've never thought of it about that kind of death really, I always thought it was more just about somebody sinking into a depression rather than getting into some kind of accident...

But yeah maybe Moz learns from it, but maybe the fact nobody ever comes to the rescue is not because nobody tries. Maybe he just couldn't help her. Either that or it has a 'Children In Pieces' vibe to it...
 
He doesn’t like any music, or poetry, just hates all things Moz, because he can.

Carol is certainly one of my faves on Refusal, just behind Paris and possibly Mama.
Having said that Refusal is probably my least favourite Moz-album.

Not to defend Skinny, just to state as a fact, he pretty much praised World peace when it came out.
 
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