BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
Next up in our gently evolving A-Z is this song, track five on Viva Hate. What do we think of this one?
must be one of his shortest songs at 1.41,not one i would ask alexa to play but when i hear it i think decent song.
Always made me wonder if Morrissey ever changed his brutal opinion on her that he expressed in 1980 to his pen pal...
It reminds me of something, but I can't remember what... I'll try to dredge it out of the back of my mind some time this decade.
It's very pretty and unusual, musically.
I remember that his voice on it, the intensity of it, was like a shock for me when I first heard it. It sounds so candid and sincere, almost desperately so.
I love how it sounds like the love child of Morrissey and Kate Bush. It's not only the often cited Cloudbusting influence but for me there's also a lot of Under Ice in it. Always made me wonder if Morrissey ever changed his brutal opinion on her that he expressed in 1980 to his pen pal...
Maybe it reminds me of Kate???
Yes, he did change his mind but I can't remember where I read it.
Kate's extremely middle-class but she also had his split attitude to England & Ireland. It caused a spectacular fight on Facebook once. Among Scottish people. Also took a lot of her inspiration from books & films.
why is dykes at 226,that is a great song.Interesting that this was the only song that Morrissey admitted was written about Johnny...
Anyhow, I think it's a very strong song from a very strong album. I think two of the biggest pluses regarding Viva Hate are the variety of musical styles and the differing lengths of the songs. The inclusion of an epic like Late Night, Maudlin Street meant that there was no pressure to lengthen any other tracks, and these two songs together make for a great one-two punch.
Mature lyrics, a fine tune and an excellent vocal.
Not that this is of any great importance, of course, but when there was a discussion on another board a little while ago, this song came in at 51 from all of the solo tracks.
And just for your jottings, the other songs that we have covered so far ranked:
Action is My Middle Name - 171
All the Lazy Dykes - 226
All the Young People Must Fall in Love - 230
All You Need is Me - 93
Alma Matters - 73
Alsatian Cousin - 42
Ambitious Outsiders - 237
America is Not the World - 167
Ammunition - 177
I could see the song as being about Johnny, but as I explained in another thread recently, my problem with the quote is that I've never found the original source and context of it. So I find it a bit difficult to assess.Do we actually believe Morrissey when he said this was written about/for Johnny, though? It just seems so lyrically...odd, for that - when there are other songs that seem to fit that particular bill much more obviously. Oh, who knows?
(And interestingly at the end of the same quote, Morrissey says he was "wrong" in his view of the JM situation back then - which doesn't seem to happen very often!)
Do we actually believe Morrissey when he said this was written about/for Johnny, though? It just seems so lyrically...odd, for that - when there are other songs that seem to fit that particular bill much more obviously. Oh, who knows?
(And interestingly at the end of the same quote, Morrissey says he was "wrong" in his view of the JM situation back then - which doesn't seem to happen very often!)
That's what I've been thinking as well. And he said "with Johnny in mind", not "about Johnny".It could be what he wanted Johnny to say to him?
Because I can't really imagine 80s Marr needing advice about not topping himself from 80s Morrissey.
And suicidal people often do fantasise about being rescued or the reaction once they're gone.