Morrissey A-Z: "First of the Gang to Die, The"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member



We kick off the weekend with this track from You Are the Quarry - released as a single and reaching #6 in the UK charts.

What do we think of this one?
 
A cracking single and, after knocking Alain for yesterday's distinctly average tune, he deserves credit for his role in this fine song. Morrissey's lyrics work perfectly to make it a bizarrely brilliant singalong hit.

I remember that the NME praised this one when it was first performed in concert in 2002 and there seemed to be a general shift in opinion back towards Morrissey at this time.

And it obviously played a big role in helping him to secure a record deal.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 28th from 264 solo songs.
 
Nothing but praise for this one. Moz's love of crime and (beloved) criminals still very much intact, just in a new setting (Los Angeles). Favorite lines:

And he stole from the rich and the poor
And the not very rich and the very poor
And he stole all hearts away
 
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A great song, certainly, but one that has dulled over time for me due to overplay. However, whenever it comes on, I always find myself singing along: especially that ending, which is excellent (“he stole our hearts away”, indeed)!
 
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A great song, certainly, but one that has filled over time for me due to overplay. However, whenever it comes on, I always find myself singing along: especially that ending, which is excellent (“he stole our hearts away”, indeed)!
It is all about the ending, this song, isn't it? I find the first parts of the song fine but nothing special, but then the last minute or more...oh my goodness. Just absolutely glorious pop music.
 
Back in the day, I scoffed at this one, calling it mainstream and thought that people who liked it didn’t really know Morrissey. What a fool I was. This is a brilliant pop song in every conceivable way. The melody and the chorus are 10/10, the lyrics are full of wit and tells a great story, and the production is crystal clear. Even though very few pop hits deal with East LA gangbanging, there was never any doubt whether or not this would be a hit.
 
Surely the most fun song in the Moz-catalogue, in spite of its morbid title.
Never understood how this wasn’t a mainstream hit everywhere. Maybe it should have been released as Quarry’s first single.
 
Surely the most fun song in the Moz-catalogue, in spite of its morbid title.
Never understood how this wasn’t a mainstream hit everywhere. Maybe it should have been released as Quarry’s first single.
Agree - for me, it's a much stronger pop hit than Irish Blood...
 
Really great during first live renditions in 2002 but ending up with unfitting, much too clean production skills in the studio.
 
Agree - for me, it's a much stronger pop hit than Irish Blood...

'Irish Blood, English Heart'... great title, crap song. I still don't get that line about the Royal family supporting Cromwell. Eh...? :confused:
 
home for the blind.
reflects in the reservoir.
great writing,i used to really like this until it was played to death live,sounds good hearing it for the first time in a while.
 
Really great during first live renditions in 2002 but ending up with unfitting, much too clean production skills in the studio.
your right iv got a bootleg of a gig at the barrowlands and there was a few quarry songs on that tour which seemed slowed down for some reason on the album,took me by surprise when i heard the album versions.
 
It was Tutu'd in the studio. :( Edit: I say a song's been 'tutu' d' when the recorded version lacks the clout of the live version. I was disappointed with the album version of Tutu having first heard the Whistle Test version.
 
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your right iv got a bootleg of a gig at the barrowlands and there was a few quarry songs on that tour which seemed slowed down for some reason on the album,took me by surprise when i heard the album versions.
Yes. This fact became even clearer, when I heard the finished version of TWIFOCB, of which I thought at the time (2002), it would be the best and biggest Morrissey single ever.
 
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