Morrissey A-Z: "I Am Not a Dog on a Chain"

(For what it's worth on this one, I like the music on this song and also Morrissey's singing - apart from the shouty bits - but the lyrics make me cringe.)
 
Great little pop song, with the deceptively airy instrumentation contrasting with the more enraged lyrical presence. Some of the lyrics are extremely cringeworthy (rhyming dictionary, anyone?), but I appreciate the sentiment - which feeds throughout the album, and all critics seemed to fail to notice - and the empathetic position of Moz himself (“you’ll never know who you are or all that you can do”). Music in the fiercer sections remind me of Roxy’s “Virginia Plain”, and Moz’s later delivery has more in common with rap with its faster flows. All in all, despite some lyrical setbacks, an excellent song from a stellar album.
8/10
 
Thanks all the same.
 
In my opinion, one of the maybe three (five if I’m being kind) worst songs of his career. The composition is confusing, in a true Gustavo fashion. The vocal melody is beyond annoying, and the lyrics are unbelievably stupid. This could be the anthem for the conspiracy theorists and rabid right wing trolls of Facebook and YouTube.
 
Neither the best nor the worst song on the album, the lyrics are a mixture of the inspired and the forced.

Some people compared the music on the album to Kill Uncle, but one difference imo is that that there was more of a sense of confidence and purpose about this release. Joe Chiccarelli and the band had been working together for a while by this point and I think you can hear it in this kind of song.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 67th from 264 solo songs.
 
The middle of the peloton in the race of the same title . 6/10
 
second favourite on the album,begins like a nursery rhyme and then gets more serious,some lyrics are duff but theres a few good ones as well,
Like drinking ink,the words explode.
Listen out for whats not shown to you and there you find the truth.
all in all a good song with good music and a strong vocal from M.
 
It is certainly more than a "little pop song". Morrissey's late band finally manages to combine their forces properly here: Early Roxy Music meet The Sparks. Musically, the best song on the record by a mile. Lyrically a bit too flat, unfortunately, but those who believe Morrissey has been thoroughly wronged over the last 10 years see themselves vindicated. "I'm not a dog on a chain, I use my own brain and I don't read the papers." He's been more subtle before, and thus more interesting as an artist.
 
Yes, quite like this little ditty, except when it explodes after 2 minutes and at the end. That kind of ruins it for me, and never got the Canada Goose-reference.

“I will not change and I will not be nice” is a point he made before, and more eloquently ;)

7,2
 
It's a weird, catchy wee song - & I love that after all the accusations thrown at him, Canada Goose is his deadly enemy.
 
It's daft and quirky but strangely likeable - a bit like 'King Leer' in that the lyrics are a little sixth-form but it still sort of works...sort of.
 
It's daft and quirky but strangely likeable - a bit like 'King Leer' in that the lyrics are a little sixth-form but it still sort of works...sort of.
With the exception that KL has a solid vocal melody and charming lyrics.
 
OHHH. Comes over all Lene Lovich on this one, don't he just?
 
In my opinion, one of the maybe three (five if I’m being kind) worst songs of his career. The composition is confusing, in a true Gustavo fashion. The vocal melody is beyond annoying, and the lyrics are unbelievably stupid. This could be the anthem for the conspiracy theorists and rabid right wing trolls of Facebook and YouTube.
Completely this. It's what most of us fear when we hear a new track from him - an absence of any tune, in combination with total inability to write politically. An embarrassment to his legacy (and I've been a big fan - and remain so - for a very long time). Imagine a new artist waddling up to a music company with this dreck.
 
This was an instant like for me the first time I listened to it.

The music, especially the verses, is clever and interesting and the structure, as so often with Morrissey, is quite unusual. I love the way it changes from soft to loud and back again, culminating in a bombastic finale, only to end on a mellow note. This contrast between sweet and brash also perfectly reflects the cheeky sentiment of the lyrics.
The vocals are also great, perhaps my favourite on the album. The words are pure hyperbole, with some parts appearing outrageously ridiculous, but that's part of the charm. The key is in his brilliant delivery, which has a delightful ironic tinge to it.
All in all an irresistibly likeable song, despite of (or maybe due to?) the silliness of some of the lyrics.

(The Roxy comparisons are very apt.)


What's interesting is that the printed lyrics differ in quite a few points from what he's actually singing. Some lines were changed, some were completely omitted.

IANADOAClyrics.JPG
IANADOAClyrics2.JPG
 
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The music was written by Jesse Tobias.
That doesn’t change the fact that it sounds confusing and completely in the vein of Gustavo. I did however think it was a Gustavo song when I made that post.
 
That doesn’t change the fact that it sounds confusing and completely in the vein of Gustavo. I did however think it was a Gustavo song when I made that post.

Well, that's your opinion and I'm not going to argue with it.
I was just confused because to me it doesn't sound like something Gustavo would write at all and I wasn't sure what you meant.
 
Really interesting views on this one! I suspect we're going to get a lot of this with some other IANADOAC songs, too...
 
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