Morrissey A-Z: "Let Me Kiss You"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member






Our song for today is this Morrissey/Whyte composition, released as the third single (reaching #8 in the UK) from You Are The Quarry. Nancy Sinatra's version was released on the same day.

What do we think?

[Also, if my maths is correct, this marks the halfway point of the A-Z!]
 
A great song, another excellent Quarry single. Intricate guitar playing is intertwined with some of the subtlest melodies on the LP. The lyrics, however, paint a similar picture of societal awkwardness and also self-consciousness, all wrapped up in a comedic sketch to make it easier to digest. It’s excellently rendered and performed, and the despair in the lyrics comes through in Moz’s heartbroken vocal performance.
8/10
 
great song with good lyrics,voice is good on this.quarry was such a good album but seems to be lambasted by a select few on here these days,probably the same people who loved it in 2004.
9 suns/10 anyones.
 
A pleasant number zig zagging all over the place..
Would have preferred I like you as a single to this to be honest..
But this has been a crowed pleaser for a good while...
Zag 6/ zig 6.5
 
A nice song but, like I Have Forgiven Jesus, it would never have been a top ten hit under normal circumstances.

I remember buying both this and Nancy Sinatra's version on the same day and, prior to that, I remember a huge amount of negativity on this site about some of the lyrics. Such will always be the way with new releases, of course.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 125th from 264 solo songs.
 
A nice song but, like I Have Forgiven Jesus, it would never have been a top ten hit under normal circumstances.

I remember buying both this and Nancy Sinatra's version on the same day and, prior to that, I remember a huge amount of negativity on this site about some of the lyrics. Such will always be the way with new releases, of course.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 125th from 264 solo songs.
Yep, it's a quite good song. Maybe a 6 or 7/10. The jangly guitar sound is a little similar to Some Girls Are Bigger although the melodies (singing and guitar) are not in the same league.
 
One of my favourite Moz tracks; insecurity & self-deprecation, of course beautifully sung & arranged.
T'is wonderful.
 
XXI century classic from Moz . Amazing composition, great sung. It is inherently associated with a sweaty shirt thrown into a fanatic crowd.
8/10



morrissey-live-los-angles-shirtless-throwing.jpg
 
I like it but think it’s served it’s purpose as a live inclusion. That should have ended after the instrumental effort in Florence 2012 after Morrissey wasn’t ready and the band played to a conclusion 😃
 
Not my favorite but I appreciate a good pop single and I think it is that. It's one of the better ones he's done in the sort of second half of his career, Quarry - present. Taking into consideration that lots of casual listeners may not pay close attention to the lyrics I think it's funny that this song has a kind of stealth element to it. Lots of people are going to hear "let me kiss you," and completely miss the part about "you see someone you physically despise." It feels like he couldn't help himself and it became this uniquely Morrissey song whereas with a little tuning it could have been maybe more popular but more generic.
Compared to "Kiss Me A Lot" this is an exceptional song, but compared to "Come Back To Camden" not so much.
Morrissey version 6/10 Nancy Sinatra version 7/10 not because I like her more but I think the idea of Morrissey writing a pop hit for a her is exciting and I'd like to see more of that on occasion.
 
A pleasant number zig zagging all over the place..
Would have preferred I like you as a single to this to be honest..
But this has been a crowed pleaser for a good while...
Zag 6/ zig 6.5
A live favorite yes, especially when he rips off his shirt after the line "Then you open your eyes and see someone you physically despise", another one of those defining Morrissey moments and lines.
 
A post comeback classic, and rightfully so.
 
A live favorite yes, especially when he rips off his shirt after the line "Then you open your eyes and see someone you physically despise", another one of those defining Morrissey moments and lines.

Even so, his heart is still open to them!
 
Finn’s work on Quarry gets a lot of stick, but I actually like it. That glossy, shiny sound works perfectly on songs like this one. To me, this one (and “Dykes”) is the sound of LA. Polished and glossy, yet warm and atmospheric.
 
I preferred the instrumentation on the Nancy version but his vocal here is a delight.

'You open your eyes and you see someone that you physically despise' is a golden lyric.
 
Never my cup of tea. I don't understand why it's so popular with the new fanbase. Brave Jerry Finn (RIP) takes away any nostalgic flair from the song. It sounds plastic and Morrissey is on the verge of Muzak. At this point at the latest, the frenzy and interest of the 90s solo years wore off. Something had changed, or was it me?
 
Never my cup of tea. I don't understand why it's so popular with the new fanbase. Brave Jerry Finn (RIP) takes away any nostalgic flair from the song. It sounds plastic and Morrissey is on the verge of Muzak. At this point at the latest, the frenzy and interest of the 90s solo years wore off. Something had changed, or was it me?
I know what you mean. Everything about this one just feels so terribly "middle of the road" to me (aside from the odd bit of the lyric) and that's not really the Morrissey I love.
 
The sound is plastic and flat. Which means, no real strings just Roger Manning Jr. with a box of tricks. The nice jangling alone isn't enough. It deserved a better and "deeper" produced try.
 
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