Sing Your Life tune

Tingle3

Member
I was humming the tune to 'Sing Your Life' just now when I noticed a similarity with the theme tune for 1970's/80's sitcom featuring 'Freelance layabout' Hywel Bennett (he of 'The Family Way'). The show was simply called "Shelley". I think that the whistling in the theme tune is kind of like the strings in 'Sing Your Life'.

I loved that show even when I was 12. It set me up for The Smiths coming along in 1983. It also set me on the wrong career path I'm afraid. I'm glad that Morrissey stuck at the song writing and singing otherwise he'd have ended up like 'Shelley'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_(TV_series)
 
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Last night I watched "Gainfully employed" from series one of 'Shelley'. In that episode there's a line from 'Mrs H' (played by Josephine Tewson to Shelley: "You look miserable; found a job have you?" Morrissey's lyrics played for laughs in a sitcom.
 
cool, i like that kinda stuff as it happen all the time. gilmore girls has big references to alex chilton from big star as she goes to a school called chilton. the creator admits this of course and is a huge music fan. i had to watch a LOT of it since my wifes a huge fan and, well i wonder if theres any smiths morrissey references in there as well.
 
Last night I watched "Gainfully employed" from series one of 'Shelley'. In that episode there's a line from 'Mrs H' (played by Josephine Tewson to Shelley: "You look miserable; found a job have you?" Morrissey's lyrics played for laughs in a sitcom.

So was Morrissey inspired by this when writing 'Heaven Know I'm Miserable Now' or was it inspired by something else?
It sounds like he was a fan?
 
To my ears, if you take the notes in the Shelley theme tune, and add guitars, it would sound a bit like The Cult's 'Dreamtime'.

P.
 
So was Morrissey inspired by this when writing 'Heaven Know I'm Miserable Now' or was it inspired by something else?
It sounds like he was a fan?

It seems to me that Morrissey might have been some sort of fan, although the words aren't so unusual that it couldn't simply be co-incidence. The Shelley sitcom was broadcast from 1979. The character of Shelley lived in London and was a full-time 'shirker'. At the dole office he described his profession as "ex-poet". In the episode "Gainfully Employed" Shelley comes out with a tirade against teachers - about how there is no worse type of person and they simply ruin your life. He rails against change wherever it is (modernisation of pubs and keg beer for instance). You can see how this sort of character might be interesting to Morrissey aged 20. I'm not saying that Morrissey copied the words from this sitcom for 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', but I am saying he might have been inspired by them. Morrissey appreciated 'The Afmily Way' starring Hywel Bennett so would have been at least curious about 'Shelley' I'd say. http://janehousham123.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/ah-morrissey.html
 
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