"Skull" #93 - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of 2009

Je Suis Julie

allyouneedismorrissey.com
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7742-the-top-100-tracks-of-2009/

#93 Something Is Squeezing My Skull

"After Morrissey's onstage collapse and subsequent pegging by a drink-hurling fan, Years of Refusal's muscular, defiant opener, with its worries about the star's health, feels like its most striking accomplishment. For such an aggressively upbeat glam-rock tune, the theme is melodramatically bleak-- and, to British pop fans, probably doubly familiar: Modern life is loveless. Worth it just to hear Moz list meds and then breathlessly repeat, "Don't give me anymore," at the song's conclusion. Oh, Mother, he can feel the soil falling over his head. --Marc Hogan"
 
Re: "Skull" #93 in Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2009

Also, the 7" photo made "The Year in News 2009" for January:

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7734-the-year-in-news-2009/1/

"MORRISSEY GETS ALL NSFW WITH IT

For the inside sleeve to the "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" 7", Morrissey and his band decided to disrobe and stick records over their private areas. We're still not sure how those records are staying in place..."

And The Collapse tops October's list:

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7734-the-year-in-news-2009/10/

"HEAVEN KNOWS MORRISSEY'S MISERABLE NOW

Woe is Morrissey. The Pope of Mope is having a particularly stressful autumn. On October 24, he collapsed onstage mid-song at a performance in Swindon, England and was rushed to the hospital. He was discharged the next day, but canceled his next gig. At his first show back after the scare, he joked, "The doctor said I shouldn't smile. I told him, 'I don't'." Then, on November 7, a performance in Liverpool was cut short when an audience member threw a drink at Morrissey's head, prompting him to abruptly leave the stage. Obviously the culprit wasn't aware of the man's fragile emotional state."
 
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7742-the-top-100-tracks-of-2009/

#93 Something Is Squeezing My Skull

"After Morrissey's onstage collapse and subsequent pegging by a drink-hurling fan, Years of Refusal's muscular, defiant opener, with its worries about the star's health, feels like its most striking accomplishment. For such an aggressively upbeat glam-rock tune, the theme is melodramatically bleak-- and, to British pop fans, probably doubly familiar: Modern life is loveless. Worth it just to hear Moz list meds and then breathlessly repeat, "Don't give me anymore," at the song's conclusion. Oh, Mother, he can feel the soil falling over his head. --Marc Hogan"

Melodramatically bleak? The songs a riotous hoot from start to finish.

I'm doing very well
I can block out the present and the past now
I know by now you think I should have straightened myself out
Thank you, drop dead

Yes, I'm doing very well
Its a miracle I've even made it this far
The motion of taxis excite me,
When you peel it back and bite me

Oh, something is squeezing my skull
Something I can't fight
No true friends in modern life

Diazepam (thats valium)...temazepam...lithium
HRT...ECT...How long must I stay on this stuff?
 
My top 5 songs of the year:

1 'Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbank'
2 'Something is Squeezing my Skull'
3 'Good in Your Time'
4 'Christian Dior'
5 'I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris'

Where once there was a music scene in the UK, this year there was... Morrissey. In an appalling year for music, his beautiful album was the only respite. I've largely given up on the radio but do let me know if there's anything decent I should buy.
 
Where once there was a music scene in the UK, this year there was... Morrissey. In an appalling year for music, his beautiful album was the only respite. I've largely given up on the radio but do let me know if there's anything decent I should buy.

I tried. You didn't listen. I'll just give my 'Dizzee Rascal' CD to a more grateful recipient.
 
I tried. You didn't listen. I'll just give my 'Dizzee Rascal' CD to a more grateful recipient.

On the contrary, you did not try. You played me a video in which D.R. Ascal laughed like a maniac, reclined on a bed like a self-absorbed 'gangsta' from 'da hud' (in Bromley quite possibly) and permitted a female to caress his pectoralis major muscle.

Now had you posted the one where he sings about his pet dog, cries slightly and gives flowers to his mother, that would have been more of an effort. But no, you took the easy option.

Go Dizzee!

Actually, do go, Dizzee - and don't stop until you reach France.
 
On the contrary, you did not try. You played me a video in which D.R. Ascal laughed like a maniac, reclined on a bed like a self-absorbed 'gangsta' from 'da hud' (in Bromley quite possibly) and permitted a female to caress his pectoralis major muscle.

Now had you posted the one where he sings about his pet dog, cries slightly and gives flowers to his mother, that would have been more of an effort. But no, you took the easy option.

Go Dizzee!

Actually, do go, Dizzee - and don't stop until you reach France.

Well, I AM sorry. You're very ungrateful aren't you? I didn't want to break the habit of a lifetime by NOT taking the easy option. I seem to have lost the link to the video where Dizzee comes over all 'motional and sensitive, but I do have this link to his finest work to date. It entertained me far more than his 'music' ever could - for at least 30 seconds. (Just go straight to 1 minute in if you can't handle that much talent for 2 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upkaQk9wdHs

I'm currently watching the 'UK Top 40' with mah family. Honestly, it's just fantastic.
 
Well, I AM sorry. You're very ungrateful aren't you? I didn't want to break the habit of a lifetime by NOT taking the easy option. I seem to have lost the link to the video where Dizzee comes over all 'motional and sensitive, but I do have this link to his finest work to date. It entertained me far more than his 'music' ever could - for at least 30 seconds. (Just go straight to 1 minute in if you can't handle that much talent for 2 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upkaQk9wdHs

I'm currently watching the 'UK Top 40' with mah family. Honestly, it's just fantastic.

I've seen him trip over his tongue a few times but that's the first time I've seen him trip over an imaginary obstacle.
 
Melodramatically bleak? The songs a riotous hoot from start to finish.

I'm doing very well
I can block out the present and the past now
I know by now you think I should have straightened myself out
Thank you, drop dead

Yes, I'm doing very well
Its a miracle I've even made it this far
The motion of taxis excite me,
When you peel it back and bite me

Oh, something is squeezing my skull
Something I can't fight
No true friends in modern life

Diazepam (thats valium)...temazepam...lithium
HRT...ECT...How long must I stay on this stuff?

OUW! Wouw! In my head I had translated this into "I can block out the future and the past now" so that my mental image was that he is focusing on the present, which is said to be a pretty good coping strategy. Many people stress themselves out unnecessarily by worrying about things that never happen. And it is said that if you are in fear you better take one step after the other - in the present - and do this the best you possibly can.
 
'Something is Squeezing My Skull' -- one of the best songs ever written about the subject of mental illness and its treatment.
 
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