I Just Want To See The Boy Happy / He Knows I'd Love To See Him

[Amy]

Well, I think "Jeane" (although pronounced Jean in the song, it's given the French spelling, as in John) is about the early days of the Smiths, Moz and Marr struggling to make the break thorugh, with Morrissey being typically pessimistic that it will all end in failure. It's like the flip-side of Hand In Glove, in a way. Although it was actually the flip-side of This Charming Man, which featured on its cover, er, Jean Marais...

Still seems far more about Moz & Linder to me, possibly around the time he was living with her in Whalley Range

As for "Girlfriend In A Coma", I think Morrissey is writing in his own roundabout way about his song-writing relationship with Marr falling apart - Marr being his song-writing "girlfriend" . He's using a metaphor, of course - as he does in "Angel, Angel..." written the same year - but I think most of "Strangeways..." seems to be about the imminent demise of the Smiths - Paint A Vulgar Picture, I Won't Share You, for example - something which gives the album its uniquely crepsular quality.

You're mad, sir

 

[Amy]

Again, I don't understand how people could really think "I Won't Share You" is about Johnny, or even about the Smiths really. Morrissey specifies a "she" reading a note, and then says that he won't share her with "the drive and the dreams inside, this is my time". So, he is leaving a person behind to pursue his own ambitions, not bemoaning that they are leaving him.

 

[Orson Swells]

You're mad, sir [/QUOTE]

It has been said! But... the song was the first single to be released just after the announcement of the split. And... the video does feature The Leather Boys, of course. A film about a heterosexual man's relationship with a... not-so-heterosexual man! All fuel for the fire...

Again, I don't understand how people could really think "I Won't Share You" is about Johnny, or even about the Smiths really. Morrissey specifies a "she" reading a note, and then says that he won't share her with "the drive and the dreams inside, this is my time". So, he is leaving a person behind to pursue his own ambitions, not bemoaning that they are leaving him.

Well, Andy Rourke thought it was addressed to Johnny during the recording of it. I think the idea is Morrissey wouldn't share Marr with his new collaborators outside of the smiths like Bryan Ferry and David Byrne. Hence Morrissey will pursue his own musical ambitions on his own... and not share them. The "she" I would suggest is a different person to the "you" in the song. Although Morrissey, of course, has no qualms about playing around with gender in his songs.

 

[Amy]

Well, Andy Rourke thought it was addressed to Johnny during the recording of it. I think the idea is Morrissey wouldn't share Marr with his new collaborators outside of the smiths like Bryan Ferry and David Byrne. Hence Morrissey will pursue his own musical ambitions on his own... and not share them. The "she" I would suggest is a different person to the "you" in the song. Although Morrissey, of course, has no qualms about playing around with gender in his songs.

Andy Rourke isn't know for his staggering intelligence...

I don't doubt Morrissey was possessive of Marr, but I don't really see any specific evidence of it in this song. I don't think Morrissey would ever have left the Smiths to pursue solo stardom by choice, even if Marr was working more and more frequently as a session musician for other bands. The band meant too much to him.

 

[Orson Swells]

Andy Rourke isn't know for his staggering intelligence...

Exactly! So if even he noticed the connection...

I don't doubt Morrissey was possessive of Marr, but I don't really see any specific evidence of it in this song. I don't think Morrissey would ever have left the Smiths to pursue solo stardom by choice, even if Marr was working more and more frequently as a session musician for other bands. The band meant too much to him.

You're right, of course. Morrissey would NEVER have left The Smiths. But the song was written prior to the split... so Morrissey seems to be saying: I don't like sharing you, and if it carries on I'll have to leave. He never would have... but maybe it was a coded threat! Anyway, the song shows the tensions between Morrissey and Marr at the time, tensions that litter the whole album. To me, I Won't Share You sits alongside Disappointed, Billy Budd, and He Knows I'd Love To See as the Songs Most Obviously About Johnny.

I think you can safely add I Just Want To See the Boy Happy to that collection.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Again, I don't understand how people could really think "I Won't Share You" is about Johnny, or even about the Smiths really. Morrissey specifies a "she" reading a note, and then says that he won't share her with "the drive and the dreams inside, this is my time". So, he is leaving a person behind to pursue his own ambitions, not bemoaning that they are leaving him.

Perhaps, but I'm sometimes convinced that Morrissey chooses the gender of the characters in his songs by rolling a die. (It's a four-sided die, of course.) Also, the point of view changes constantly, I believe, so that lines which seem sequential can also be interpreted as being delivered by two different characters in the song.

This is why he has always been one of my favorite writers. If he didn't sing the words, just released them as poems, I'd still be as faithful a reader. And an entire story, or novel... too much to ever hope for. He is a master of the short form. Very short.

 

[Amy]

Exactly! So if even he noticed the connection...



You're right, of course. Morrissey would NEVER have left The Smiths. But the song was written prior to the split... so Morrissey seems to be saying: I don't like sharing you, and if it carries on I'll have to leave. He never would have... but maybe it was a coded threat! Anyway, the song shows the tensions between Morrissey and Marr at the time, tensions that litter the whole album. To me, I Won't Share You sits alongside Disappointed, Billy Budd, and He Knows I'd Love To See as the Songs Most Obviously About Johnny.

I think you can safely add I Just Want To See the Boy Happy to that collection.

Here's my list of songs which I think were about Johnny :

He Knows I'd Love To See Him
Yes, I Am Blind
Lucky Lisp
Disappointed
Billy Budd
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Speedway (Johnny or Jake, cannot decide)
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
I Don't Mind if You Forget Me
I'd Love To
Whatever Happens, I Love You (again, Johnny or Jake, unsure)



Hand in Glove
What Difference Does It Make?
I Want The One I Can't Have
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
I Keep Mine Hidden
Well I Wonder

 

[Orson Swells]

Here's my list of songs which I think were about Johnny :

He Knows I'd Love To See Him
Yes, I Am Blind
Lucky Lisp
Disappointed
Billy Budd
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Speedway (Johnny or Jake, cannot decide)
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
I Don't Mind if You Forget Me
I'd Love To
Whatever Happens, I Love You (again, Johnny or Jake, unsure)



Hand in Glove
What Difference Does It Make?
I Want The One I Can't Have
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
I Keep Mine Hidden
Well I Wonder

I can't strongly disagree with many of them. I tend to think Speedway is about JM because of the line "in my own Strangeway..."; which is something of a clue, and also because Marr was once a speedway worker!

I think early Smiths (meeting), Strangeways (falling apart), Viva Hate (after the split) and Vauxhall (the semi-reconciliation) seem to be where the most Songs About Johnny are concentrated.

To your list, I'd add:

Break Up The Family
The Loop
You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
Southpaw ("You ran back to Marr... you ran with your friends in The Sun...")
The Never-Played Symphonies

 

[Amy]

I can't strongly disagree with many of them. I tend to think Speedway is about JM because of the line "in my own Strangeway..."; which is something of a clue

I thought it was about him because;

"All of the rumours keeping me grounded
I never said, I never said, that they were completely unfounded

[...]

I could have mentioned your name, I could have dragged you in
Guilt by implication
By association"

reminds me an awful lot of the 'rumours' floating around in the British press about Moz and Marr's relationship during the Smiths.