Morrissey A-Z: "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?"

I quite like this song, when I am in the right mood. My issue with it is something I imagine others have - he had seven years to refine the tracklisting for the album, is THIS what he REALLY wanted on there? Especially with the calibre of Quarry b-sides.

There was absolutely no reason to bring it back live, either. It's of it's time.
 
Probably his most emo-song. I enjoy the angry and irrational teenage-mood in this one. ‘They are they and only I am I’ brings me back to The Smiths-days.

Definitely not one of the more graceful Moz-songs but I quite like it. There are at least 3-4 tracks on Quarry that I like less.

7,9
 
I always wonder if the band came up with much more interesting tunes and Moz or the producer says, 'no lads. just bland it out. Think bland'

Another persecution lyric which maybe should've been called 'How Can Anybody Possibly Find Fault With Me'
 
A great album track. Brilliant opening line, straightforward lyrics, voluptuous vocal melody, I do not understand why it is not more appreciated. Far superior than any track on WPINOYB or LIHS.
 
I think it's true that while You are the Quarry was an improvement on its predecessor, it wasn't that much of a step forward. The singles were infinitely superior (obviously) and the absence of puns was a relief, but the music was still as patchy as ever.

This song isn't terrible, but the music is indeed deathly dull. The chorus section is slightly superior to the rest of the song, but still nothing to get excited about.

It's Morrissey essentially throwing his toys out of the pram and the most interesting moment is probably, "The voices of the real...".

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 233rd from 264 solo songs.
 
Pedestrian clunky plod rock. That said, it’s interesting to hear an account of Morrissey’s Cartesian (and isolating) existential experience.

My ‘own’ version of Quarry replaces this with Symphonies.
 
I always wonder if the band came up with much more interesting tunes and Moz or the producer says, 'no lads. just bland it out. Think bland'

Another persecution lyric which maybe should've been called 'How Can Anybody Possibly Find Fault With Me'
I personally think that there was a conscious decision not to take any risks on YATQ. So just come up with straightforward, decent and pleasant songs, things that have worked in the past. No forays into different musical directions because that always gets mixed reactions (also here). And no long songs as on Southpaw. Morrissey is of course always Morrissey: he'll sing about whatever weighs on his mind. But I don't think Morrissey could afford another commercial failure at this point.

However, when you consider the b-sides of the YATQ singles, there are also reasons to believe that Boz and Alain hadn't come up with anything more adventurous. Which doesn't mean that they were bad.
 
I like this song and it’s minor bite. Sounds nervy, agitated and slightly paranoid. I like the way the guitar lines keep moving and sound like it’s all about to fall over/apart. I like it better than crashing bores and I think it’s placement right before first of the gang makes a really cool transition
 
“but even I
as sick as I am
I would never be you


even I
sick and depraved
a traveler to the grave
I would never be you
I would never be you”





Is there really anything more that needs to be said?

More defiance, more defense of his own deficiencies, and if anyone is in the right to point them out, it will be him, NOT YOU.


Viva Moz !!!

:tiphat:
 
I'm shocked by the negative reactions to this one. It is one of my all time favorites from the Alain Whyte era
 
It's not awful, but it's definitely one of the weaker songs on the album. Considering the strength of some of the B-Sides, this should definitely not have made the cut, as it ends up being total filler material. The guitar riff is decent enough, but it gets very repetitive. Lyrically, it's Morrissey on autopilot, and contains one of his worst ever couplets:

"I've had my face dragged in
Fifteen miles of shit...."


OK - this is a strong opening, where are you going with this Moz - what clever way are you going to resolve this statement?


"And I do not -
and I do not -
And I do not like it"


Uh. :sick:
Not just the lamest ever rhyme of 'shit' with 'it', but you have to randomly repeat words to even make it fit? This from someone once considered a poet from the Smiths days? It's doggerel at this point. Even Johnny Marr would be embarrassed by something this lyrically clumsy.

It also ends on a bad note, by coming to a crescendo with -

"And as for you in your uniform
Your smelly uniform
And so you think you can be rude to me'


Sure, I get that no-one can ultimately know another person's true nature, but Morrissey isn't campaigning against some giant evil entity here, or singing a song from the viewpoint of some war oppressed innocent - going by the interviews from around the time he's angry because airport officials get to tell him where to stand. Coming from a man in late-middle age, it just feels like the whining of a self-obsessed manbaby. You had the nerve to write a song complaining about something this trivial - really?

[6 out of 10]
 
I personally think that there was a conscious decision not to take any risks on YATQ. So just come up with straightforward, decent and pleasant songs, things that have worked in the past. No forays into different musical directions because that always gets mixed reactions (also here). And no long songs as on Southpaw. Morrissey is of course always Morrissey: he'll sing about whatever weighs on his mind. But I don't think Morrissey could afford another commercial failure at this point.

However, when you consider the b-sides of the YATQ singles, there are also reasons to believe that Boz and Alain hadn't come up with anything more adventurous. Which doesn't mean that they were bad.
Musically speaking, by that time, it is his more adventurous album with Kill Uncle - but not this song.
 
people stick the boot into quarry these days but dont forget this album was well recieved and really put M back in the limelight and led to a very successful tour which seemed to last forever.
 
people stick the boot into quarry these days but dont forget this album was well recieved and really put M back in the limelight and led to a very successful tour which seemed to last forever.
With four top ten singles as well,
And if I’m m not mistaken his biggest selling album, I think 😬
 
With four top ten singles as well,
And if I’m m not mistaken his biggest selling album, I think 😬
baz its just the way of the world these days,everything is great for about two weeks then two weeks later its crap.
 
I personally think that there was a conscious decision not to take any risks on YATQ. So just come up with straightforward, decent and pleasant songs, things that have worked in the past. No forays into different musical directions because that always gets mixed reactions (also here). And no long songs as on Southpaw. Morrissey is of course always Morrissey: he'll sing about whatever weighs on his mind. But I don't think Morrissey could afford another commercial failure at this point.

However, when you consider the b-sides of the YATQ singles, there are also reasons to believe that Boz and Alain hadn't come up with anything more adventurous. Which doesn't mean that they were bad.
I doubt that was really the case. Hiring Jerry Finn was a risk in some senses, as some of the more hardcore fans were against it. Thankfully that turned out to be one of the best moves for YATQ.

I don't think the album is any more or less risky than most of the others, and this is just the stuff that Alain and Boz were capable of.

Morrissey must have realized on some level that he hadn't been at his best on the previous couple of albums, and understood that he needed to write more lyrics and cut out the pun titles. The long instrumental stretches of Southpaw Grammar were definitely best left behind.
 
If you don't like this song it's not for any objective reason. It's just your taste. I hate "Never-Played Symphonies" and the person that said it should replace this song on the record really makes it clear to me that some people just prefer different parts of his output.
The people that don't like this but like things like "Friday Mourning" are just a different clique.
 
'You are the Quarry' did feature some excellent songs (alongside some more mediocre ones), but it is clearly Morrissey playing it extremely safe. This was his one chance at a mainstream comeback, and he knew it. Normally Morrissey blazes away with his own convictions and to hell with anyone else, but every song on this album seems to be playing it super safe: will this sound good on the radio? Will this get airplay? Will the public like me?

I don't blame him for making that choice, but the production is extremely sterile, so it does all feel a little soulless - it may have been a commercial success, but I don't think it's held up as well as some of his more idiosyncratic releases.
 
I doubt that was really the case. Hiring Jerry Finn was a risk in some senses, as some of the more hardcore fans were against it. Thankfully that turned out to be one of the best moves for YATQ.

I don't think the album is any more or less risky than most of the others, and this is just the stuff that Alain and Boz were capable of.

Morrissey must have realized on some level that he hadn't been at his best on the previous couple of albums, and understood that he needed to write more lyrics and cut out the pun titles. The long instrumental stretches of Southpaw Grammar were definitely best left behind.
Well, I always found that following up Vauxhall & I with a brutal and heavy rocker like Southpaw was a bald move. For me, there was certainly a bigger stylistic shift between these 2 albums than between Maladjusted and YATQ.

We can say it in a more positive way, that he let Alain and Boz bring the tunes that they do best. I really like YATQ as an album. I love his voice on that album too.

Jerry Finn earned his name with Green Day, and I can imagine some people fearing that he would impose his style on Morrissey, but he was very respectful of Morrissey and his musical style. Perhaps the choice of Jerry Finn could be considered a bald move at the time and before hearing the output. I can see that.
 
I doubt that was really the case. Hiring Jerry Finn was a risk in some senses, as some of the more hardcore fans were against it. Thankfully that turned out to be one of the best moves for YATQ.

How was having Finn produce
one of the best moves for YATQ?

I mean, who else was in line to produce it, that Finn was the better choice?
 
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