Morrissey A-Z: "Journalists Who Lie"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member



Our song for today is this Morrissey/Street composition, a B-side on the "Our Frank" single.

I almost hesitate to ask, but...what do we think of this one?
 
I can't see any real positives with this one.

A leftover Street tune, a confused non-production and whiny lyrics that show Morrissey at his worst. The theme of "It's terrible to be famous" is deeply uninteresting, and this meanders horribly.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 253rd from 264 solo songs.
 
I have a clear memory of getting home with the "Our Frank" 12-inch single on the morning of release, playing the two B-sides for the first time and being almost...distraught? Can't think of a better word for it. I was just really sad that Morrissey could put out a song as piss-poor as this one. Thirty years later it's more funny than anything else.
 
Definitely the weakest of the Morrissey/Street era. It really makes me question how much involvement Street had and if this was ever intended to see the light of day. Regarding the lyrics: a tired, desperate, and blatantly self-indulgent attempt to garner sympathy for Morrissey as the forever victim to the 'mean and cruel' Journalists always out to get him. Granted the idea might have had some traction in 1991 but it hasn't aged well and just plays as juvenile now.
 
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everyone is allowed a few duffers in their career and this is one of those.dont know what M was thinking of.its that weird sound in the background,its like a game of ping pong speeded up.hard to even score it.
5 lies/10 journalists.
 
The Our Frank single is grim. Never liked the a-side and the two b-sides, including ‘Journalists...’, are definitely weak. But! At the same time, I think he has written several songs worse than this one.
 
A strange song, with weird, drum-led instrumentation that seems completely incongruous with the terrible, yet mildly more serious, lyrics. Perhaps if the drums weren’t so forced up to the top of the mix, then the tune may have been passable. I agree that there have been worse songs, many of them already covered in the earlier sections of the A-Z, but you won’t see me putting this on very often at the best of times.
3/10
 
The Agadoo of the Moz collection...
One can only assume that there was a pile of communal class A drugs knocking about in the studio...
Either that or Moz was spiked with animal flesh that has sent him off his tits......
Even Gordyboy couldn’t put a good spin on this one 😬
 
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Nowhere near as bad as it's reputation - I think it's perfectly acceptable as a B Side, though certainly no better than that. The music groove and production is actually pretty decent, this is one of those occasions where Morrissey himself lets the side down with some pretty obvious lyrics.

That said, given recent times, I wouldn't be surprised if Morrissey resurrected this song for the next tour. Change a few lines to refer to the Guardian and 'the left wing loony media', and this is very much in keeping with his current thinking, and would happily sit next to 'I Am Not a Dog on a Chain' and 'Spent the Day in Bed' on the setlist.
 
Perhaps Morrissey could write a follow-up, "Journalists Who Tell the Truth", about his experiences with Der Spiegel.
 
Having read my way through most of Morrissey's publicity, I don't blame him for writing this - there's an unbelievable amount of paraphrasing, misinterpretation, lack of fact-checking & homophobia.

It's always best to hire someone though - they only gun for you worse if you complain.

Other than that, I like it, it's an ardent wee song.
 
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