BookishBoy
Well-Known Member
Our song for today is this Morrissey/Tobias composition, from the IANADOAC album.
What do we think?
It can be interpreted as cold, but it can also be interpreted to mean that he does care about the people who live in these houses.The cynical, misanthropic lyrics bereft of any wit or compassion bring down an otherwise very catchy song. A damn shame. I’m sick of the cold Moz of the last ten years or so.
I couldn't have put this any better. It's such a great, upbeat, Smiths-tinged piece of music but the lyrics ruin it for me - not just the sneering, out of touch tone but the incessant bloody wordplay! I mean, come on:The cynical, misanthropic lyrics bereft of any wit or compassion bring down an otherwise very catchy song. A damn shame. I’m sick of the cold Moz of the last ten years or so.
I think it's ironic that he's sort of shaming people for not being out when he's got what looks to me like a complicated smokescreen going on around his sexuality. I just ignore that and enjoy the song but you are right cynical.The cynical, misanthropic lyrics bereft of any wit or compassion bring down an otherwise very catchy song. A damn shame. I’m sick of the cold Moz of the last ten years or so.
I couldn't have put this any better. It's such a great, upbeat, Smiths-tinged piece of music but the lyrics ruin it for me - not just the sneering, out of touch tone but the incessant bloody wordplay! I mean, come on:
Dogface in a duplex?
Boisterous in cloisters?
Grabbing in a cabin
Or squatting on your quarters, oh
Does anybody have a way of interpreting this song that doesn't involve Morrissey sneering at those less fortunate than him?
The cheap wordplay has become a stylistic tic. You almost have to learn to appreciate it ironically. But it's not just in his writing. Like calling the Beckhams the Peckhams. I don't even know what that means. And Billie Eyelash?
Yes, actually.I couldn't have put this any better. It's such a great, upbeat, Smiths-tinged piece of music but the lyrics ruin it for me - not just the sneering, out of touch tone but the incessant bloody wordplay! I mean, come on:
Dogface in a duplex?
Boisterous in cloisters?
Grabbing in a cabin
Or squatting on your quarters, oh
Does anybody have a way of interpreting this song that doesn't involve Morrissey sneering at those less fortunate than him?
Really interesting - thank you! I shall put your interpretation in my pipe, and smoke it. (Metaphorically, not literally.)Yes, actually.
I love this song, and have never really thought that the lyrics are deeply cynical or Moz standing on a pedestal and lecturing.
Think about it: the titular question shows us two things - one, that the exterior houses are all the same or similar; and, two, that the people inside are different. However, these aren’t the working classes who Moz has always shown (and still does show) solidarity for - these are the middle and upper classes, an immediate contrast to the debris of a housing estate shown on the back cover.
This whole album has a running theme of sticking up for the underdog and trying to get people to change and move away from perhaps the popular consensus. Here, the viewpoint switches: the middle class’ sheer ridiculousness is placed in full view of the listener. They are “afraid to taste change” and have to make choices based on their “heritage” or perceived “importance” (“t-shirts or blouses; torn jeans or proper trousers?”). This isn’t cynical Moz - this is darkly humourous Moz, picking out the flaws in society still occurring today, and placing them in a more comic setting. It’s not new, but it’s pretty effective.
The music is gorgeous also: winding pedal steel tracing beautiful guitar, impactful drumming and just perfect interplay all around. It’s one I could listen to many times, and have already.
Hopefully this analysis has made you at least consider the alternative interpretations to this fabulous piece of music.
9/10
This became an instant earworm in a manner not heard of since listening to 'Mute witness' for the first time all those years ago. I really like it. It's daft, catchy, bouncy, and I find those sixth-form poetry tics to be hilarious and warming rather than misanthropic. It's like a theme tune to Moz's very own Carry On film.
Nothing more needs to be said except that its another piece of evidence for Costello to add to his collection.The cheap wordplay has become a stylistic tic.