The Smiths/Morrissey - song-by-song discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Turk Thrust, Mar 8, 2019.

  1. Orson Swells

    Orson Swells Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester
    My favourite song on the album, I think. I love the Sparks-esque piano and the incredibly oblique lyric. Even now I'm now entirely sure what it's all about. It's another outsider tale with shades of November Spawned A Monster and At Amber. Is she deaf and dumb? A shell-shocked victim of abuse? Has she seen a UFO? Or witnessed some seedy encounter on the common? Nothing is clear, but the payoff is the fantastically sinister: "Your taxi is here, my dear..." - as if she is being shutdown and will never be listened to. I love the ambiguity of it all. And I think it would still be great live. 4/5
     
  2. spacedyed

    spacedyed Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington DC
    "Mute Witness" is the best of the uptempo songs on KU (I actually have much love for the end of the record), which isn't saying much. Like @Orson Swells, I have no idea what is going on but I find the storytelling terribly amusing. "Still testing the strength of our patience" 4/5
     
  3. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Mute Witness"

    This is one of the more energetic tracks on the album, obviously Sparks influenced. Should be worth more, but doesn't quite hit the spot so gets 3/5.
     
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  4. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    He’d already shoehorned “Pashernate Love” onto the first VH reissue; for such a wisp of a song, he seems inexplicably fond of it.
     
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  5. Orson Swells

    Orson Swells Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester
    First song he wrote with th’lads.

    By which I mean sometimes I think he has an emotional attachment to a song or its meaning which far outstrips the quality of the song itself.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2019
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  6. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I wonder if he had any say kn that EMI 100 cd. The covert art front and back and randomness of the bonus cuts - but actually songs not on album st that point. Seems like just some back office guy doing it and not moz
     
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  7. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Mute Witness - I have not heard this one before. (I've never heard Kill Uncle from start to finish) I'll give Morrissey points for doing something different. However, that makes it tough to rank after the first listen. I wasn't keen on it after one listen but it could certainly grow on me. Interesting lyrical concept but I wasn't fond of the keyboards. I'll give it 2.5 out of 5, but with the disclaimer that my underdeveloped opinion shouldn't carry much weight.
     
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  8. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    True, they managed to avoid despoiling the main album itself, which suggests Morrissey may not have been directly involved.
     
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  9. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    ... but Mute Witness is registering right now, as I listen to it. Another 4/5.

    I should probably give the first two tracks another listen too; I didn't vote on them.

    Edit: Listening to Our Frank. I'd give it another 4/5.

    I hear echoes of Pulp's Mis-Shapes when it glides into the chorus. Of course, it preceded the latter by several years.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2019
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  10. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    My feelings about Morrissey’s mid to late 90’s period exactly.

    For a man with such raw & eccentric musical tastes, he sure chose to plough a very middle of the road musical furrow.
     
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  11. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I disliked the cover to Quarry the moment I first set eyes on it. Morrissey? With a prop? He looks ridiculous!

    & his album covers have been terrible ever since........

    It’s almost unbelievable that the same artistic eye that gave us so many iconic Smiths record sleeves, allows such uninspired, misguided, poorly chosen images & fonts to be released into the world with his name on it.

    (To be fair, I do like the photo booth sleeve of a young Stephen that graced the 2LP reissue of Low In High School; almost enough to buy the album again, but, of the extra tracks included, I already had the live cover versions on 7” & thought that the other new originals were amongst the blandest efforts he’d ever belched into the universe.)
     
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  12. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I’ve often thought that those extra Nevin co-writes would’ve improved the album greatly, & I'd also have chosen Found & Harsh Truth as the two songs to erase.

    Great track-list, anyway. I’d love to make a playlist of it on Apple Music but they don’t have the original piano version of Hell. Grrrr
     
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  13. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    The text placement and sizing on that is shocking, though; it looks like his nephew slapped it together in MS Paint.
     
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  14. pwhytey

    pwhytey Forum Resident

    I think Morrissey's collaboration with Jo Slee finished with Your Arsenal, so perhaps her input was his saving grace for all those years?

    The best that can be said for the Quarry cover is that his suit is quite splendid.
     
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  15. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    I’ve just seen the gatefold, and now I can’t un-see it...
    [​IMG]
     
  16. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Fair point, but I really like the portrait of Moz & it’s much better than that awful picture of the kid with the toy axe outside Buckingham Palace.
     
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  17. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    It truly is grotesque. In the same arena of aesthetically offensive spew as the California Son sleeve. Ugh.

    The inner gatefold image of the band from World Peace is also atrociously uncool.
     
  18. Gavaxeman

    Gavaxeman Take me back to dear old Blighty...

    Location:
    West Midlands U.K.
    World peace and low in high school have definitely shook up the musical pallet, lots more keyboards, less plodding rockers . He seemed to get stuck in a bit of rut with ringleader and years of refusal musically. Adding a keyboard player who also writes has definitely improved things. And this has continued with California Son. Which may not be a popular opinion but I think he’s on a bit of a roll at the moment
     
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  19. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    To get things back on topic, I think this is one of the songs from the LP that really worked live as can be seen here. Goodness knows what Japanese fans made of the lyrics though. :)

     
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  20. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I agree that Ringleader & Refusal fell into a bit of a chug-a-chug guitar rut, but Ringleader at least has some more variation.

    As for the last 3 albums, I’m not too keen on the production, & the original material is somewhat patchy, but I agree that California Son is really good; some great songs choices & interesting new arrangements.
     
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  21. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Nice!

    I saw Moz & the boys play live twice, in ‘91 & ‘92, & whilst I loved the shows, I often think of that band as being pretty scrappy when they began; so it’s nice to hear this tight & meaty arrangement of this song.

    Thanks!
     
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  22. ryno

    ryno Forum Resident

    Mute Witness 4/5. A good track that tells an interesting story.
     
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  23. inglorious

    inglorious Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    Mute Witness
    I haven’t listened to Kill Uncle for quite a while but going back to it now, this is probably the best track for me, musically and lyrically. Very Roxy Music piano driven tune. Lovely guitar sounds too. The lyrics are, like a lot of Morrissey’s ,wonderfully menacing and yet sympathetic.
    4/5
     
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  24. Gavaxeman

    Gavaxeman Take me back to dear old Blighty...

    Location:
    West Midlands U.K.

    He managed to release the four worst tracks as singles from Ringleader.. unbelievable.
     
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  25. markreed

    markreed Forum Resident

    Location:
    Imber
    They were pretty scrappy, mind you. Moz basically adopted a mostly already-formed pub rockabilly band and threw them into arenas within a handful of gigs. Without affording them proper equipment, so they were using their low-cost budget kit in arenas : and it sounded like it. Naturally he blames the band for being bad in his Autobiography rather than admit he didn't want to pay for them to have decent sounding kit.

    That said, the 1991 show I saw was incredible.
     
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