This is the one low point of the album for me. I can see perhaps they felt like an injection of energy was needed at this point, but this isn't quite the song to do it. The music is a little Lennon-esque to my ears, recalling something like Gimme Some Truth, and Morrissey's (not unamusing lyric) is suitably direct. There are some nice moments - "I've had my face dragged in fifteen miles of ****", "The voices of the real and the imagined cry: The future is passing you by! The future is passing you by!" and the closing "Even I, sick and depraved, a traveller to the grave" - but especially given what has gone before on the album, this feels like a Morrissey pastiche more than anything. Still, listening to it again, it is entertaining, if highly unessential. There were far better tracks out there. I'll file it under Should Have Been a B-side. 3/5
"How Can Anybody etc" Some used the word "dirge" to describe the last track, whereas I wisely kept the "dirge" card back to play on this one. For me, it's a serious contender for worst Morrissey track up to this point. Lyrically clunky and musically plodding and uninspired, the combination of this one and the previous one in the middle of the album make a serious roadblock to my enjoyment of it. It's very much a "you've heard the title, no need to hear the song" entry. I think the lowest mark is reserved for crap covers and should-have-stayed-unheard demos, so I'll be generous and give this 2/5.
How can anyone.... For me it’s just an unpleasant song. Also I swear like a sailor but Moz’s use of ‘schiit’ on this and Bores just seems lazy and unnecessary shock value from him on both tunes. I have no problem scoring it low because I always skip this, playing it fresh today didn’t change my opinion 1 of 5 It’s funny how being the first ‘iPod album’ of his for me, and later albums too, where the weak songs of the album don’t hurt my love for the album as a whole because I just would play the songs I liked in playlists over and over, forgetting the true album flow. In the older days of CDs and LPs this 3 song stretch and a few later would’ve made me love the album as a whole a lot less than I do.
"How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel" He's been dragged through 15 miles of s--t and he does not like it. I mean as opposed to those of us who enjoy this sort of thing. Not the best lyric but this somehow fits on what is shaping up to be a really great album. 3,0/5.0
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? 1/5 The nadir of YATQ, only redeemed by Alain's churning riff. It could have been utilized for a better song. The lyrics are a Morrissey pity party by numbers.
How can anyone... 15 miles of ****e indeed ...not one of his best but ups the tempo a bit ..2.5/5 as it doesn’t offend me as much as some others ..
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel.? Not the greatest of songs on this album but not one that I really detest. Yes, it’s a bit throwaway but the guitar is quite good and at least it’s quite spritely.The lyrics are the usual ‘woe is me’ but better than others. The ‘we told you’ sample (?) towards the end always struck me as quite odd. 3/5
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? OK so it looks like I'm in the minority on this track. I enjoy(ed) the fact he for once got down and dirty with this angry Neil Young ragged & wild sounding track highlighting his sense of paranoia .... not in his default Oscar Wilde pithy, witty manner but in this seriously p***ed off more direct quasi-violent manner which is more in keeping with Oasis than The Smiths. I presume this is another song where his letting rip about losing his court case? I also think it fits perfectly on the album with regards to the next track .... 4.5/5
While it's the weakest track thus far, it's a great way to open side 2. Especially after the 4 softer proceeding songs. The self-deprecating and vulgar lyrics are also quite humorous. Solid 4/5 for "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?."
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? - I truly am marching to my own beat on this album. This appears to be lowest rated song on the album and to me, it's at least the 3rd best. I like the menacing guitar throughout. The lyrics put a smile on my face. The samples are very well placed. Solid rocker. 3.5 rating out of 5 and that might be a touch harsh.
"How Can Anybody" - clearly filler. It's not terrible, but it's also just kinda there. There's one song on this album that I think is much worse, but we haven't gotten there yet. 2.5/5.
Today’s song is First of the Gang to Die: One of Morrissey’s classic singles and a release that helped him to maintain his upward momentum in 2004. This is one of those tracks where everything comes together and when it was released I couldn’t get enough listens. Alain’s riff and Morrissey’s vocal melody blend perfectly to create a pretty much perfect pop song. The lyrics are imaginative and entertaining and help to make the song strangely celebratory despite the subject matter. There’s something rather wonderful about the fact that this could become such a singalong concert favourite. I also recall that before the 2002 tours that there was a rumour in the press that Morrissey was about to record Mexican style music. With Whyte and Boorer still around that never seemed likely, but this song and one of its b-sides must have contributed to the misinformation. As it was, that country's influence did add something a little different to the lyrics of this era. An obvious 5/5.
Missed yesterday: How Can Anybody... 3/5 - Enjoyable but slight. Works in the context of the album. Back to the present First of the Gang To Die 5/5 - Just a great pop single. The incongruity of someone like Morrissey singing wistfully about Latino gangs should really not work, but he nails the tone perfectly.
First Of The Gang To Die I do like it a lot, classic guitar licks, singalong choruses and exotic gangster lyrics but it was never a top drawer single for me. I get that people love it and that it was probably his most well known track for years, amongst non-fans, but there just isn’t anything about it gets me going as much as Irish Blood, even. Still a great track that I never skip, though. 4/5
A truly great comeback hit. For me it's a better song than Irish Blood and one of his very best singles. Like Suedehead it's a lyric loaded with innuendo ("the first of the gang with a gun in his hand"; "a bullet in the gullet", etc.) which tends to be overlooked. So I've always had the feeling this is another apparent Morrissey "character" lyric that is about more than it appears at first glance. It also sounds to me like Alain must have musically been heavily inspired by Suede's Trash. Anyway, time may have diminished the impact of this a little, but there's not much to say apart from 5/5.
First of the Gang 5 of 5. I agree with Orson, I like it more than Irish Blood. At the time, I felt maybe it was a little forced, Moz writing to his newly blossomed Latino crowd. But who cares, it's brilliant. Great music, the odd sample before the vocal kicks in (where is that sample from?). The "rich and the poor and the not very rich and the very poor" shouldn't work, but it's kind of like the 'oh no, oh yeah' bit from Playboys where everything else works on a strong song, so this just works too. The lyrics have other quirks that could've been clunkers in the past, but feel classic Morrissey here - the smashed human bones, home for the blind..... The band is on, the music is on, lyrics like a Day of the Dead meets Brighton Rock, Morrissey at his 100% confident best. Fantastic. I remember seeing this on Kilborn in 2002 and thinking it was alright, the band seemed to be missing a step on it. the 2004 Kilborn appearance, new drummer, miles better. The new album seemed to energize all of them
