if thats the case... eh. morrissey should have quit after YATQ. ROTT was a disappointment and these new singles are just terrible. there are a few good songs on each of his last two albums. but nothing i couldnt imagine living without.

would be a great choice of single
i wasn't keen on black cloud being chosen
though i think the two would be fine as singles

If for no other reason than to contrast Paris, this song had to be the next single. Aside from the fact it is the best track on the record, had they waited and released it after some other song, I fear its effect may have been lessened.

I still think a mistake was made not issuing this as the first single as a punch in the gut to announce the record but this will somewhat make amends.

dcn

As long as the b-sides are fresh (not live stuff) I'll be a very happy customer. This should have been the first single. He's almost 50, and he's still being tackled by young men and women. He still inspires people to queue and run cross-countries to see him. The world is under unbelievable pressure. Hand me a pill, and I'll take it.

I love the album. It is such a snapshot of real life and as Moz states a "powerful message". The choice of SISMS as a follow-up single is decidedly natural as it will capture a part of an audience that has first hand knowledge of psychologically damaging prescribed medications and the feeling of being forever "trapped" in a cycle of despair. The song is very much an anti-med song...which is helping me cope with withdrawals.

Perhaps we'll have Skull in Europe and Black Cloud in the US, I could see the marketing logic. They could use the same video like Stop Me/I Started Something.

I've always thought that "ponder" made more sense than "pamper". Did he ever sing that?

Fluoxetine (Prozac) works the best for me.

I think Something is Squeezing My Skull is dense with meaning and remarkable in its topical impact, both musical and lyrically. It's one of the most widely appreciated new songs amongst fans, and with more exposure, probably with general listeners too, if it can get past the usual obstacles for Morrissey's music which resemble this case:

  - One chapter in "Blink" concerns a musician named Kenna. Kenna's not an easily classifiable musician, and in today's music world, that makes him a hard sell. He has the support of many music lovers -- including an Atlantic Records executive, U2 manager Paul McGuinness and a number of club owners -- but when his record was given to a market research company (the sort that do work for radio stations), it flopped.

"Radio stations have constructed a narrow door[way], and that's because they don't understand how complex and paradoxical our snap judgments are," Gladwell says. "It's hard to measure new songs..." - http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/22/malcolm.gladwell/ [cnn.com]