Are Morrissey's lyrics just not that good anymore?

[Worm]

I thought you might have awoken one morning to find yourself transformed into a cockroach.

There are days, Vauxhuall, there are days...

That's why I come here-- to feel human again.

 

[That's Enough For Me]

For me, the appreciation of a song comes when the music acts as the 'bow' to fire the lyrical 'arrow' into your head/heart and it really wedges in and means something to you.

Andrew Collins said, when reviewing Your Arsenal that 'Morrissey's back, but Morrissey was never the problem. It was who he chose to put his words to music'

While I don't entirely agree with that as Moz has written some very poor pieces, I don't think there's anything evocative or intiguing or even compelling about the musical element of his songs now.

He retains a tremendous ability to fashion a memorable melody but has no tune to complete it with. Just very bland meanderers to back him. Maybe he wants it so.

After reading all the positives about 'My Dearest Love' on here, I went to check out the song and at the same time was I playing the Moz vocal version of 'Please Help The Cause...'

Now bear in mind that this didn't even see the light of day on an official Smiths release, it's still light years more enjoyable than the music that accompanies MDL.

It's here that I get frustrated. Moz is unique in his ability to engage the audience to such a level of 'buy-in' on what he has to say but I don't understand how he, with his pedigree and history, recieving a piece of 'music' such as I Knew I Was Next, Noise Is The Best Revenge or Children In Pieces, is happy to put his name to it.

When even journalists who have loved him start refering to this missing piece of his product again and again, there must be something in it.

I'm looking forward to being captivated once again with the new record. Moz has still got 'it' and I'm still the willing customer even though both have changed, a great song is still a great song.

Whatever I think of his band as people, I do wish he'd start again and revert to memorable music to showcase his sentiments.

 

[Anaesthesine]

It's here that I get frustrated. Moz is unique in his ability to engage the audience to such a level of 'buy-in' on what he has to say but I don't understand how he, with his pedigree and history, recieving a piece of 'music' such as I Knew I Was Next, Noise Is The Best Revenge or Children In Pieces, is happy to put his name to it.

I agree.

That is my frustration as well. Morrissey has created (and resides over) the greatest reservoir of goodwill any singer ever had. All it would take for him to be back on top would be a disciplined, critical musical ear, and lyrical rigor. Sometimes he reminds me of someone trying to light a huge bonfire with a wet match.

I'm looking forward to being captivated once again with the new record. Moz has still got 'it' and I'm still the willing customer even though both have changed, a great song is still a great song.

Whatever I think of his band as people, I do wish he'd start again and revert to memorable music to showcase his sentiments.

Yep, he still has it, and I'm still game. Like so many other people here, I just can't figure out why someone with Morrissey's natural musical gifts thinks "My Dearest Love" sounds like a vinyl B-Side, and "That's How People Grow Up" sounds like a hit. It's truly mystifying. The fact that he has made the same bizarre misjudgments before raises the eternal question: is he mad, or just perverse?

I don't mind that he's changed - I like him the way he is, but I do get frustrated in the way only an obsessive can. Really, when someone else I've been listening to for years puts out a dud I shrug my shoulders. When Morrissey gets it wrong I take it personally.

 

[Vauxhall95]

he said already in 93 something about not being to strapped to his books and films references in 1993 with an interview for an British mag

'Now My Heart Is Full' has a sense of jubilant exhaustion with looking over one's shoulder all the time and draining one's reference points. I mean, even I - even I - went a little bit too far with A Taste Of Honey.
"I have perhaps overtapped my sources and now all that is over, basically. I have a vast record and video and tape collection, but I look at it now in a different light. It's no longer something I feel I need to be embroiled in night and day. I have realised that the past is actually over, and it is a great relief to me. It's like being told that you've been cured of chronic tuberculosis or housewife's knee or something."

Here’s a thought: we all know Morrissey’s penchant for “stealing,” er, borrowing lines from literature, movies, music, etc. Perhaps there is no coincidence once Morrissey began to distance himself lyrically from his library his lyrics have become “less poetic?” Just a thought for a Friday flame war…

 

[raincoated lover]

Here’s thought: we all know Morrissey’s penchant for “stealing,” er, borrowing lines from literature, movies, music, etc. Perhaps there is no coincidence once Morrissey began to distance himself lyrically from his library his lyrics have become “less poetic?” Just a thought for a Friday flame war…

This is true, I think that he spent so much time as a teenager constructing his inspirations that now he has exhausted paying homage to them he has struggled to write as passionatley as he did before.

 

[Corrissey]

Great page, you are all correct and speak so eloquently...I'd even let you order off the menu for me Moz fans are very com/passionate dedicated and slightly only slightly less irrational

I just had a "Moz moment" while driving to 'Nobody Loves Us'. What a fantastic song, perfect in every way... it gives me goosebumps. I sing it at the top of my lungs and I just feel 'complete'. And it's like no Moz song can come 'after' it... like I have to 'end' my driving for the day on a high note. This is what I want. More of. He does too (right?! j/k) and this is what we want for Morrissey, to 'go out' on a high note. A legend deserves as much. We all want Morrissey to be his best and we know it's in him. No pressure, sweetie pie

 

[sistasheila]

Here’s a thought: we all know Morrissey’s penchant for “stealing,” er, borrowing lines from literature, movies, music, etc. Perhaps there is no coincidence once Morrissey began to distance himself lyrically from his library his lyrics have become “less poetic?” Just a thought for a Friday flame war…

well i dont entirely agree as I said a lot of hhis best songs solo are not written with references to films and books vauxhall(with 2 exceptions)
for example where he relied mostly on his own experiences to write about

 

[9 x Fined]

Some people just run on approval autopilot and say they love everything that has been trickling out in the last year or so. Personally I think it's all been fairly tuneless and boring, as much as it pains me to say it.

 

[9 x Fined]

charming...

 

[Vauxhall95]

charming...

Wow! A ball sweat soaked shirt. I did not need to see that. Morrissey, WTF?

P.S. I'm gonna guess that shirt was ripped apart in a fan melee. Hey Mozzer, what not just wipe your ass with it? I mean, what the hell?!!?

 

[bikubesong]

^^ How can this even be questioned?!

 

[Anaesthesine]

Great page, you are all correct and speak so eloquently...I'd even let you order off the menu for me Moz fans are very com/passionate dedicated and slightly only slightly less irrational

I just had a "Moz moment" while driving to 'Nobody Loves Us'. What a fantastic song, perfect in every way... it gives me goosebumps. I sing it at the top of my lungs and I just feel 'complete'. And it's like no Moz song can come 'after' it... like I have to 'end' my driving for the day on a high note.

Nobody loves Us is my favorite Moz song. It's perfect in every way. It is compassionate, clever, tender, affectionate, mocking, and timelessly relevant. The way he sings it, in that subdued, serious, weary-yet-belt-it-out kind of a way is what makes him the greatest singer I've ever heard.

This is what I want. More of. He does too (right?! j/k) and this is what we want for Morrissey, to 'go out' on a high note. A legend deserves as much. We all want Morrissey to be his best and we know it's in him. No pressure, sweetie pie

Yep, we're all pulling for him - we all want him to be his best, to be the singer we fell in love with. I await the new album with as much apprehension as excitement.

I still wonder if he reads these boards, and reads what his loyal and most loving fans have to say about his "borrowed" talent, or his personal quirks, or his "crap" lyrics and faulty musical judgement.

It would be kind of devastating, I think. "AYNIM" certainly takes on a new poignancy.

Morrissey, hon, I have faith in you.

 

[Joshu's Mu]

There's a bit of the magpie in every poet, I think. Not necessarily that Morrissey is or isn't a poet (debatable, certainly), but that lyricists always work, as they say in the academy, intertextually, i.e. working with and through the lenses of past works. To me, there's less reliance on Wilde-like wit in the recent work, and more of an attempt to reach a personal self-understanding. Less narrative, less spin. And for that, I think his lyrics aren't really as good as they have been in the past.

And yet! I love the words to "I Will See You in Far-Off Places." So the talent is there, it just needs to be explored more.

 

[CharlieFairhead]

Quite easy to focus in on the negative but it's a good debate nonetheless. Morrissey has written some of the best lines ever in popular music and can easily add to that hefty lyrical cannon.
No matter what happens you can generally quote a Moz lyric, enjoy his uniqueness whilst he's still around i say.
lalalala

 

[That's Enough For Me]

^^ How can this even be questioned?!

I'm guessing freedom of both speech and thought, but I could be mistaken.

 

[Vauxhall95]

well i dont entirely agree as I said a lot of his best songs solo are not written with references to films and books Vauxhall with 2 exceptions) for example where he relied mostly on his own experiences to write about

I just think his writing style and content have evolved over time. If I may draw a loose analogy, I remember the first time I watched a Woody Allen movie laced with the "f" word. It was clear he was writing in a different manner and sought a deeper level of authenticity and credibility in his writing.

Whatever the reason, while I feel Morrissey can still write songs "poetic" in nature, he has largely written those songs before, and they are hard to top. So, he's shifted gears lyrically and topically and is writing about areas which are fresh to him: the ability to finally embrace happiness, perhaps even love, what it is like to be Morrissey, and the occasional social/political commentary.

 

[nogodsnomasters85]

I think he's slipping. I like Quarry, (Although i thought Ringleader was pretty so-so.) the new tracks sound good, nut nothing in the past few years has had the lyrical depth of Suedehead, etc.

 

[raincoated lover]

I think he's slipping. I like Quarry, (Although i thought Ringleader was pretty so-so.) the new tracks sound good, nut nothing in the past few years has had the lyrical depth of Suedehead, etc.

I absolutely agree. I think for me personally, having my favourite ever Morrissey lyric on the first track of the first album, Reel Around The Fountain, kind of leads me to judge everything he submits to us literary vultures that are Morrissey fans.

Of course he is still one of the best lyricists - but he isn't magical like he was before. I think he still as the potential to be again, but he stumped himself with ROTT - Morrissey doesn't like sex for 20 years. Has sex. Makes great album.

Now what?

 

[justme]

I absolutely agree. I think for me personally, having my favourite ever Morrissey lyric on the first track of the first album, Reel Around The Fountain, kind of leads me to judge everything he submits to us literary vultures that are Morrissey fans.

Of course he is still one of the best lyricists - but he isn't magical like he was before. I think he still as the potential to be again, but he stumped himself with ROTT - Morrissey doesn't like sex for 20 years. Has sex. Makes great album.

Now what?

Now life goes on and he is still here, documenting his life and the way he feels, whether we like it or not - and I'm sure everyone here would be devastated if he decided to stop doing so (I know I would...)

It has been a great journey, over 25 years, to witness all the changes he has been through and to realise he is still a great lyricist and a great character. There are not many like this: we know it and Moz, I hope you know this too because in the end, when all is said and done, Its you we love

 

[dunya]

When I hear a song that I really like I try to find more songs by the artist. Later, will look to find out about the artist's character. It's the music that draws first and foremost.

If Morrissey is attracting a new, youthful, audience that means the songs are good enough for them and the songwriting (music and lyrics) are still of sufficient standard to be noticed and appreciated.

Some here will have been listening for years, know the songs well, have their opinions about what is the "best" work. As his life changes, his work changes. As our lives change, different songs will appeal according to our understanding of our own situation. Is it really necessary to know very much about Morrissey's life to appreciate the songs? Because without having experienced it for ourselves, we wouldn't be able to understand and enjoy the way he writes...

How can quality be measured? By record sales, by tour receipts? By loyalty of audience or longevity of career? Are awards or "Hall of Fame" of real significance? Or is a song good because it communicates universal experience in a way that touches and affects people in a way that enhances their life? How can you measure that?