Discussion Topic: Lyric changes at live shows

[King Leer]

Morrissey has obviously been doing this forever, but I've noticed that purists (especially those that worship The Smiths and see the solo years and secondary) get irked at the changes.

Is it because the changes inevitably lean toward the more straightforward, more sexual, less subtle, arguably less "poetic"?

I think it's interesting that Moz is taking a lyric like "...let me, let me, let me, get what I want" to "...let me, let me, let me, have who I want".

It's as if he's saying, THIS is what I meant all those years ago, and now I'm going to say it without any poetic encumbrance.

I think the lyric changes add another element to his live pop art (careful to avoide "performance") as they stimulate amusement, surprise and even anger at the desecration of sacred words.

I have no problem with lyric and vocal melody changes as it's like a barometer of where Morrissey is at Now. I can always enjoy the original studio recordings if I want.

 

[King Leer]

Whoops, I meant to add a poll, but I see that you can no longer delete your own thread. Oh well.

 

[Musley]

I remember from last year when he changed on Still Ill

"England is mine and it owe's me a living" to
"England's a swine, and it owes me a living".

I can't work out what, if anything, he meant by this change. I have my own theories. What do you think?

 

[King Leer]

Good question. Maybe related to Inland Revenue (now HMRC)?

I remember from last year when he changed on Still Ill

"England is mine and it owe's me a living" to
"England's a swine, and it owes me a living".

I can't work out what, if anything, he meant by this change. I have my own theories. What do you think?

 

[girlunafraid]

slightly off-topic here but I remember when he covered the Jam's That's Entertainment on the Kill Uncle tour, when I first heard it, I thought the numock has forgotten the words but when I heard it on the single I realised that that was how he'd meant to sing it, he'd changed the lyrics! No wonder Mr Weller was upset.

Most of the other lyric changes have made me chuckle except for the roy's keen one where he exchanged 'window cleaner' for 'midfielder', well it just didn't fit nor make sense imho

love

Grim

 

[jeniphir]

There are some changes I think are good (changing "walkman" to "iPod" seems a no-brainer and I think I'd wonder about it, had he not changed it), some that are irksome to me (I am of the opinion that "let me have who I want" diminishes that particular song), and I rather enjoy humourous/situational ones when they occur, as they serve as further proof that Moz is engaged in the moment, and not just singing by the numbers. I can understand wanting to hear a favourite song pretty much as written, but it's not as if he's making Weird Al Yankovic-style parodies of his old songs, so I think those who get annoyed that he's changing lyrics at all should get over themselves.

They're his songs, he can do what he wants with them, and I think the day he stops switching up lyrics and starts performing on auto-pilot (should that day ever arrive) is when he will lose me, at least as far as paying out the nose for live gigs goes.

--jeniphir

 

[King Leer]

There was another thread (maybe the Moon River entry in Houdini's poll) where people debated the changes he made to his cover version, which improved it in most people's opinion.

Mainly talking about off-the-cuff changes or more conscious ones that stay the course (eg. updating Walkman to iPod).

Christ, you have to wonder how much nastier he would make Sorrow Will Come...if he ever chose to do that track live.

 

[snapyou]

There was another thread (maybe the Moon River entry in Houdini's poll) where people debated the changes he made to his cover version, which improved it in most people's opinion.

.

Yes,he dropped the "huckleberry friend" which never made much sense anyway.WTF is a huckleberry friend?

 

[vicarinatutugal]

I like this topic, we have had a couple of discussions before and I think it throws up memories and makes me want to seek out some bootlegs I might not have listened too, I quite like the changes, I am not overly keen on the please please change or the englands a swine one in still ill but there are some that are really good and entertaining, I am thinking of Hairdresser on fire for one.

 

[bagface]

I like this topic, we have had a couple of discussions before and I think it throws up memories and makes me want to seek out some bootlegs I might not have listened too, I quite like the changes, I am not overly keen on the please please change or the englands a swine one in still ill but there are some that are really good and entertaining, I am thinking of Hairdresser on fire for one.

"and when he said i'm gonna screw you..." hahaha

 

[vicarinatutugal]

"and when he said i'm gonna screw you..." hahaha

yes

 

[The Seeker of Good Songs]

Yes,he dropped the "huckleberry friend" which never made much sense anyway.WTF is a huckleberry friend?

Thee are a couple of theories on what a Huckleberry Friend is but they are both similar.

One is that it is the runaway slave Jim from the Huckleberry Finn/Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain stories.

Huckleberry spent most of his time loafing, fishing, etc, not going to school or working. Floating down the river with Jim his friend, just enjoying themselves and having a good time.

The other is that Johnny Mercer, when a kid, would pick huckleberries with his friends in Georgia where he lived.

So the phrase Huckleberry Friend is supposed to imply ones friend/buddy etc who you enjoy good times with.

Moon River,
Wider than a mile:
I'm crossin' you in style
Some day.
Old dream maker,
You heart breaker,
Wherever your goin',
I'm goin' your way:
Two drifters,
Off to see the world,
There's such a lot of world
To see.
We're after the same
Rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend,
My huckleberry friend,
Moon River
and me.

The song makes sense in regard to the Huckleberry Finn story (which I am currently reading to my kids for bedtime story) where Huck and Jim are floating down the Mississippi River having adventures and helping each other and looking for a better life.

 

[Paulc]

i guess they are after all his songs - he can do what he likes with them

i think he just does it for fun - does anyone remember the "i've only got two heads" change, not sure which tour - or to update a song written maybe 20 years ago

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

There are some changes I think are good (changing "walkman" to "iPod" seems a no-brainer and I think I'd wonder about it, had he not changed it), some that are irksome to me (I am of the opinion that "let me have who I want" diminishes that particular song), and I rather enjoy humourous/situational ones when they occur, as they serve as further proof that Moz is engaged in the moment, and not just singing by the numbers. I can understand wanting to hear a favourite song pretty much as written, but it's not as if he's making Weird Al Yankovic-style parodies of his old songs, so I think those who get annoyed that he's changing lyrics at all should get over themselves.

They're his songs, he can do what he wants with them, and I think the day he stops switching up lyrics and starts performing on auto-pilot (should that day ever arrive) is when he will lose me, at least as far as paying out the nose for live gigs goes.

--jeniphir

I like the way you think. NY will be fun.

Anyway, I agree totally with this. I just saw Crowded House on their reunion tour at House of Blues in Chicago, and they did every damn song note-for-note like the originals. I've got the CDs, had them for nigh on 20 years. A good friend and colleague of mine is to Neil Finn as I am to Moz, and she was in the front row of the pit, elbows on the stage, at the show in her city. She did not get a handshake. She did not even get any eye contact. It was a good show, but I could have stayed home and programmed it on my iPod. Morrissey is totally different. He loves going to shows himself, loves hearing how his favorites interpret their work in a live setting, so it makes sense that he's going to try to give us something different when we see him live.

However, I do agree that "let me have who I want" cheapens and diminishes the universality of the original. I didn't think it was supposed to be so petty as "God I want to shag him/her/it/them/whatever" but perhaps that's all he meant by it, and the profundity was just a youthful error.

 

[Walkers Crisp]

I love the change he made to "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" once - can't remember what bootleg it is on:
"When you sleep I will creep into your bed like a sick song that you can't stand..take the difficult way and give in to me" (or so...)

Yes, i quite like those lyric changes.

 

[treygar]

Mozz's lyric changes live are what makes every single show he does entirely different than the rest, to my knowledge no other band EVER can stake this claim.

This is why no matter what show you have been to, you can say that only you and the audience you were with saw it there, and the next night he can sing the same exact setlist but put in different words to make that night just as different and just as special.

Don't even get started on his between song banter, saying that they were gonna play their version of Sweet Home Alabama and going into Girfriend in a Coma is more than genius.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Mozz's lyric changes live are what makes every single show he does entirely different than the rest, to my knowledge no other band EVER can stake this claim.

This is why no matter what show you have been to, you can say that only you and the audience you were with saw it there, and the next night he can sing the same exact setlist but put in different words to make that night just as different and just as special.

Don't even get started on his between song banter, saying that they were gonna play their version of Sweet Home Alabama and going into Girfriend in a Coma is more than genius.

You were there too? See, that was our night and we will never forget it.

 

[TLOTFamousIP]

I don't see the fuss myself. I'm sure he doesn't spend months in the build-up to a tour thinking about how he can change the lyrics to fit in with a whole new agenda or outlook on life. It's his song, if he wants to say a different word when singing it then fair enough.

It would be a different matter if he came into my home, burnt my CD collection, deleted every song off my iPod and replaced them all with these different live versions...

 

[JoyDiv007]

I like his lyric changes, though changes during Please didn't work well but who cares.

 

[joey]

I like hearing little changes in the songs. Like during The Queen Is Dead this last time around, he sang "I swear to god I still don't know what drugs are."

I wonder if he'll do any during this upcoming tour.