First of the Gang to Die vs. Staircase at the University

[Belligerent Ghoul]

^^^^^
Gustavo

 

[MozRecording]

I'm sorry, but if he never plays FOTGTD again, I'd be very happy. He could put it on a shelf with Irish Blood and I wouldn't miss either.

 

[Justin Playfair]

^^^^^
Gustavo

Crazycool. Thanks!

 

[Girlmostlikely]

I love both but...I have to say Staircase. It's becoming one of my favorite songs ever. I love the whole new album but Staircase was a genuine surprise...truly catchy but in an off and almost subversive way. Young adult suicide is no laughing matter...but the lightness of the music coupled with the heaviness of the lyrics and the indescribable delivery...it's just classic!

 

[George the 23rd]

First of the Gang wins anyday. Its among Morrissey's catchiest songs and, as was said in that "possible hits" thread the other day, could have got to number 1 if it had been the lead single off Quarry.

 

[Agharta]

They are both lyrically shit.

'Staircase' doesn't make any sense - why is the subject of the song the staircase but the actual song about the girl? Why does she jump down the stairs when she has already been successful in her exams and actually got to the university? It would have much more insight if Moz was to have her end up stacking shelves in Sainsburys and a box of Shredded Wheat falling on her head. 'Cereal Killer In The Supermarket', anyone?

'Gang' is equally rubbish. What kind of shite gang calls themselves the Pretty Petty Thieves? A nice suburban middle class one, if the name Hector is anything to go by. And they stole all the BMWs and the organic couscous, and the vintage port and the Monet....
And how is it even possible for him to 'do time' on a street? You do that in prison, Morrissey, in case you'd forgotten. Strange lyrics, here we come.....

and you're standing on our streets
where Hector was the
first of the gang with a gun in his hand
and the first to do time

Nah, its bollocks.

 

[Orson Swells]

'Staircase' doesn't make any sense - why is the subject of the song the staircase but the actual song about the
girl?

The staircase is where the incident occurs. The song explains the motivation behind it.

Why does she jump down the stairs when she has already been successful in her exams and actually got to the university?

She's passed her exams and then crumbled under the additional pressure of being at the University.

It would have much more insight if Moz was to have her end up stacking shelves in Sainsburys and a box of Shredded Wheat falling on her head. 'Cereal Killer In The Supermarket', anyone?

No, that really is rubbish.

'Gang' is equally rubbish. What kind of shite gang calls themselves the Pretty Petty Thieves?

I've always heard it as "we are the pretty, petty thieves" but I can't recall how the lyric is printed. Anyway, I suppose it is meant to suggest a certain kind of gang... one whose gang members happily take a bullet in the gullet.

A nice suburban middle class one, if the name Hector is anything to go by. And they stole all the BMWs and the organic couscous, and the vintage port and the Monet....

Wrong. Hector is a very common Mexican name. Just a cursory Google brought up this chap...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9ctor_Beltr%C3%A1n_Leyva

... though Morrissey is clearly amused by being able to use the name Hector in this context. It's a deliberate incongruity that on closer inspection actually isn't incongruous at all.

And how is it even possible for him to 'do time' on a street? You do that in prison, Morrissey, in case you'd forgotten. Strange lyrics, here we come.....

and you're standing on our streets
where Hector was the
first of the gang with a gun in his hand
and the first to do time

Nah, its bollocks.

The lyric isn't linear. These are different completely different past events from completely different moments in time. Nothing strange about it.

 

[Agharta]

Nice try, but they're still shite.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't understand how Staircase can be such a popular song. I can sort of understand someone forgiving the poor lyrics because they like the tune or Gustavo's guitar part, but how did such a person end up being a Morrissey fan?

 

[Peterb]

I don't understand how Staircase can be such a popular song. I can sort of understand someone forgiving the poor lyrics because they like the tune or Gustavo's guitar part, but how did such a person end up being a Morrissey fan?

Well, that's me!
And I have no idea how I ended up being a Morrissey fan.
I guess I must have committed the huge sin of liking his songs.

 

[Thewlis]

Close call. Staircase is great, maybe the best song on World Peace, a 9 out of 10, but 'First of' is a bonafide classic, one of his best-known and best songs, so it wins.

 

[Anonymous]

it's a worthwhile comparison - they are the most euphoric songs he's sung in the last 20 years, and if Harvest dropping him means Stairway doesn't get released, it'll be a tragedy. although they are both great, musically, Stairway to University is largely rubbish, lyrically. feeble, unfunny, foolish and unpoetic. FOTG isn't a work of lyrical genius but it's funny and sharp enough to result in a brilliant song, overall. the lyrics to stairway really drag it down.

 

[Oh my god. it's Robby!]

^^^^^
Robby, I was at The Cat and Fiddle in Hollywood some years ago and talked to a Mexican-American waiter / sometimes Moz chauffer...and well, after that, not only did it affirm how I imagined the song came about, but it made it very clear. He drove Moz to some gigs in L.A., including:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikel_Erentxun

yeah, interesting and of course I know that the song has nothing to do with me
its just a number of the lyrics personally resonate for me