"Nobody Loves Us" #1 in 100 Most Underrated Indie Rock Songs - Mandatory

Cory writes:

Thought you would like to know that Morrissey's "Nobody Loves Us" came in at #1 of this list of the 100 Most Underrated Indie Rock Songs - Mandatory. "Wonderful Woman" came in at #38.

Thanks for your time!

 

[Anonymous]

If you don't know Dagenham I suppose it might be quite a strange song. It's all about context and perspective. In Britain Dagenham is known as a lower middle class town/suburb populated, in no small part, by aggressive knuckle dragging tossers. Stop me if I generalise...

Morrissey loves knuckle-dragging tossers, and while he IS saying what you're claiming, I don't think it's an attack. It's the same reason he likes the skinheads. Young, dumb...

 

[bored]

I approve this message. Great, great song. Not so bad on WW either but NLU is a real gem.

 

[Oh my god. it's Robby!]

I approve this message. Great, great song. Not so bad on WW either but NLU is a real gem.

yeah, what he said

 

[Anaesthesine]

"Nobody Loves Us" is a classic - the lyrics, the vocal melody, the sentiment: flawless. It's tender, funny, sad, silly, affectionate, teasing and resigned, balancing so many conflicting emotions in that subtle way only Morrissey can. Like everyone else I've always been baffled as to why this ended up as a B-Side when it's easily one of his finest Solo moments, on par with The Smiths.

This is one of those songs that I've longed to hear live but (like so many of his masterpieces) he keeps it locked inside.

Yes, criminally unheard, underplayed and underrated.

It's perfect, Morrissey distilled into 4minutes 51 seconds, if you ever get into the "what? why you into Morrissey" conversation, make them listen to this, if they don't get it, then forget it, they'll never understand. This is growing up in a northern town in the 60's /70's, it's what he's all about. Underated? yes in the scheme of things, i suppose it is, but not round these parts.

Absolutely.

 

[MozAngeles818]

There's A Light is pretty underrated

 

[Orson Swells]

I always thought this verse was about repressed homosexuality.

He'd love to touch
but he's afraid
that he might self-combust
I could say more
but you get the general idea.

I think you're dead right. He's the typical Morrissey "tough kid who sometimes swallows nails" - a working-class lad with somewhat ambiguous sexual leanings!

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

I always thought this verse was about repressed homosexuality.

He'd love to touch
but he's afraid
that he might self-combust
I could say more
but you get the general idea.

Yep, I'm sure you're right. Morrissey does seem to like his wild boys. Perhaps this is Moz telling us once more that he is, in Uncle Monty's immortal phrase, sponge, not stone.

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

"Nobody Loves Us" is a classic - the lyrics, the vocal melody, the sentiment: flawless. It's tender, funny, sad, silly, affectionate, teasing and resigned, balancing so many conflicting emotions in that subtle way only Morrissey can. Like everyone else I've always been baffled as to why this ended up as a B-Side when it's easily one of his finest Solo moments, on par with The Smiths.

This is one of those songs that I've longed to hear live but (like so many of his masterpieces) he keeps it locked inside.

Yes, criminally unheard, underplayed and underrated.



Absolutely.

Nobody Loves Us is one of perhaps half a dozen solo songs which could have slipped easily onto Strangeways. It's superb.

 

[shayde]

yeah, nobody loves us is one of morrissey's best songs. dagenham dave was one of his very worst.
how could he not tell?
he must have thought dagenham dave was pretty good to release as a single?
the lyrics on nobody are deep, defiant and sad, dagenham has dreadful lyrics repeated over and over.
crazy!

 

[Rowntree]

Am I the only one that finds it sonically average at best?

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Am I the only one that finds it sonically average at best?

Yet still one of Morrissey's greatest solo songs.

Maybe it's what happens when you first arrive in the public consciousness with a sheaf of such magnificent songs. You end up three decades later with people extolling above average songs like Paris or YHKM as a triumphant return to form, when they would have been decent Smiths B Sides.

 

[Rowntree]

Yet still one of Morrissey's greatest solo songs.

Maybe it's what happens when you first arrive in the public consciousness with a sheaf of such magnificent songs. You end up three decades later with people extolling above average songs like Paris or YHKM as a triumphant return to form, when they would have been decent Smiths B Sides.

In your opinion of course as it's all subjective.

For me only time The Smiths came close to anything like this was when they did a cover version. I don't know if it's just the production of Morrissey's songs around this time, lyrically it's great but musically I find it pretty dull, much the same as Sunny and Boxers. I don't really compare Smiths and Morrissey solo stuff so much as The Smiths had a distinct sound and one which is my personal favourite, I just take each song as it comes. I like Paris and Moz's last album is in my favourite two solo albums, if we're talking under rated indie rock songs I'd have a few off of that, The Operation, Reader Meets Author, Jack The Ripper, basically, loads of Morrissey songs that have been buried as album tracks or b-sides but not Nobody Loves Us.

 

[Tingle3]

It is one of his best. 'Do Your Best' edges it for me though because of the energy.

This was good:
http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/live/moz-g951118.htm

 

[markem41]

yeah, nobody loves us is one of morrissey's best songs. dagenham dave was one of his very worst.
how could he not tell?
he must have thought dagenham dave was pretty good to release as a single?
the lyrics on nobody are deep, defiant and sad, dagenham has dreadful lyrics repeated over and over.
crazy!

I think the simplicity of the lyrics and the repetition are intentional - they represent the character of the song. Dagenham Dave has no depth and there's not much to say about his life. Maybe he wanted to be The Boy Racer?

 

[Anonymous]

"Nobody Loves Us" is a classic - the lyrics, the vocal melody, the sentiment: flawless. It's tender, funny, sad, silly, affectionate, teasing and resigned, balancing so many conflicting emotions in that subtle way only Morrissey can. Like everyone else I've always been baffled as to why this ended up as a B-Side when it's easily one of his finest Solo moments, on par with The Smiths.

This is one of those songs that I've longed to hear live but (like so many of his masterpieces) he keeps it locked inside.

Yes, criminally unheard, underplayed and underrated.



Absolutely.

Agree completely. If a person can listen to this song and not shed a tear, then he/she has no soul. Camden, I've Changed My Plea, We'll Let You Know, and Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself have them same effect on me (just to name a few). I have always wondered how he selects his singles; it seems like so many perfect opportunities have been missed. I adore this man, but sometimes it seems as though he throws giant boulders on his own path and then sits down in dismay, wondering why he can't proceed.

lynnda

 

[Anonymous]

Moz wrote Nobody Loves Us about my stepdad, they were outside a shopping centre in Manchester eating cake and my stepdad was like "oh look at us, stuffing our faces with cake, nobody loves us!" then when he heard the song he phoned him like "oh, did you nick that from me?" and morrissey was like "haha i did yeah"

 

[Anaesthesine]

Agree completely. If a person can listen to this song and not shed a tear, then he/she has no soul. Camden, I've Changed My Plea, We'll Let You Know, and Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself have them same effect on me (just to name a few). I have always wondered how he selects his singles; it seems like so many perfect opportunities have been missed. I adore this man, but sometimes it seems as though he throws giant boulders on his own path and then sits down in dismay, wondering why he can't proceed.

lynnda

I've long considered this one of pop music's great mysteries: how can a man with a perfect musical sense get it so wrong so often (witness "My Dearest Love")? I finally had to chalk it up to willful (or compulsive) irrationality, a form of self-sabotage. Some folks think he "saved" his best material for his B-sides as a gift to his fans; this may well be, but if so it's rather self-defeating.

The same man wrote "Nobody Loves Us" and "Best Friend on the Payroll." The chasm between the two in terms of spirit, sophistication and musicality is so vast it's like two different artists (or perhaps he really is two people). The awful song made the album and the great one languished on the back of a mediocre single. Inexplicable.

I enjoy reading your posts by the way lynnda: a welcome respite from all the entrenched spite.

 

[Rowntree]

Rowntree's top ten under rated indie songs...

1. Please, please, please let me get what I want
2. Hand in glove
3. Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me
4. Well I wonder
5. The Headmaster Ritual
6. Shoplifters of the World united
7. There is a light that never goes out
8. Jack the Ripper
9. Used to be a sweet boy
10. I know very well how I got my name

e.g. songs that barely scraped the charts, were album tracks or b-sides. Morrissey and The Smiths should be up there with anyone but that lack of promotion cost them dear. Their songs would make up my whole top 100

Nobody Loves Us wouldn't get close, to me it's just a fan favourite with no threat of appealing to people outside of the fanbase.

Still, there's a lot to be said for having b-sides at least as good as your a-sides, how many artists can claim that throughout their career or ever?

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Agree completely. If a person can listen to this song and not shed a tear, then he/she has no soul. Camden, I've Changed My Plea, We'll Let You Know, and Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself have them same effect on me (just to name a few). I have always wondered how he selects his singles; it seems like so many perfect opportunities have been missed. I adore this man, but sometimes it seems as though he throws giant boulders on his own path and then sits down in dismay, wondering why he can't proceed.

lynnda

Come Back To Camden is an absolute gem, even amongst an album as magnificent as Quarry.

 

[Anonymous]

I've long considered this one of pop music's great mysteries: how can a man with a perfect musical sense get it so wrong so often (witness "My Dearest Love")? I finally had to chalk it up to willful (or compulsive) irrationality, a form of self-sabotage. Some folks think he "saved" his best material for his B-sides as a gift to his fans; this may well be, but if so it's rather self-defeating.

The same man wrote "Nobody Loves Us" and "Best Friend on the Payroll." The chasm between the two in terms of spirit, sophistication and musicality is so vast it's like two different artists (or perhaps he really is two people). The awful song made the album and the great one languished on the back of a mediocre single. Inexplicable.

I enjoy reading your posts by the way lynnda: a welcome respite from all the entrenched spite.

Thank you. We seem to share similar philosophies when it comes to Morrissey. I get frustrated by some of the things that he does and says; but, I won't give up on him. I think that you make a good point about self-sabotage; there are some people who won't, or can't, allow themselves to be completely successful or happy; and I think that this is the case with M. That being said, I don't think that attacking him the way so many do on this site will ever prompt him to change. Since he released You are the Quarry, he seems to display this overt bravado and defiance, and that has caused many people to change their opinion of him; but I sincerely think that his hardened attitude is a defensive reaction from being maligned or ignored by people in his industry. I wish Morrissey could see through the negative aspects and realize how many still respect and cherish him as an artist. I just want to see the boy happy, with some hope in his pale eyes.