Welcome and Happy Birthday Morrissey!
May 23rd 2008 03:01
I've had this blog for about a week now and thought it was time I actually posted something.
Firstly, a warning. I am not a musician. I cannot play any instruments (apart from the recorder but even that is rusty nowadays). I certainly can't read music and your ears will be all the better off if they never heard me attempt to carry a tune.
But before I lose anyone who has bothered to keep reading to this paragraph, I will tell you of my intentions for this blog. My lack of musical prowess does nothing to diminish my love for music. In fact, it probably strengthens it. My admiration for the talent that musicians possess is unbound.
The music that speaks most to me is music with clever lyrics, that have something too say about the world we live in, be it a political, social or cultural commentary. In short, I like songs that make you think (well my other blog is called ThoughtZone after all). My intention then is to show video clips, print their lyrics and discuss the story behind the song. Some of the songs will be obscure and whilst having a big impact on me, may not necessarily have done so to many others people. Other songs will have shook the world.
Since yesterday (Thursday, May 22) was the birthday of one of my favourite songwriters, the king of irony himself, Morrissey from seminal British band The Smiths and since the song I am about to show is my favourite song of all time, I thought it would be the perfect way to kick start this blog. And with that I give you How Soon Is Now?.
Enjoy.
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
There's a club, if you'd like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry
And you want to die.
When you say it's gonna happen now,
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone.
I am Human
And I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does.
In keeping with songwriter Morrissey's tendency to gain inspiration from literature, the opening of the song is taken from George Eliot's novel Middlemarch: To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular"
The song is essentially about one person's lonlieness borne about from crippling shyness and inability to connect with anyone around him. Many have also taken the lyrics to be referring to gay club culture in 1980 Manchester.
Although this song is now regarded as many people's favourite Smiths tune, it didn't fair too well at the time of release in 1984 rising to only #24 on the singles chart in England and failing to chart altogether in the US.
I was too young to fully appreciate the music of The Smiths at the time. I didn't discover this song until my early teens a few years after its release. But it became an instant favourite and no song has ever managed to move me more. I think it's a combination of Morrissey's sorrowful voice and raw lyrics which so effectively convey hope, lonliness and ultimately resignation and defeat. The struggle of simply being alive....
But please don't mention Alyssa Milano or that television show. Please.
Firstly, a warning. I am not a musician. I cannot play any instruments (apart from the recorder but even that is rusty nowadays). I certainly can't read music and your ears will be all the better off if they never heard me attempt to carry a tune.
But before I lose anyone who has bothered to keep reading to this paragraph, I will tell you of my intentions for this blog. My lack of musical prowess does nothing to diminish my love for music. In fact, it probably strengthens it. My admiration for the talent that musicians possess is unbound.
The music that speaks most to me is music with clever lyrics, that have something too say about the world we live in, be it a political, social or cultural commentary. In short, I like songs that make you think (well my other blog is called ThoughtZone after all). My intention then is to show video clips, print their lyrics and discuss the story behind the song. Some of the songs will be obscure and whilst having a big impact on me, may not necessarily have done so to many others people. Other songs will have shook the world.
Since yesterday (Thursday, May 22) was the birthday of one of my favourite songwriters, the king of irony himself, Morrissey from seminal British band The Smiths and since the song I am about to show is my favourite song of all time, I thought it would be the perfect way to kick start this blog. And with that I give you How Soon Is Now?.
Enjoy.
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
There's a club, if you'd like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry
And you want to die.
When you say it's gonna happen now,
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone.
I am Human
And I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does.
In keeping with songwriter Morrissey's tendency to gain inspiration from literature, the opening of the song is taken from George Eliot's novel Middlemarch: To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular"
The song is essentially about one person's lonlieness borne about from crippling shyness and inability to connect with anyone around him. Many have also taken the lyrics to be referring to gay club culture in 1980 Manchester.
Although this song is now regarded as many people's favourite Smiths tune, it didn't fair too well at the time of release in 1984 rising to only #24 on the singles chart in England and failing to chart altogether in the US.
I was too young to fully appreciate the music of The Smiths at the time. I didn't discover this song until my early teens a few years after its release. But it became an instant favourite and no song has ever managed to move me more. I think it's a combination of Morrissey's sorrowful voice and raw lyrics which so effectively convey hope, lonliness and ultimately resignation and defeat. The struggle of simply being alive....
But please don't mention Alyssa Milano or that television show. Please.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
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Artist Quirk
hahaha
has your head exploded yet?
i actually didnt realise this was a smiths song and i thank you for bringing it to my attention as i think the original is much more powerful . . . and i like it alot better than the last smiths song you showed me!
Just like everybody else does
these must be some of the most simple powerful song lyrics in history
and also i always thought they meant "air" not "heir" so it is interesting to see all the lyrics printed like that
why does it say "Meat Is Murder" under the song name on the video? is that the album name? or did Morrisey have to nominate a lefty cause every time he produced a clip? lol
and what ever happened to Love Spit Love . . . you dont seem to hear about them anymore
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Yeah meat is murder is the name of the album. A lot of people like this song because it doesn't really sound like their other stuff hahaha. i love everything that man does.
Poor Morrissey no-one knows the trouble he has seen.
I didn't realise it was used in The Craft but it was the theme song of Charmed. I didn't know who it was that covered it. Don't know much about Love Spit Love I'm afraid.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Happy birthday, Morrissey.
Comment by Ayda
Phantasmelodia
Consider me a regular
And blessed be Morrissey..
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
(Morgan, we'll have you loving the Smiths in no time at this rate!)
Hi Ayda,
Thanks so much for those lovely comments. I haven't come across your blog before so I'm looking forward to checking that out too. I think this is going to be fun...
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Daily Inspirations
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I heard the version of this song that played on "that show" before hearing the original, and I always thought it was I am the sun, and the air..., which I thought was very spiritual and Buddhist and didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the song, lol. I like both versions a lot, and they're very catchy.
That's the second reference to Manchester's party scene that I've heard of... I really must go there sometime and see what everyone has been talking about!
Have fun with your new medium of expression~
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Looking forward to the times ahead...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Artist Quirk
or is that just a rumour?
tell me smiths fans, what is the word on the street?
oh and Charmed was basically just a homogenised TV version of The Craft which cashed in on the success of the themes of the film in a PG kind of way
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
There has always been much speculation about his sexuality and Morrissey has refused to label himself. But he did say publically that he was celibate for much of his career. He was adamant that his sexuality had nothing to do with his music and I agree.
I think Wikipedia explains it well:
"Morrissey has always taken great pains to maintain the ‘undecidable’ nature of his sexuality." In 1983 he claimed to be "a kind of prophet for the fourth sex", on the grounds that he was "bored with men and ...bored with women." In 1984, he stated that he refused "to recognise the terms hetero-, bi-, and homo-sexual" because "everybody has exactly the same sexual needs." [55]A 1984 Smiths article in Rolling Stone stated that Morrissey "admits he's gay" but Morrissey replied that it was news to him and the article used the term "fourth-gender" in its title.[56]
I'm listening to them as we speak...what a band.
Tracy
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Love this post and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Byeee
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
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Artist Quirk
thanks for the info!
i think im a bit too young to have been exposed to his music but the more i read on him the more fascinating of a character he seems . . . he sounds a bit like Andy Warhol with the whole mysterious personal life . . . im always searching around for asexual role models but generally they all usually turn out to be latent homosexuals and/or victims of religious guilt
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
But now I'm the one who's panicking...about what to song to choose next, everyone loved this one so much, I don't want to disappoint with the next...
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Daily Inspirations
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Bloody great.
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Daily Inspirations
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Guess what? My Parisian boyfriend's favourite singer is Morrissey, and he played one of the albums (which included this song) as we were, well, ah, well you can probably guess from my reluctance to spell it out... I'm glad I learned a bit about the song before I left Aus! Hee hee!