Favourite Smiths/Moz Lyrics and Meanings

[Lazy Dyke]

Seen as we have the line of the day, I thought it might be a good idea to start up a topic about your ultimate favourite lyrics, and more importantly what do you think they mean? or even what do they mean to you?

These could be whole songs or singular lines by Smiths/Moz

[HandsomeDevil]

One thats always struck a chord with me, is in 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' - around the 55 second mark, that goes:

'it's too close to home and its too near the bone, more than you'll....ever knowww'

I can imagine Morrissey as he's singing the last word of the lyric, to be backing away...into the shadows. As if he's resigned to defeat, its very powerful and gloomy at the same time. Genius.

[Cracked Pleasures]

Excellent topic.

I'll nominate three.

* There Is A Light...

I like the combination of the extreme romantic ideal of going travelling with your partner (having only each other to rely on, exploring the world together) and the gloom and doom that is under the surface. In that way, it reminds me of "Enjoy the silence" by Depeche Mode or "Ocean rain" by Echo & The Bunnymen, also songs that sound very romantic at first but are very gloomy when you get deeper into it. There Is A Light... expresses a feeling of belonging nowhere and having no place to call a home, which in fact is the true theme of the song. The line "but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask" is very recognisable (especially to us Aspies, but surely not only to us) while I like the distinction in "because it's not MY home, it's THEIR home"

* "How soon is now?"

The ultimate autistic anthem. It's just spot on from A to Z. The shyness that haunts 99% of the autistic population, the feeling of being misunderstood while seeking someone that does understand you and with whom you connect, and then especially that line about seeking people's presence in a pub while ending up disillusioned when that special someone is once again not there... Brilliant lyrics, very recognisable.

* "Hand in glove"

I like it especially for the line "No it's not like any other love, this one is different because it's us" -- that's the basic of true love I guess. Brilliantly expressed.

[irishbloodirishheart]

i love "there is a light and it never goes out", for me, it expresses a hope for the future (and i want to get it tattooed along the bottom of my back!)

xxx

[Lazy Dyke]

I have quite a lot, so prefer for a list.

Still Ill
<a href="http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the_smiths/still-ill.html" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"And if you must, go to work - tomorrow
Well, if I were you I really wouldn't bother"

What a disguistingly hilarious song. I just think Morrissey made such sense with the lyrics, and it still works really today, oh why should I go to work in england? I can get this free and that free.. :rolleyes:

Back To The Old House
<a href="http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/BACK-TO-THE-OLD-HOUSE-BBC-lyrics-The-Smiths/7654DFBB49F64A3A482568AB00276EA0" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"And you never knew
How much I really liked you
Because I never even told you
Oh, and I meant to "

Everybody has a place... or a time, like this.


Speedway
<a href="http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Speedway-lyrics-Morrissey/4024A70EDA97EC90482568AB0035F0AC" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"Written lies, twisted lies
Well, they weren't lies
They weren't lies
They weren't lies"

I think for me, this song is so revealing. I feel like Morrissey is really showing something to me that I've never seen of him before. The relevation that lies that have been told about him.. well they're all true. That is of course if this is written in first person, it's always hard to tell with Mozzer. To me it means something, because sometimes I feel like I could say the rumors about me are true, but only the ones that are of course. Also the famous "true to you" lines at the end.. well I think everybody feels that kind of stalkerish devotion to somebody.. at least once in their life.

Late Night, Maudlin Street
<a href="http://www.lyricsdepot.com/morrissey/late-night-maudlin-street.html" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"Oh, the last bus I missed to Maudlin Street
So he drove me home in the Van
Complaining, "Women only like me for my mind...""

This is one of my fav Morrissey lines ever, it's what we all secretly fear.. it's that vanity that we all have. We're all afraid nobody likes us for the way we look. Yes personality is important, but our belief in our own appearence is too, no matter how people try to say "personality matters more." This song at first is very confusing, it doesn't appear to make any linear sense. After many lessons, I still don't understand it really, but when does anybody ever really understand Morrissey? To me.. it tells a story, a lovely yet tragic goodbye kind of story.

Girl Least Likely To
<a href="http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/morrissey/girl+least+likely+to_20096046.html" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"Theres a publisher, she said, ...in the new year
(its never in this year)"

It's one of those songs where I feel like it reflects so many unnapreciated people out there, who will never make it. It's nice to see Morrissey still considers those song writers, who will never get anywere... despite the fact they are somewhat talented.

I'll post more later.

[elko]

Girl Least Likely To
<a href="http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/morrissey/girl+least+likely+to_20096046.html" target="_blank">Lyrics</a>

"Theres a publisher, she said, ...in the new year
(its never in this year)"

It's one of those songs where I feel like it reflects so many unnapreciated people out there, who will never make it. It's nice to see Morrissey still considers those song writers, who will never get anywere... despite the fact they are somewhat talented.

Having never heard this, the lyrics seem to be about rather untalented writers?

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->But the moods and the styles too frequently change
From 21 to 25, from 25 to 29<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Anyone know what this bit is about? It reads kinda nicely.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Oh, one more song about the queen
Or standing around the shops with thieves<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hehe, this is genius! A sly dig at his impersonators, I suppose?

I want to hear this song!

[madmancmonkey]

When I am lying in my bed and I think about life and I think about death and neither one particularly appeals to me...


This lyric sums up, for me, Morrisseys posistion. Caught between life and death and not really wanting to choose either because life is harsh and cruel and death is unknown and therefroe frankly scary.

[Lazy Dyke]

Well I think girl least likely to is about her being untalented... but also the way the lyrics change towards the end suggest he thinks she does has talent.. she just hasn't found it yet. Well that's the way I hear it.. but hey. hehe. It's a good song.

[SamR]

"All the alcoholic afternoons that we sat in your room, they meant more to me than any living thing on earth."

[Hidden by Rags]

Past the Pub that wrecks your body
And the church - all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb

Two traditional places of solace for the British people - religion and the pub - and all they do is sap people dry. Sometimes you look around and feel like you're the only person who realises this, along with the absolute mess the country is in, and it can feel very lonely. This is political songwriting at its very, very best.

[reclamation]

This could take a while ...

There is a Light that Never Goes Out pretty much in its entirety.

"The rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down" - William, It Was Really Nothing.

"This is the coastal town that they forgot to close down
Come Armaggedon, come Armaggedon, come" - Everyday is Like Sunday.

"There is no-one on Earth I'm afraid of
And I will die with both of my hands untied" - Irish Blood, English Heart.

[egosheep]

One thats always struck a chord with me, is in 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' - around the 55 second mark, that goes:

'it's too close to home and its too near the bone, more than you'll....ever knowww'

I can imagine Morrissey as he's singing the last word of the lyric, to be backing away...into the shadows. As if he's resigned to defeat, its very powerful and gloomy at the same time. Genius.

I agree. For me, the whole first verse, going into the chorus, is just brilliant:

When you laugh about people who feel so very lonely their only desire is to die
Well, I'm afraid It doesn't make me smile
I wish I could laugh, but that joke isn't funny anymore
It's too close to home and it's too near the bone
It's too close to home and it's too near the bone
more than you'll ever know ...

the way Morrissey delivers these lines is just so spot on, that you really feel the emotion. Wow, it just blows me away everytime i hear it. The structure of the lyrics is really unique in the smiths canon, and of course the music is perfect.

[egosheep]

From Ask:

If it's not love, then it's the bomb that will bring us together.


as in, if our love for eachother doesn't bring mankind together, then it will be our fear of an enemy.. and if not that, then we'll be united in death, from an atomic bomb.