Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

Things seem to be going well. A very attractive girl had asked me out on a date on Sunday morning and after an initially slow first date the second was progressing much better. However, it had come to the point in this relationship where I had to come clean about myself. She had asked the fatal question; "So, what sort of bands are you into?" "Well", I replied, "I'm quite into The Smiths." Then I realised I might as well tell her the truth and save bother later on. "In fact, I more than just like them, I sit in my room listening to their songs over and over trying to work out the meanings of the lyrics." Fortune was shining on that day and she seemed intrigued about this and willingly requested to learn more about the songs.

This is where Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One before comes into it. It was not until I played this song to her that I suddenly heard an alternate meaning to these words.

I feel that is song is an expression of the frustration of Morrissey being told similar stories over and over again, that were never that interesting to start with. This interpretation becomes apparent when you treat each verse as a different tale, rather than one long one that seems to be telling the tale of a break up.

Take this verse,

so I drank one,

It became four,

And when I fell on the floor

......I drank more

How many times has someone regaled you with just how drunk they were the night before? Which, if you were not there, is not most interesting of stories. And then we have:

Nothing's changed,

I still love you, oh, I still love you

...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love

Once again, something that most of us will have heard (or said) once or twice in our lives. Attempting to break-up with someone whilst trying not to hurt them too much. All of which is probably a lie intended to make them feel better.

Hence, the chorus,

Stop me, oh, stop me,

Stop me if you think that you've,

Heard this one before,

Stop me, oh, stop me,

Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

Is Morrissey frustratingly saying this over and over in his mind whist the person he happens to be conversing with drawls out a conversation that he has heard many times before, and was never that interested in the first place.

Album: Strangeways Here We Come (1987)
Highest Chart Position: Never released to due the sensitively at the time around serial killer Michael Ryan and the songs reference to mass murder.

Still Ill

From the opening verse of this song it is quite apparent what Morrissey is trying to get at here.

I decree today that life Is simply taking and not giving
England is mine and it owes me a living
Ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
Oh, ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
But we cannot cling to the old dreams anymore
No, we cannot cling to those dreams

At the time this song was written Britain was going through a very low economic phase. Unemployment and inflation was very high and many were left in virtual poverty from the collapse of the mining industry, especially in the North of the country where The Smiths originated. Many blamed the Prime Minister of the time - Maragent thatcher

Thatcher famously made a comment that "there is no such thing as society." This is reflected in the opening lines of the song

I decree today that life
Is simply taking and not giving

Most of the population felt that individuals were only out for themselves, especially those with wealth, as they seemed quite happy to cast others aside in order to make themselves better off, even if those who were cast aside were being driven to levels of poverty not seen in this country for decades. Although today many of us can see what is currently happening with regard to the economies of France and Germany and see that these labour and industrial reforms were essential for the long term growth of our economy (at least until the credit crunch took effect). However, at the time the whole period was horrendous for the majority of the northern working class families, and easy to understand their frustration, or even hatred, of the government, who seemed to be doing nothing to help their cause. Films such as Brassed Off give a clear depiction of just how little a voice the local trade unions had against the closures. Hence, these lines, taken from the Moores murderer Myra Hindley, are a direct attack against Thatcher, portraying her as a mass murderer of the working classes. Later on we have more attacks on the British culture created by the Thatcher government. The lines:

Under the iron bridge we kissed
And although I ended up with sore lips

Are taken from Steve Brown and Justin Greene play Spend, Spend, Spend about Viv Nicholson (who features on the cover of the single Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now), which tells the story of a women who wins a large fortune on the football pools and basks in the glory before it all goes to her head and ends up bankrupt and in a fast downward spiral of depression. Thus, this is just like Britain was going through, a once great nation that was quickly going to rot. The iron bridge could be taken as a reference to the time when Britain really was great during the industrial revolution.

The song also points towards other feels within British society around that time.

England is mine and it owes me a living
Ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
Oh, ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye

The obvious reference here is towards being on the dole (job seekers allowance) and maybe not fully understanding why. However, I believe that this points towards the growing nationalist movement in England with the reemergence of the "skin 'eads" (a topic also touched upon in Morressey's solo carrier with The National Front Disco). Their main belief was that being British gave them the right to employment and that recent immigrants from the West Indies and Sri Lanka/India/Pakistan where taking there jobs, and had no right to be here. If those imigrants dared to challenge this the would face the repercussions, as these people were "scum", who should never try to confront the English - as in the British Isles (as with most of the world), spitting in someones eye is taken as an extremely indignant gesture. The film This Is England shows very clearly the opinions of this section of society at the time - Even contains a Smiths song towards the end.

As a whole, the song is sung with a great deal of sadness. A sadness of seeing a country you love go to ruin and a yearning nostalgia for when times where better. There seems to be a great confusion in the song with the chorus:

Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body?

Which seems to suggest that the narrator has no idea of what is going on or what has happened. Of course, the body in this song refers to England. Does the government (the mind) rule England or do the people? A clear conflict of the fact that England is meant to be a democracy where the people have their say on what should happen in their society, but the government is just imposing their authority and disregarding the electorate. However, Morrissey can see no clear conclusions on where things are heading, just that trying to save the mining industry is futile ("And if you must, go to work - tomorrow; Well, if I were you I really wouldn't bother") and that we have no option but to accept the past is gone, no matter how hard that may be.

All in all a fantastic song, and for those wishing to explore this song I recommend the version on Hatful of Hollow, which contains the version from the BBC's John Peel Show, as this versions opens and closes with a harmonica, which can be seen as a link to ska music that was closely connected to the skin head movement of the time.

Album - The Smiths (1984)

The Killers

Sorry for lack of activity on this blog, but I'm currently taking my finals and have little time to spare.

Just thought I would point out the similarities between the bass riffs of The Smiths' Headmasters Ritual and The Killers' Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.

He Knows I'd Love to See Him

The section of this song that really speaks to me is the final verse:

"You're just another person in the world,
You're just another fool with radical views,
You're just another who has maddening views,
You want to turn it on its head By staying in bed !"

The reason why this verse appeals to me so much is because I feel that it sums up the actions of the general public at large. The vast majority of us a quite willing to rant on about the problems of the world and come up with all sorts of action plans in how things can be sorted out. For instance, how many of us have come up with a radical plan to solve under age drinking, lack of social integration among migrants or the slack judicial system while watching the news? But as soon as someone calls us to get off the sofa and take action on our ideas suddenly all the passion and enthusiasm dies.

In a similar light this songs reflects the famous statement made by Edmund Burke in the 18th century:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing "

All of us are aware of the fact that we do not live in a perfect society. However, none of us are prepared to do anything about it, as that would require us to step out of our comfort zone. Thus the status quo remains, along with the injustice, inequity and prejudice in society today.

Do not get me wrong, I believe that Britain is a great place, however, it is far from perfect. It is probably the cause of our comfortable modern lives that has bred us to be lazy and not wish to do anything about the world around us. My heart often warms when I see people on top of the houses of Parliament protesting about their cause. These people have taken their beliefs and done something about it, something that should be admired. If only there were more people like that, then things could really get done in this would and we would be able to prevent prime ministers forcing European Treaties on us that none of us want and the such. It is clear that many of us care about a vast array of issues; just pop down your local pub and listen to the heated discussions taking place. But then time is called and everyone retires to their beds and, once again, nothing is done. Just imagine what could be achieved if we all took to the streets to sort this country out. However, we as a population have a long way to go, as only 3 out of 5 of us can be bothered to set aside ten minutes to cast their votes in a general election.

However, some comfort can be taken from this song. In the last line we hear Morrissey say "I know I do", making it quite clear that he is fully aware of his faults and just the same as the rest of us arm chair radicals.

Released: 1990
Album: Bona Drag

The Boy With a Thorn In His Side

A thorn in the side is a term normally used for someone with relationship troubles, which is just what this song is about.


This song is an expression of Morrissey's frustration with the press and music industry. Ever since The Smiths appeared on the scene Morrissey has been labeled as someone who can only the negative aspects to life. However, the only reason that he sings about these topics is because he cares so much - "Behind the hatred there lies a plundering desire for love". In the song there is profuse frustration that the world simply is not listening to him and is not understanding the message he is trying to bring to the world. This frustration is easily understood when you cast your mind back to all the trouble that he has gone through over the years with the press misinterpreting his lyrics.

For those reading this that are clued up on Morrissey's past troubles you may recall the controversies surrounding the track off the Your Arsenal album, National Front Disco. There were two main criticisms made of this song. The first was that Morrissey was labeled as a racist, when the song is a warning about England losing its heritage (hmmm, maybe a future blog topic). The second, which leads us onto the other meaning of this song, was that Morrissey had no shame and would use anything to try and get publicity. This obviously upsets him as "how can they see the love in your eyes and still they don't believe me". How can they see all the effort and passion, hard work and determination that he puts into his live shows and campaigns and then simply dismiss it as an attempt to sell albums?

The song moves from the first to the third person. This could imply Morrissey's realisation that he is not alone with these problems and there are other artists out there, who should unite together to try and fight their cause.

This song could also be a warning about ignoring his words and leading ourselves into an unpleasant future. A future which Morrissey himself does not know what it will contain and seems unnerved about its prospects.

Handsome Devil

Many people view this song to be depicting a story of a rape, and this seems plausible. With lines such as "Let me get my hands on your mammary glands" and "I crack the whip and you skip" it is easy to see why someone would think this to be about rape. However, the idea of rape does not fit in with the motion of wanted to get them in the conjugal bed, nor all the ends bits about there being more to life than schooling etc.

I personally feel that this song is not quite a dark and sinister as that. I have a feeling that, the first part at least, represents what most men wish they could achieve on a regular basis. Where a woman asks you the time, yet you manage to charm them round to sleeping with you.

It is true that when an attractive female approaches them, even for a simple question like asking the time, will have in his head all the things that he wishes to perform with her behind closed doors. So most this song is a literal account of what is happening in the story, but what the man is thinking in his head.

In essence, all that has happened is a woman has asked a man for the time, yet in the bloke's head he has made a little fantasy world where he has this girlfriend that will abide by his every word and stay local to him. So in this world he likes to think of himself as quite a "handsome devil". Something that most males, and females, thoughts are focused on, even those who already have partners.

I also quite like the line

"There’s more to life than books you know"

Being a university student, many of my close friends are very pent up on the idea of they have to get a good degree and get high paying job in order to live a good life. Yet, does that really make someone happy? Does spending all your time working to the point where you are constantly stressed out really the best way to live your life? In my opinion, no. Therefore, it is nice to remind myself that there is more to this life than the constant routine of passing exams. So when you are sitting in your "scholarly room" "who will swallow whom". Will you let the stress of the world of higher education bring you down and drain you of all motivation to go out and learn for the love of it, as you started out, or will you rise above the system and not let it bring you down?

However, at the end of the time Morrissey does tag on the end "but not much more.” I feel that what he is trying to point out there is that you can learn a lot from wide reading. Therefore, no matter how you wish to spend your time, reading a good book can normally be one of the best course of action.



Album: Hatful of Hollow (1984)

Sweet and Tender Hooligan

This song raises many interesting questions. The most potent being - just how many times can you forgive someone? Here we have a tale of someone who is repeatedly re-offending, yet the judicial system is always giving him a second chance.

As many of us agree, it is generally right to give someone a second chance, even if they have wronged you. Yet at which point do you call it a day and say enough is enough?

Those of us of a religious nature are told that we should always forgive. However, after each time it does become harder and harder to do so. Sometimes it is always too easy to give up on someone who seems totally inept at going the right thing. For instance, take your everyday GP sitting in his office. Each day he must have numerous patients that have time and time again come to him for help with aliments that have been brought on by themselves and the life they choose to lead. It could be the smoker with lung problems or the fat man with diabetes. Both of whom could easily solve their problems with simple changes in their attitudes or life style, yet does not have either the will power or the desire to do this, yet still want the help off the doctor. Now, as you can imagine, the doctor would become a little despondent and feel like giving up on these individuals, as they are nothing more than time wasters. However, these are the people that need our most help.

The people that when told they need to change, and stop doing the things they have been doing are the easiest to help. As all that needs doing is some to point out the error of their ways. Those that are suborn are the ones that need the most help - yet we are most likely to turn those away, as it requires a tremendous mosts will power, patience and determination to help them - virtues that most of us do not possess.

So maybe we should not give up on our sweet and tender hooligan, he just needs at lot of time and dedication to him, so one day he can break away from his cycle of crime.

Of course, on a more superficial level, this song highlights the failings of the current judicial system, letting criminals getting away with murder, which is even more relevant now than it was back in 1987, with the news of full prisons and rapists and murders being set free well before the end of their sentences.

Album: Louder Than Bombs (1987)

Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me

It is songs like this that really make me wonder just how true the tales are of Morrissey’s celibacy. I personally cannot comprehend how someone can sing songs that are so deep in emotion with regard to the darker sides of sex or the horrors of the breakdowns of relationships.

To me this songs reeks, of what are for me, are the darker sides of one night stands. Lets face it, most of us (well, at least most people my age) have had a one night stand at one time or another. However, why do we do it? Is it because we just fancy a quick shag? Or is for something deeper than that, this song seems to suggest so.

For me, that hardest part of coming out of a long-term relationship, especially one that ends quite abruptly, is the sense that you are alone in the world. Probably the hardest issue coming to terms with is getting used to falling asleep and waking up having no one there for you. For those of you of you who are single, finding someone to form another long-term replacement is not a simple task. So sometimes, it is nice to lie there, with “real arms around me.” Hence, during this brief moment, after the sleaze has been dealt with, it is nice to dream that someone really does love a care for me. All be it that in the sobering morning, it all comes shattering down, “just a false alarm”, and reality sits in of the inevitable awkwardness looming around the corner.

However, as moz points out and the end of the song, this is not a new problem nor it is something I will learn from, and yes, will do again. Therefore, when the question is asked “how long till the last one,” is a question I wish could be answered.

Album: Strangeways, Here We Come
Highest Chart Position: #30

Morrissey @ The Roundhouse 22nd Jan 2008

Morrissey was on fantastic form that night, with rumours about his voice playing up not coming to light (at least on this night).

The setlist was:

The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
How Soon Is Now?
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
That's How People Grow Up
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself
Tomorrow
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Stretch Out And Wait
All You Need Is Me
The Loop
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Sister I'm A Poet
Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
Billy Budd
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Irish Blood English Heart

-Encore-
First Of The Gang To Die

As usual, moz played around with the lyrics to add witty remarks and also spoke out against Hillary ("Billary") Clinton.

Paint a Vulgar Picture

This song really used to bother me. Largely because I never felt that I was really getting under the skin of the song. Many ideas would fill my head, although none of them seemed to fully reflect what the song was trying to tell me.

The problem was that I slipped into the extremely obvious trap of thinking that there was actually a dead star on the hands on the record company. That a star had died and that the record company was trying to milk it with various reissues and that Morrissey was reminiscing about when he once met them in their prime, even though he was turned away. However, as always, the obvious is not what is going on here.

The song is about a certain artist to whom Morrissey is particularly fond of, however, is distraught to find that after hitting hard times the artist has sold-out and gone against his musical beliefs in order to pursue a greater level of fame. This is what the “dead star,” the fact that this star is no longer profitable in his current situation, and the record company need to rectify that. However, they have a plan, “Re-issue! Re-package!” We are told of his need to “re-evaluate the songs,” i.e. make them more commercial. What is interesting is the line:

“You could have said no, if you wanted”

The reason for the interest this line is because later on in the song we hear how Morrissey “touched” him at the soundcheck, although the artist does not seem to realise it at the time. Morrissey seems to have had to chance to meet his idol and felt like he connected with him on some level. Morrissey also seems to have wanted to follow him on his pursuit of fame and glory, although he was shrugged off, and simply dismissed as another working class lad with ideas above his station.

Another interesting line in the song is

“You just haven’t earned it yet baby”

This is in reference to an earlier song by The Smiths, which is about artists wanting fame and success quick and easy, and not willing to put in the hard graft needed to reach the top. Although in the case of this song I interpret it to signal the distress of the inevitable downfall of this fickle success.

The final verse of the song has Morrissey “dancing down to his knees” and reminiscing in with his favourite music, feeling that no matter what this artist did in the latter part of his carrier the memories of his “true love” can never be parted, a even if they will “never meet again”.

This song points out many of the flaws in the commercial music business at the time, and ones that still ring true to this day. Much of what is pointed out seems to directly point towards Live Aid, which, when asked in an interview, Morrissey commented, “it is right to feel concern over the people of Ethiopia, but not it is not right to continually torture the British public.”

Many of the critics of both Live Aid and Live 8, of which I am one, felt that although some of the artists on the various bills around the world were doing it for a needy cause, most of them were only there in order to push their records up the charts. Ever notice how many of the “media whores” released back issues or best ofs after the concert? Or announced a World tour?). Morrissey seems to indicate the fact that most artists are willing to ‘sell out’ and let the record company push them in any direct they like in order to sell more CDs, even if that means ripping off their fans.

This song also contains some ironies, such as the vast amount of compilations that The Smiths have released (especially as Morrissey’s latest greatest hits collection contains new tracks and live versions of old tracks, surely in a motive to sell more records) also Morrissey’s struggle to get signed after leaving Mercury.

Album: Strangeways Here We Come

This Charming Man

The first issue to be dealt with in This Charming Man that springs to mind is who is the charming man? Is it the narrator of the song or that mysterious man in the car? However, that will be discussed later.

On first listening to this song, Marr's upbeat riff conjured up pleasant thoughts of a young man passing the time on the side of a Lancashire hill whilst his bicycle was broken, being saved by a charming man in his car. However, the song is a lot darker and more complex than that.

The song opens with the lines:

"A punctured bicycle, On a hillside desolate"

I believe that the man in the song is Morrissey himself. That there is no bicycle, nor is there a hill. The punctured bicycle is way that he feels, deflated, broken down. The hillside is his prospective on the world around him, a desolate downward slope that the UK is heading down.

Not only is there not a bicycle nor hill, but there is neither a car. The car in this song represents another way of life, and much more carefree way of life. The character in the song can escape from having to "pamper life's complexities" via smooth leather on the passengers seat, leather here representing luxury and comfortable living. Of course it is better to be in the passenger seat, as being the driver involves responsibility and knowing where you are going in life. A passenger just has to lay back and enjoy the ride, knowing that everything will be taken care of for them and they will arrive at his destination safe and sound.

Going back to my opening question, who is the charming man? I feel that it is indeed the former. The charming man is in fact the narrator in the song. When I think of what it means to be charming, I think of someone who is caring and understanding, someone who would preoccupy his or her time to the worries of those around him or her, and what can be done to make the world a better place. This fits in very well with the character we have in this story, although it seems unfortunate that he gives in for the simpler way of life, the way of not caring, much like most people do in life. One important word to plunder on here is the fact that it is "in this charming car" not his, implying that the car does not belong to the charming man. Maybe the car is someone else’s life. Therefore, maybe he has not simply given up. Maybe he has met someone; someone who will look after him, take care of him, so that he need not worry anymore about life. This would take account for the line "can nature make a man of me yet", as Morrissey may be asking if this could be the person that could finally make him a man and have sex with.

Many have said that this song is about homoeroticism, and I can understand where they are coming from (especially with the line "a man said..."), although I am not one who believes that Morrissey is in fact gay. In addition, once you assert that assumption that the charming man in this song is in fact the person on the hill and not the one who pulls up in the car, then there is nothing stopping that person from being female.

Of course it does matter not whether the person is male or female. What matters is that this song is about changing perspectives, becoming more relaxed and comfortable in your life. Life is extremely short and why waste your time worrying over this that you ultimately have no control over?

However, as always, things have take a dark turn in this story. It seems that not all is well for our charming man, it seems that this "jumped up pantry boy" has tried to rush things, taken the relationship too far too soon, as we are told that he has to "return the ring". The line "who never knew his place" seems to imply that there was an element of false hope, and that this was nothing more than just a quick fling (this subject has been dealt with in other Smiths songs such as William It Was Really Nothing and Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me, which will be discussed in a later blog entry). It seems that our charming man has misread the situation, and dived in with a proposition of marriage, only to be horrendously rejected by his beloved. Furthermore, "he knows so much about these things". So maybe that was the reason for why he was feeling deflated in the first place, a previous rejection. Although I imagine that his handsome good looks will ensure that there will be another romance around the corner soon.

However, these are only my personal thoughts on the song, and is far from a definitive interpretation on the song. You could listen to this song a hundred times and probably infer a hundred different things, such is a magic of the lyrics, and ones that I will continue to hum down the streets for many years to come.

Album: The Smiths (1984)

Highest Chart Position: #8 (after being rereleased by Warner Music in 1994)