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)
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One interpretation of this song could be that Morrissey is justifying the notoriously reclusive life style of his younger years and at the same time poking fun at the fickle lives of men (and women) who spend all their time in night clubs attempting to "pull" the opposite sex. I would argue that the lines 'There's more to life than books you know, but not much more" really emphasises this idea that Morrissey was perfectly satisfied with his 'bookish' lifestyle and did not aspire to one of gallantry. This interpretation would therefore support the story of Morrissey being celibate.
The only other theme which really stands out to me in this song which is completely unrelated to the last is a boy having an affair with a male teacher in order to do well at school, and I feel this comes across particularly well in the following lines...
'A boy in the bush
Is worth two in the hand
I think I can help you get through your exams
Oh, you handsome devil'
and...
'And when we're in your scholarly room
Who will swallow whom ?
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