Low In High School: A Fashionably Late Review and Poll

“Do you ever say what you really feel?” Morrissey sings in All The Young People Must Fall In Love.

With 8 simple words, we are confronted with a question that isn’t exactly easy to face about ourselves, or others. The superficiality of human existence is nothing new, harkening back to stiff Victorian parlour room airs and beyond, but our 21st century world can also feel restrictive, with an urge to present an ideal life of perfect skin, relationships, and holidays via filtered Instagram photos and Fakebook updates. However, the filtered self can leave us feeling trapped and unfulfilled, and perhaps this is part of a larger, looming construct of control, where self-expression and unique thought are frowned upon. Self-censorship can overtake your life with such subtlety, you might not even realize it.

Low in High School poster at a London tube station

Morrissey’s 11^th solo studio album, Low In High School, pries open our eyes to face the situation in which humanity currently finds itself. The record is both timely and timeless, with lyrics addressing forces that relentlessly batter our spirits, minds, and even our bodies:

Police.

Politics.

The media.

Religion.

- just to name a few.

What do all of these entities have in common?

Desire to control.

On Low In High School, Morrissey has us investigating the question of freedom in its many facets: physical, intellectual, emotional. Yet, simultaneously, he is able to so beautifully weave threads of hope: love, creativity, freedom, through such heavy topics – reflecting our own delicate balancing acts between cynicism and an aching longing for more (which may be the one thing that keeps us going).

Morrissey and his band on the Low In High School Tour
in Dublin, 2018

As my horrid landlords are away, I’ve been enjoying a small, blissful jag of quiet around here, so decided I’d just scribble some thoughts down in a notebook about each song on the album. My goal is to avoid being too long winded (which is a habit of mine) and just extract a few little slices of thought and feeling that occur to me... so under 100 words* per song? Deal!

Let’s delve in:

My Love I’d Do Anything For You

Hard-hitting opening track with blazing brass. Puts the media’s propagantagonistic tactics to question as well as jabs directed at the typical yawn-inducing, formulaic life of employment – are we all slaves? Tightrope walk of cynicism about general world yet with hope (albeit dwindling) for romance – but with doubt such longing can be met. Some hope and some despair - how very Moz! Ultimately an empowering song with bold swaggering elephants, somehow... do you hear them too?

I Wish You Lonely

A throbbing bassline builds this song from the bottom up – smooth yet ruthless. The “tombs are full of fools” refrain hits powerfully – with lost causes we lustily throw our lives into in attempts to find purpose – monarchy, battle, the glue trap of romance-gone-wrong, and drugs – all opiates in a sense, to avoid thinking of, yet further hurling us into, the inevitable. Morrissey’s voice is fierce passion as he sings of the last tracked humpbacked whale: “never giving in, never giving in.” Pure goosebumps.

Photo via http://mentalfloss.com/

Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage

Dark tones with a groovy feel – Jacky, our troubled artist, channels all the pains and losses of ‘real life’ into her art. “Free in the truth of make believe...” Do we create our own truths? The creative soul burns to escape. Reality comes crashing as the curtain drops and everyone rushes to the exit, leaving Jacky alone once more – instrumental and vocal chaos reflect this trauma.

Home Is A Question Mark

Mystical, beautiful... like silent woods at dawn, sleighbells create atmosphere, merging into echoing, mournful guitar phrases. “I hug the land, but nothing more...” A stray soul’s struggle to find home in whatever form - longing for a sense of belonging – and love - runs through Home’s heart-fueled lyrics. Morrissey’s voice glides smoothly up the high notes, and as strings crescendo, they fall back and we are left with the quiet heartbeat of the bass and...

“Home... is it just a word,

Or is it something you, carry within you?”

(Well, I wonder...)

And then, that last, beautiful climax... “If I ever get there, would you meet me?”

Spent The Day In Bed

Catchy upbeat keyboards and a luxurious endorsement for self-care. Also features some of the charming self-deprecating humour Moz is so brilliant at: “I’m not my type but I love my bed.” A fun song, but also with important messages – for your own sanity, avoid the news, which pummels us down into misery, and makes us feel helpless.

I Bury The Living

Another song wrapping us in atmosphere – crickets, the lone violin... then the attack – drums and guitars in a combat-booted gallop. A high-drama guitar driven masterpiece, Bury leads us into the psychological depths of warfare – a lure for the masses - “wretched outcast[s] with no point of view” to find identity in a ‘cause,’ misunderstood, and erupting with destruction. At times it’s hard to tell if the soldier is brainwashed, or enjoys killing: perhaps a little of both. The echoing, menacing “honour mad cannon fodder” chant climaxes in distorted rage. Toxic masculinity and futile violence persist, and soldiers become toe-tagged numbers... and the war goes on...

I Bury The Living live at Alexandra Palace

In Your Lap

A love song in the midst of uprisings, upheaval, and violence. Winding piano notes at times swell into thunderstorms. In Your Lap reflects a sense of longing while existing in a time that is disturbed, undone, and corrupted by power. I am curious about the little accents of sound throughout, whispers of crunchy chaos: are they references to the surrounding unrest, or ghosts of memories? The image of “dreaming of touching your arm,” a simple, beautiful, innocent gesture... so far removed from pepper-spraying officers and governments aiming to cause pain.

The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Wouldn’t Kneel

In a world where we are “put into our place” by those in power and by rigid traditional systems, the protagonist in this song bows down to no one. “Humble homes with mottos on the wall, symbols and signs in framed designs. Sure to keep the poor, poorer... in fear of a God who couldn’t save them after all”: religion also tethers people to controlled systems, keeping them from living the way they truly want to. Intricate piano and accordion notes give the track extra vibrancy.

All The Young People Must Fall In Love

Tambourines and a walking bass line lend a slight 70’s folky vibe. Nuclear war, corrupt presidents – all cause unspeakable damage – yet there’s also good in the world: love. Do those of us who are older lose sight of that? Many people are all words, but without meaning: “Do you ever say what you really feel?”

When You Open Your Legs

Exotic flair: chirping castanets, flamboyant trumpets, and Spanish guitars. Cheeky and rather naughty, this song induces wild blushing in those of us who are slightly shy, but it’s also a hip grinder. Flirty call and response conversation between instrumental and vocals seduce us... and “everything I know deserts me now...”: is sex the ultimate distraction? As an aside, I keep trying to picture Morrissey getting thrown out of a club at 4 a.m.

Morrissey singing When You Open Your Legs
in front of the Artist Colony backdrop

Who Will Protect Us From The Police?

Sirens. Distortion. Danger. “Say, Daddy, who will protect us?” The police claim to protect and to serve, but actions of corruption and brutality prove otherwise. Ganglord Pt. 2. “We must pay for what we believe.” Dark horns, chaotic chords. And no, don’t look to God to save you: "baby please run." Morrissey sings for crisis-ridden Venezuela at the end of the track.

Israel

Opening chord is a deep haunting, velvety rumble, falling way into delicate, sensuous piano phrases. Religion's life-crushing restrictions, a punishing God, and existential torment paint dark imagery in the song's verses: “we're all bones and flesh and shell.” There’s a significant line oft-ignored by critics: “I can’t answer, for what armies do... they are not you...” As Morrissey sings “Israel” his voice nimbly tilts across notes.

“Earth is just one big asylum

An explosive prison cell

See us squirm in our own damaged spell.”

Weeping violins intensify the pain and beauty of the song. Exquisite

I’m admittedly pretty late in reviewing Low In High School, as it’s been playing in my car for months... but a thoughtful listen has reaffirmed for me how cohesive this album truly is: it highlights our attempt to make sense of life while retaining a fragment of hope for more in the face of a damaging world bent on controlling us. Sometimes I think of Low in High School as a coming-of-age album, which fits quite neatly with the title (I could be miles off with this by the way, this is only my personal thinking) – as often during our teenage years (high school) we begin to question what we have been told by our parents, teachers, the media, and others. Many times throughout our lives we go through this same process of questioning, whether we are 16, 36, or 60; however, this is not an easy journey. In a sense, we are continually “coming of age”, in varying formations.

My favourite pieces of art (music, literature, theatre) leave me wondering whether they are cynical or optimistic, which means they have captured the essence of the very delicate, very human struggle of trying to make sense of the best and worst of life. For me, I think this album does exactly that.

Morrissey live at Royal Albert Hall 2018

And now, out of interest, I'll give you the very unscientific results of a little write-in Instagram poll I made the other week:

What’s Your Favourite Song From Low In High School?

Answers were all over the map - which is a testament to how strong an album it is. Final results were:

Tied with one vote each: Jackys Only Happy When She's Up On The Stage, In Your Lap, and All The Young People Must Fall in Love

Tied with two votes each: The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Wouldn't Kneel, My Love I'd Do Anything For You, Israel, and When You Open Your Legs

In 3rd place, with 4 votes: I Bury The Living

In 2nd place, with 6 votes: I Wish You Lonely

And in 1st place, with 11 votes: Home Is A Question Mark 


I'll leave you with a beautiful lost track posted by Sam earlier this week: Blue Dreamers Eyes:

* yes, I know I went a little over a couple times ;)