As it’s
Morrissey’s 61st birthday this coming week and I’m
really missing gigs, I wanted to write a piece celebrating this most
sacred of fan holidays. One day, while musing over ideas in the bath
(the only place ideas seem to arise as I haven’t a pen and paper),
it struck me how many of Morrissey’s lyrics speak as a guide for
understanding and living life ... but in a way so much more raw and
impactful than anything traditional pop psyc could ever offer. What’s
remarkable is his ability to appeal, in song, to the spirit of the
outsider, the dreamer, the disenchanted, the isolated – and this is
perhaps because he, himself, also knows these feelings all too well.
Meanwhile, the cult of toxic positivity abounds, overflowing with
self-help books and dial-a-cliche phrases, that if anything, sap
motivation or inspiration for many.
 |
| photo by Linder Sterling |
Discovering
Morrissey’s music, at any age, is like being shaken awake by a
beautiful bolt of honesty. The uncanny way in which he imparts
timeless wisdom, often in simply a few words, is transformative for
the listener. At times, it’s as if he is letting you uncover
something you have always known coursing deep in the channels of your
own mind, but have never quite been able to articulate.
So, the idea was,
could I collect 61 of Morrissey’s lyrics - strips of poetry - that
most encapsulate life’s longings, aches, glimmers, frustrations,
and disappointments, and help us make sense of existence (or the fact
existence rarely makes sense)? I began with the first Smiths record,
and worked all the way through until this year’s I Am Not A Dog
On A Chain. While
still being, in my estimation, very
selective, I ended up with nearly 150 lyrics! - and thus,
subsequently went
through the painstaking task
of paring down.
These
are lyrics
that have woven themselves into the consciousness of fans, often
becoming a part of our daily lives and language – lyrics
that are thought-provoking, deep, dark,
truthful, heart
wrenching and heart soothing, humorous, and even – at times
achieving the impossible
– words that help us nurture a grain of hope in an ever-jading and
disenchanting world. The
topics are just as diverse:
love, loneliness, depression, frustration,
boredom, politics,
animal rights, critical thinking (in a society that seems to
encourage precisely the opposite) – ranging from
one’s most private thoughts to looming global issues.
Poetic, captivating, and
at times brutal, in loosely
chronological order, here are
61 of Morrissey’s most powerful lyrics:
If you cannot
stand this fake world, take my hand.
The Morrissey guide to life
1.
If you must go to work tomorrow,
Well
if I were you I wouldn’t bother
2.
Life is never kind
3.
In my life
Why
do I give valuable time
To
people who don’t care if I
Live
or die
4.
I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And
heaven knows I’m miserable now
5.
There is a light that never goes out
6.
I am human and I need to be loved
Just
like everybody else does
 |
| via Peta |
7.
Meat is Murder
8.
To pretend to be happy could only be idiocy
9.
It’s so easy to laugh
It’s
so easy to hate
It
takes strength
To
be gentle and kind
10.
Life is very long when you’re lonely
11.
I wear black on the outside
Cause
black is how I feel on the inside
12.
Shyness is nice
And
shyness can stop you
From
doing all the things in life
You’d
like to
13.
If you think peace is a common goal
That
goes to show how little you know
14.
Tried living in the real world
Instead
of a shell
But
before I began,
I
was bored before I even began
15.
Don’t forget the songs that made you cry,
And
the songs that saved your life
16.
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday
is silent and grey
17.
And you find that you’ve organized
Your
feelings, for people
Who
didn’t like you then
And
do not like you now
 |
| Morrissey outside Vancouver Library Thanks to photographer |
18.
Don’t talk to me
About
people who are nice
Cause
I have spent my whole life in ruins
Because
of people who are nice
19.
Most people keep their brains
Between
their legs
20.
Off the rails I was, and
Off
the rails
I was happy to stay
I was happy to stay
21.
Don’t leave it all unsaid
Somewhere
in the wasteland of your head
22.
Won’t somebody stop me
From
thinking all the time
About
everything...
So
deeply, so bleakly?
So
bleakly all the time.
23.
I trust the views of
Certain
people I know
They
look at danger
And
they
Laugh
their heads off
24.
Hold onto your friends
25.
The sanest days are mad
26.
Do your best and don’t worry
27.
Still I maintain there’s nothing wrong with you
You
do all that you do
Because
it’s all you can do
 |
| Photo by Pat Pope |
28.
So the choice I have made
May
seem strange to you
But
who asked you anyway?
It’s
my life
to
wreck
My
own way
29.
And I don’t
get
along with myself
And
I’m not too keen
on
anyone else
30.
It’s all a game
Existence
is only a game
31.
Monday – humiliation
Tuesday
– suffocation
Wednesday
– condescension
Thursday
– is pathetic
By
Friday, life has killed me
 |
| Photo by Mary McCartney |
32.
The world is full of crashing bores
33.
You’re not right in the head
And
nor am I, and this is why
This
is why I like you
34.
There is no such thing in life as normal
35.
Every day I play a sad game called
In
the future when all is well
36.
Life is a Pigsty
37.
Haves cannot stand have-nots
 |
| Photo by Ellis Parrinder |
38.
I know by now you think I should have
Straightened
myself out -
Thank
you, drop dead!
39.
There’s a clock on the wall
Making
fun of us all
40.
There is no love in modern life
41.
There’s so much destruction
All
over the world
And
all you can do is complain about me
42. How I feel in my mind
And how I live in the world
They are oceans apart
 |
| via Polari magazine |
43.
Sorry doesn’t help
44.
Now this might disturb you but
I
find I’m OK by myself.
45.
Drawn to what scares me
And
scared of what bores me
46.
Shame makes the world go ‘round
47.
World peace is none of your business
48. Earth is the loneliest planet
49. What those in power do to you
Reminds us at a glance
How humans hate each other’s guts
And show it given a chance
 |
| via TTY |
50.
Humans are not really very humane
51.
If you cannot stand this fake world
Take
my hand
52.
Teach your kids to recognize
and
despise all the propaganda
Filtered
down by the dead echelons
mainstream
media
53.
Home – is it just a word?
Or
is it something you, carry within you?
54.
Stop watching the news
Because
the news contrives to frighten you
To
make you feel small and alone
To
make you feel that your mind isn’t your own
55.
Do you ever say what you really feel?
56.
Tombs are full of fools
Who
give their life upon command
Of
monarchy, oligarch, head of state, potentate
And
now, never coming back, never coming back!
 |
| Morrissey on Broadway 2019 |
57.
We must pay for what we believe
58.
I am not a dog on a chain,
I
use my own brain
I
do not read newspapers,
They
are troublemakers
59.
They vote the way they vote
They
don’t know how to change
Because
their parents did the same
60.
Time will send you an invoice
And
you pay with your strength
and
your legs and your sight and your voice
61.
Oh, take time
Be
mine,
And
gaze with fondness on the wrong one
I
hope you enjoyed these choices, feel free to comment any that really
speak to you I may have left out.
Happy
Birthday Morrissey!
Please
check out Letters to Morrissey’s birthday wishes for Morrissey,
honouring his tireless dedication to animal liberation:
