Morrissey A-Z: "World Peace Is None of Your Business"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member






Today's song is this Morrisey/Boorer composition, the lead single and title track from the WPINOYB album. (The single reached #83 on the UK chart.)

What do we think?
 
After listening to this, with convid going on, I'm left feeling doomed.
 
At the same time, it inspires me to wonder what difference I can really make towards creating world peace.
 
The spoken word version is an interesting little oddity, even if I reckon it was a bad idea.

The song itself, like many of Morrissey's political efforts, feels unsubtle and lacking in nuance. I think Morrissey has always been an angry sixth-former, except now he is an angry sixth-former who is 62 years old.

The music, production and vocal melody are better than the lyrics and, while it's one of the lesser songs on the album, it's not a terrible opener.

I must say that I have seen it prove very popular at some concerts and the theme seemed to chime with some fans.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 158th from 264 solo songs.
 
My disdain for this shit heap of a song knows no boundaries. From the annoying, schoolyard type melody, to the beyond-stupid lyrics, this song is crap through and through. Some songs off of LIHS might be even worse, but this one has gotten so many live outings and been given so much attention in various forms, and almost gotten to represent everything that is wrong with latter day Morrissey, making it so much more detrimental. Therefore, I think it’s his worst ever song.

Rant: over.
 
My disdain for this shit heap of a song knows no boundaries. From the annoying, schoolyard type melody, to the beyond-stupid lyrics, this song is crap through and through. Some songs off of LIHS might be even worse, but this one has gotten so many live outings and been given so much attention in various forms, and almost gotten to represent everything that is wrong with latter day Morrissey, making it so much more detrimental. Therefore, I think it’s his worst ever song.

Rant: over.
I'm only sorry that you had to wait until near the end of the A-Z to get this off your chest!
 
I kind of like the melody. I think it would be much better if it was shorter and the production was more direct. I have to say I can see what Gregor is saying here. It is hard not to se this as a series of platitudes rather than an inspired "message." This can also be applied to yesterday's song "Crashing Bores" which to me is damaged by the political baggage that has accumulated since the time it was released.
But that's still a much more interesting and inspired song.
I don't hate this. It's on a record I never play though and when I listened to it just now it might have been the first time in years that I've heard it. 5/10
Grateful "Dog" came along to pull us out of the nosedive and I'd rather forget this record and just hope for something better on the next one.
 
One day after the Nobel price of Peace has been handed out, needless to say that Morrissey didn’t win it in spite of this song :)

I quite liked this one when I first heard the song. Vocal harmony, music and production are promising, and felt like a tremendous relief after those songs of 2011. I like the drums and Jesse’s guitar solo in the middle. Lyrics are a mixen bag. Yes the rich still get richer and the poor stay poor - hard to deny that one. But playing it as often as he did, makes it feel too moralising, like Méat Is Murder also did. So I can see why some fans would head for thé bar.
7/10
 
World peace is a song I admire more than I love, I can fully understand what he is saying here as Moz is straight to the point.
I do like this song and it was a bit jaw dropping on its first hearing as we had waited four years from YOR.

Musically it’s rich and diverse, yes it was played to death in live arena and I really don’t want to hear this live again.
 
like it,big horn at the start is a bit crap but it soon picks up pace,his voice is strong and the music is fine,can see why some people wont like it.it has a good message,these countries need their arses booted now and again,we now live in a world where the protest song is a thing of the past so good on M for at least giving it a go.vivayouknowwho.
9 brazils/10 bahrains.
 
Actually I, um....like this song (sorry).
I’m sure the lyrics are the things on everyone’s minds when listening to this, and I think I have an alternative interpretation of them: if we consult the lyric booklet from the deluxe album version, we see that the words you fool are rendered in quote marks. So, the sentence is no more “you fool”: I.e. in Moz’s head by refusing to support the process you effectively banish the constant looking down from a pedestal attitude of the ruling classes (as we see now and forever, in the UK at least). This shines a completely different light on Moz’s intentions and makes the song make a lot more sense in its political focus.
The music I really enjoy: an experimental intro (that, as with “I’m Not A Man”, I very much think adds to the atmosphere of the piece), which lurches in a slow rock ballad-type tune, with some fiery guitar solos and drumming throughout. Moz belts his heart out, too. I even like Gustavo’s singing at the end: the audio-vérité production increases Moz’s want to experiment, by creating a world around the song as well as in it - it might seem strange to say this, but the ending is actually extremely powerful, with Gustavo obviously placing a lot of emotion into it.
So, all in all, another misunderstood song (IMO), and a great one at that.
8/10
 
Actually I, um....like this song (sorry).
I’m sure the lyrics are the things on everyone’s minds when listening to this, and I think I have an alternative interpretation of them: if we consult the lyric booklet from the deluxe album version, we see that the words you fool are rendered in quote marks. So, the sentence is no more “you fool”: I.e. in Moz’s head by refusing to support the process you effectively banish the constant looking down from a pedestal attitude of the ruling classes (as we see now and forever, in the UK at least). This shines a completely different light on Moz’s intentions and makes the song make a lot more sense in its political focus.
The music I really enjoy: an experimental intro (that, as with “I’m Not A Man”, I very much think adds to the atmosphere of the piece), which lurches in a slow rock ballad-type tune, with some fiery guitar solos and drumming throughout. Moz belts his heart out, too. I even like Gustavo’s singing at the end: the audio-vérité production increases Moz’s want to experiment, by creating a world around the song as well as in it - it might seem strange to say this, but the ending is actually extremely powerful, with Gustavo obviously placing a lot of emotion into it.
So, all in all, another misunderstood song (IMO), and a great one at that.
8/10
Well spotted about the “you fool” bit
A blue peter badge is on its way 🏅
 
With the passing of tome, it has less affect on me than it did in 2014. Probably because it was played at more or less every concert I attended from 2014 to 2020, with the exception of the US/Latin America gigs at the tail end of 2018.
So whilst it’s ok, I don’t hold it in high regard. Maybe one day it will rise again. One day.
 
I agree with @This Charming Bowie re; the lyrical content & intent of this track. Despite not quite being a top echelon piece, it's a great & powerful song with a still very relevant message. Vocally it's on point (what else?), & again great musicianship - love the guitar sections. I really like the album, particularly the dlx version, & think JC did a great job on his first of 3 outings with Moz.
 
Seem to remember we were discussing WPINOYB some time ago, & here's what I believe is the original photo behind the album cover.

wpinoyb.JPG


Courtesy of PJLM: The original image was taken in Avignon, France near the La Fabrique studio where the album was recorded
 
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All art work for this album has been tragic, I mean mozz in trainers and trakie bottoms, it’s just not on.. and if you zoom in close to his leg you can see a pile of dog shite.
 
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