Bookhouse88
New Member
Hey gang, long time reader, first time poster... : )
I know this is a realllllly old subject, but I think I discovered another of Morrissey's references to a cherished old book/film/crime in "Such a Little Thing Makes a Big Difference", which I was surprised to discover, searching the web and looking at the "It May All End Tomorrow" collection of sources for lyrics (http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/nicked.htm), hasn't been commented on anyone (at least nothing that's ever been archived online enough to still be out there).
Anyway, I'm writing about the line "There you go, wielding a bicycle chain..."
I always thought it was peculiar that he chose a bicycle chain as the weapon for his thug in the song, and so maybe I'm reaching to find a source, but recently when I watched "In Cold Blood" (the movie based on Truman Capote's true crime book about the circumstances and trials of 1950s American killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock), I sort of jumped when I heard a reference to a bicycle chain being used violently. In both the movie and the book, Perry Smith tells Hickock that he had once killed a man with a bicycle chain just to see what it felt like (whether this murder actually happened is apparently debated).
Normally, I wouldn't take a reference to a violent act involving a bicycle chain out of context and try to attach a Morrissey reference (really, I wouldn't! : ), but in this case, I couldn't help but see this as EXACTLY the sort of thing Morrissey would reference in a song. We all know how obsessed he is with mid-20th century criminals (the Krays, the Moors murders, etc), and since "In Cold Blood" was written by the famously gay Truman Capote (gay writers, another favorite subject), well... it just seems like something Morrissey would reference obliquely.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/051010fr_archive01 (very long article that references the story about the bicycle chain murder)
http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/bonadrag/suchalit.htm (Such a Little Thing Makes a Big Difference lyrics from LASID archive)
Anyone else think I've hit upon a long buried secret reference ? : )
Bookhouse88 !
I know this is a realllllly old subject, but I think I discovered another of Morrissey's references to a cherished old book/film/crime in "Such a Little Thing Makes a Big Difference", which I was surprised to discover, searching the web and looking at the "It May All End Tomorrow" collection of sources for lyrics (http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/nicked.htm), hasn't been commented on anyone (at least nothing that's ever been archived online enough to still be out there).
Anyway, I'm writing about the line "There you go, wielding a bicycle chain..."
I always thought it was peculiar that he chose a bicycle chain as the weapon for his thug in the song, and so maybe I'm reaching to find a source, but recently when I watched "In Cold Blood" (the movie based on Truman Capote's true crime book about the circumstances and trials of 1950s American killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock), I sort of jumped when I heard a reference to a bicycle chain being used violently. In both the movie and the book, Perry Smith tells Hickock that he had once killed a man with a bicycle chain just to see what it felt like (whether this murder actually happened is apparently debated).
Normally, I wouldn't take a reference to a violent act involving a bicycle chain out of context and try to attach a Morrissey reference (really, I wouldn't! : ), but in this case, I couldn't help but see this as EXACTLY the sort of thing Morrissey would reference in a song. We all know how obsessed he is with mid-20th century criminals (the Krays, the Moors murders, etc), and since "In Cold Blood" was written by the famously gay Truman Capote (gay writers, another favorite subject), well... it just seems like something Morrissey would reference obliquely.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/051010fr_archive01 (very long article that references the story about the bicycle chain murder)
http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/bonadrag/suchalit.htm (Such a Little Thing Makes a Big Difference lyrics from LASID archive)
Anyone else think I've hit upon a long buried secret reference ? : )
Bookhouse88 !
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