Cowshed
Underclass
One entry has been covered on the main page, but I figured the whole series should have a thread.
There were 7 entries in the newspaper from Saturday 14th March to Friday 20th March, and each day had a different topic.
Disappointingly there were no solo songs, but plenty of Smiths entries. And shockingly there was no entry for ‘Life and Death’, but not so surprising that there was no entry for ‘Protest and Politics’.
(NB. This isn’t complete as I didn’t buy the Guardian on the 16th)
Love (14/03/09)
The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
This sublime ballad from The Queen is Dead defines the multi-dimensional brilliance of Morrissey’s lyrics. The poetic longing makes you cry; the black comedy of the chorus makes you laugh. But the delirious melodrama also implies that love and death are identical objects of desire. While Moz spins your head with “the pleasure and the privilege” of being mown down by double-decker buses and 10-ton trucks, Johnny Marr’s glistening guitars and exquisite orchestral arrangements cast their own mystical spell. (Garry Mullholland)
Heartbreak (15/03/09)
The Smiths – I Know It’s Over
Not even Woddy Allen twins love and death with such regularity as Morrissey. This grandiose Morrissey-Marr orchestral waltz from The Queen is Dead hinges on two sublime lines: the opening and repeated, “Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head,” and the observation that, while ridicule and hatred are easy, “It takes guts to be gentle and kind.” None of this helps our hero as he insists that “natural and real” love is way beyond him. (Garry Mullholland)
The Smiths – Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Of all the heartbreaking songs in the Smiths’ oeuvre this one is, perhaps, the most heartbreaking of them all. The B-side to William, It Was Really Nothing, Please, Please, Please Let Me get What I Want sees Morrissey, 25 going on 15, assert his credentials as the ultimate bedsit bard. “See the luck I’ve had / Can make a good man turn bad,” he moans, endearing him to millions of lovelorn adolescents who seek solace in the soothing power of words. (Paul Mardles)
Sex (17/03/09)
The Smiths – Reel Around the Fountain
The stately opener to the Smiths’ debut LP, this song would have been a single were it not for a Sun newspaper campaign that accused it of condoning paedophilia. In fact it is (of course) a much more elusive piece of work, taking in a loss of innocence (“You took a child and you made him old”), but also mutual admiration and pleasure (“You’re the bees knees but so am I”). Oh, and a fair bit of sodomy, too – “You can pin and mount me like a butterfly” indeed. (Alex Needham)
Party Songs (20/03/09)
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?
In retrospect, the Smiths’ sixth single seems an unlikely party record. Johnny Marr’s keening guitar paired with Morrissey’s despondent vocal are anything but upbeat. But mid-80s indie clubs were about who was the most misunderstood, not having fun. The lines, “There’s a club if you’d like top go / You could meet somebody who really loves you / So you go and you stand on your own / And you leave on your own / And you cry and you want to die”, captured the mood perfectly. Remember, this was before ecstasy. (Chris Cottingham)
There were 7 entries in the newspaper from Saturday 14th March to Friday 20th March, and each day had a different topic.
Disappointingly there were no solo songs, but plenty of Smiths entries. And shockingly there was no entry for ‘Life and Death’, but not so surprising that there was no entry for ‘Protest and Politics’.
(NB. This isn’t complete as I didn’t buy the Guardian on the 16th)
Love (14/03/09)
The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
This sublime ballad from The Queen is Dead defines the multi-dimensional brilliance of Morrissey’s lyrics. The poetic longing makes you cry; the black comedy of the chorus makes you laugh. But the delirious melodrama also implies that love and death are identical objects of desire. While Moz spins your head with “the pleasure and the privilege” of being mown down by double-decker buses and 10-ton trucks, Johnny Marr’s glistening guitars and exquisite orchestral arrangements cast their own mystical spell. (Garry Mullholland)
Heartbreak (15/03/09)
The Smiths – I Know It’s Over
Not even Woddy Allen twins love and death with such regularity as Morrissey. This grandiose Morrissey-Marr orchestral waltz from The Queen is Dead hinges on two sublime lines: the opening and repeated, “Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head,” and the observation that, while ridicule and hatred are easy, “It takes guts to be gentle and kind.” None of this helps our hero as he insists that “natural and real” love is way beyond him. (Garry Mullholland)
The Smiths – Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Of all the heartbreaking songs in the Smiths’ oeuvre this one is, perhaps, the most heartbreaking of them all. The B-side to William, It Was Really Nothing, Please, Please, Please Let Me get What I Want sees Morrissey, 25 going on 15, assert his credentials as the ultimate bedsit bard. “See the luck I’ve had / Can make a good man turn bad,” he moans, endearing him to millions of lovelorn adolescents who seek solace in the soothing power of words. (Paul Mardles)
Sex (17/03/09)
The Smiths – Reel Around the Fountain
The stately opener to the Smiths’ debut LP, this song would have been a single were it not for a Sun newspaper campaign that accused it of condoning paedophilia. In fact it is (of course) a much more elusive piece of work, taking in a loss of innocence (“You took a child and you made him old”), but also mutual admiration and pleasure (“You’re the bees knees but so am I”). Oh, and a fair bit of sodomy, too – “You can pin and mount me like a butterfly” indeed. (Alex Needham)
Party Songs (20/03/09)
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?
In retrospect, the Smiths’ sixth single seems an unlikely party record. Johnny Marr’s keening guitar paired with Morrissey’s despondent vocal are anything but upbeat. But mid-80s indie clubs were about who was the most misunderstood, not having fun. The lines, “There’s a club if you’d like top go / You could meet somebody who really loves you / So you go and you stand on your own / And you leave on your own / And you cry and you want to die”, captured the mood perfectly. Remember, this was before ecstasy. (Chris Cottingham)