The Father Who Must Be Killed

Cover art

MORRISSEY Song
Name	The Father Who Must Be Killed
Album/Single	Ringleader Of The Tormentors
Length	3:53
Recorded	Autumn 2005
Writer	Morrissey/Whyte
Producer	Tony Visconti

Lyrics

Step-child, you have out-lived your time You represent embarrassment and failure And the father who must be killed Is the blight upon your blighted life And his might is his legal right to ground you down

Step-child, with every petty swipe You just might find you're fighting for your life And the father who must be killed Is a step-father, but nonetheless The way he chews his food rips right through your senses

Step-child, there's a knife in a drawer in a room downstairs And you, you know what you must do...

So the step-child ran with the knife to his sleeping frame And slams it in his arms, his legs, his face, his neck And says: "There's a law against me now"

And the father who must be killed With his dying breath he grabs her hand And he looks into her eyes He says "I'm sorry," and he dies

Step-child, I release you With this broken voice I beseech you Why are lives so short? The step-child thought Heart pointing to the sky "No warm to warm me No hand to touch me And no bible-belters to mess with me Mama, don't miss me Mama, don't miss me This death will complete me But where I go there'll be no one to meet me I know there'll be no one to meet me"

But still, the step-child pressed the knife to her throat Heart pointing to the sky "Just as Motherless birds fly high Then...so shall I So shall I So shall I So shall I So shall I..."

Personnel

• Morrissey - Vocals
  
• Alain Whyte - Guitars, backing vocals
  
• Boz Boorer - Guitars, saxes
  
• Jesse Tobias - Guitars, crash cymbals
• Gary Day - Bass guitar
  
• Matt Chamberlain - Drums
  
• Michael Farrell - Keyboards, piano, organ, trumpet, trombone, percussion
  
• Strings - Ennio Morricone
  
• Additional string production - Marco Patrigiani
  
• Children's Choir director - Rossella Ruini
  
• Children's Choir - Giulia D'Andrea
  
• Children's Choir - Niccolo Centioni
  
• Children's Choir - Laura Adriani
  
• Children's Choir - Alice e Ester Diodovich
  
• Children's Choir - Marco Lorecchio
  
• Children's Choir - Charlotte Patrignani
  
• Children's Choir - Gaia e Andrea Baroni
  
• Producer - Tony Visconti
  

Live History

Play count (Morrissey concert): 14

Morrissey live history:

• Greenock, Scotland 2006-04-26 (Morrissey concert)
• Sheffield, England 2006-05-03 (Morrissey concert)
• Manchester, England 2006-05-07 (Morrissey concert)
• Blackburn, England 2006-05-11 (Morrissey concert)
• Liverpool, England 2006-05-12 (Morrissey concert)
• Cardiff, Wales 2006-05-15 (Morrissey concert)
• Reading, England 2006-05-17 (Morrissey concert)
• Portsmouth, England 2006-05-19 (Morrissey concert)
• Birmingham, England 2006-05-20 (Morrissey concert)
• London, England 2006-05-21 (Morrissey concert)

... further results

Appears On

• Ringleader Of The Tormentors

Related Forum Threads

• Morrissey A-Z: "Father Who Must Be Killed, The" - Morrissey-solo (Mar 05, 2021)