24 To Fight For: Morrissey
Listen To The List: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4n12aZXYqTzGY8HoJOWPTu?si=649f86f80f354285
Imagine if you had to choose a desert island playlist for a band you really love. Imagine if for some reason you were going away and could only take a single 24 song playlist with you for that beloved group and that those would be the only songs by that artist that you could ever listen to again. What would you choose? What 24 songs would you fight for and say that these songs are your personal favorites and/or the best that the artist has to offer. That is the premise of my 24 To Fight For playlists. For this project I will choose my personal favorites from an artist and make the tough call of ranking those songs from #24 to #1 (trying to NOT let the fact that some songs may be overplayed influence me but basing them on my original feelings are much as possible). This is my list and I would love to see you play along and make yours too! What songs would you fight for?
AUTHOR’S NOTE: First, this list will only cover Morrissey’s solo career. It was hard enough to compile this list without adding in his work with The Smiths and I am sure I will do a similar list for The Smiths at some point in the future. Second, Spotify doesn’t have one of Morrissey’s studio albums and one of his compilations available (2009’s Swords compilation and 2014’s World Peace Is None Of Your Business). There is one song from each of these releases that would at least have been strongly considered for this list. “Staircase At The University” from World Peace Is None Of Your Business almost certainly would have made my list (always felt like a lost Viva Hate outtake to me and I really like it) and likely “Ganglord”, which is the B-side to “The Youngest Was The Most Loved”, from Swords as well. However, since I am attaching playlists to these lists I decided to omit them and just mention that I think they are great songs.
#24 – “Spring-Heeled Jim” – From the album Vauxhall & I
“Spring-Heeled Jim” is an album track from Morrissey’s 1994 album Vauxhall & I about a man who has spent his life pursuing selfish desires and sexual conquests without ever allowing himself to really love or commit to another. The title seems to also reference Spring-Heeled Jack, a British urban legend or mythical figure who could make fast and large leaps, further implying a man who leaps from one lover to another. However, by the end of the song the protagonist seems to have realized his life has been lonely and wasted, as he asks “Where did all the time go?”. Musically, “Spring-Heeled Jim” creates a sharp sense of foggy mystery that evokes a feeling of smoky clubs in London’s underbelly. This is achieved by having a steady, driving bass part carry the song while moaning, hazy guitars are laid over top in a thick wall of almost dissonant noise. However, the song’s secret weapon is that all through it runs a vocal sample in the background taken from a 1959 documentary called We Are The Lambeth Boys that looks at the lives of working class youth. By adding the dialogue samples to the song though (one is about a fight between two groups of young men and the other deals with the abolition of the death penalty) Morrissey gives “Spring-Heeled Jim” an underlying sense of menace and a sense of impending tragedy. All of the parts come together expertly and makes what could be seen as a fairly simple song into something that is dark, atmospheric and interesting.
#23 – “Girl Least Likely To” – From the compilation My Early Burglary Years
“Girl Least Likely To” was originally released as the B-side to Morrissey’s early solo non-album single “November Spawned A Monster” and then was strangely left off of his early compilation album Bona Drag which featured singles and outtakes from this period (including the A-side of the single “November Spawned A Monster”). Ultimately, “Girl Least Likely To” was included on a later compilation titled My Early Burglary Years and became more widely available. The song was co-written by Morrissey with his former Smiths bandmate bassist Andy Rourke and is musically upbeat and quite catchy. Indeed, musically “Girl Least Likely To” feels like a cross between Morriseey’s work with The Smiths and the songs from Morrissey’s debut solo album Viva Hate. Lyrically, “Girl Least Likely To” is a witty, yet tragic tale told in Morrissey’s literate and descriptive manner. The song is from the perspective of a supportive friend who is trying to be encouraging of their friend’s writing even though he knows that she simply doesn’t have the talent to be a success. The narrator is both saddened for his friend but also weary of putting up the facade. It isn’t typical pop music fare, but it is a catchy pop song that is also one of Morrissey’s solo songs most reminiscent of The Smiths (which may well be why he seems to have largely buried it for many years in spite of it being among his better early songs).
#22 – “In The Future When All’s Well” – From the album Ringleader Of The Tormentors
First, I have to say that given Morrissey’s public reputation, image, and lifelong fed with much of the press, that the title and cover art for his 2006 album Ringleader Of The Tormentors is pretty genius. Ringleader Of The Tormentors is also one of Moz’s best latter-day albums and “In The Future When All’s Well” is one of several standout songs from the record. Featuring a typically witty and ironic lyric that recalls his classic work, “In The Future When All’s Well” merges the sound of Morrissey’s Your Arsenal era faux-rockabilly with the emo/pop-punk leanings of his 21st century comeback and it works really well. The song isn’t one of his more experimental or thought-provoking moments, it is just an excellent late-career Morrissey song that recalls the great songs that he once had in spades without slavishly recalling the songs of that period.
#21 – “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” – From the album I Am Not A Dog On A Chain
While I think that Morrissey’s 2020 album I Am Not A Dog On A Chain is a fairly inconsistent album, it’s lead single “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” was an unexpected twist to Morrissey’s formula. It’s true that his four studio albums released between 2010 and 2020 are among his most experimental and that Morrissey has shown a surprising willingness to continue to push boundaries for himself and his audience for an artist so late in his career and who has had so much success. That said, the truth is that many of those experiments were just not successful and the songs were not very good. “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” though sneaks in and surprises the listener. It opens up as a fairly strong, late-career Morrissey song. Morrissey, as always, is in good voice and the lyric feels strong and somewhat classicist. Musically, like a fair amount of his recent work, the song features synths, digital effects, and studio trickery. Underneath these new flourishes though “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” also feels somewhat familiar, even classicist in a way. Then, out of nowhere the huge, soulful voice of one-time disco star Thelma Houston comes in. It is completely unexpected and, at first, a little jarring. However, this odd pairing works amazingly well and the song shifts to what is basically a duet between Morrissey and Houston; his proper, arch-British male voice and her rich, soulful American female voice weaving together and around each other. And this is only the start of the unexpected twists and turns that “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” offers. After Houston comes in for a time, the song further veers into the realm of the surreal and features a psychedelic organ breakdown on the bridge that then segues into a jazzy horn solo. This combination of Morrissey’s 1950’s classicism and 1980’s indie legacy merging with Houston’s sense of 1960’s soul and 1970’s disco shouldn’t work, but it does. Then it somehow also merges expertly with the touches of jazz and psychedelia Morrissey’s crack band members add to create something funky and fussy at the same time. “Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know?” feels both strangely timeless while also being something that could only exist in the post-modern now of pop/rock music.
#20 – “Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage” – From the album Low In High School
“Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage” is one of Morrissey’s best songs from his 21st century output. With the type of cutting and insightful lyrics that Morrissey made his name on “Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage” seems to be a scathing indictment of pop stardom and the music machine’s use of vulnerable people to their own ends (and this may or may not include himself). And while Morrissey has denied it, at another level, the song could also well be a comment on the Brexit decision; especially with its repeated closing refrain that “everybody’s running to the exits”. Either way, it is a strong lyric and it is backed by Boz Boorer’s music which slowly builds in tension and intensity until it reaches a cathartic release behind Morrissey’s “everyone’s running for the exits” finale. It feels like classic solo Morrissey without ever rehashing his 90’s peak.
#19 – “Certain People I Know” – From the album Your Arsenal
After Morrissey’s second official solo album Kill Uncle was met with lukewarm critical praise and sales Morrissey wisely knew it was time to mix up the formula and found an almost entirely new crew of musicians to collaborate with him and serve as his band. This new band was rooted in the rockabilly scene and with them Morrissey created the rockabilly influenced album Your Arsenal, seen by many as his solo masterpiece. While much of the album is at least rooted in Morrissey’s interest in the sound of rock and roll’s early days, nowhere does this influence come across more purely than on the swinging “Certain People I Know”. “Certain People I Know” is a song that finds Morrissey pairing his rapier wit, dry humor, and his new bandmates playing skills and love for this type of music to create one of his best songs; a song that feels like classic Morrissey without ever sounding like what he had done before either as a solo artist or with The Smiths. I’ve also always loved the line “I trust the views of certain people I know/They look at danger and they laugh their heads off”.
#18 – “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” – From the compilation Bona Drag
Morrissey’s third solo single, “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” was never released on a proper solo album but was included on his early career compilation Bona Drag. Co-written with producer Stephen Street “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” is an early example of Morrissey’s interest in violence and the criminal underworld as thematic topics. In this case the song mythologizes the Kray Twins, the famous London gangsters of the 1960’s, and tells the story of a young man who has romanticized the gangsters to the point that he has followed them into a life of crime. The song also is a social commentary on how we glamorize and give fame to those who do bad things and therefore encourage more of that kind of behavior. It is a clever and thought provoking song set to an almost whimsical piece of music that lends the song a sense of casual and confident swagger that both reinforces the point of the song and somewhat recalls the sound of The Smiths.
#17 – “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” – From the album Vauxhall & I
“Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” is a simple, largely acoustic number about the pain of betrayal. Literally the central track on Morrissey’s beautiful, melancholy Vauxhall & I album, “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” is the album’s quiet heart of darkness. The song is presented as advice from an older, wiser person who is speaking to a younger person who he knows will not listen to his warning and therefore will have to learn the lesson the hard way. While the song was likely written about the perils of the music business, it could also be about a personal relationship. Furthermore, the song took on an even more personal and ominous tone a few years later when Morrissey was sued by his former Smiths bandmate Mike Joyce for unpaid royalties. Whatever the inspiration behind the song “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” has a simple, haunting beauty and power to it.
#16 – “Late Night, Maudlin Street” – From the album Viva Hate
“Late Night, Maudlin Street” is a long, winding narrative, likely semi-autobiographical, about a lonely, depressed, and awkward teenager and the travails and disappointments he goes through. The song is strongly infused with an overly dramatic sense of teenage angst, but that only lends the song more power and authenticity as that hyper sensationalized emotion is such a big part of the teenage experience. Indeed, despite the narrator’s litany of emotional and physical ills that are taken to almost ridiculous levels of self-pity, there is also an undercutting sense of self-deprecating humor that makes us feel for him. After all, who as a teenager hasn’t felt lonely or awkward? Or the sting of unrequited love? Indeed, it is the detail and specificity of the song that really makes it so universal. “Late Night, Maudlin Street” is sad, but it is also beautiful and deeply and strangely nostalgic; making even the worst hardships and drama of teenage suffering feel like a simpler and happier time in some way.
#15 – “Maladjusted” – From the album Maladjusted
The title track and opening song to Morrissey’s Maladjusted album is an unusual beast. “Maladjusted” is brutal and harsh, featuring pounding percussion, rumbling bass, and buzzing, sawing guitars that only barely rise above the sound of white noise. It feels tough and mean (and a little paranoid) and in many ways is the epitome of Morrissey’s increasing fascination with the culture of violence. Only that sense of violence and power is only expressed through the music, lyrically “Maladjusted” is one of Morrissey’s better songs about the isolation and powerlessness of the young outsider. Thus, the fusion of the words and music suggests a kind of emotional violence is part of simply being young. It is a vastly underrated song in the Morrissey canon that both sounds classic and new. It also has a great opening hook with its sampled quote: “On this glorious occasion…of the splendid defeat” which is a perfect setup for the song.
#14 – “Southpaw” – From the album Southpaw Grammar
Admittedly, “Southpaw” was a song that it took some time for me to come to love. This is largely due to it being a ten-minute long album closer (on the original version of the album) that I just never gave a fair listen to for a long time. Once I did though I fell in love with it as it is the perfect blend of Morrissey’s classic sound with his newly discovered (at the time) love for prog rock. “Southpaw” weaves them together expertly, in part because Morrissey allows his co-writer Alain Whyte to have a free hand and take the song wherever he wants to. This removes some of the spotlight off of Morrissey himself and on to the music his collaborators are making and it is a decision that pays off in spades on “Southpaw”. The song merges the classic jangle-pop sound Morrissey is famous for with waves of swirling and sparkling, effects-laden guitars, all undercut with a dark menace provided by his band’s rhythm section. And because of the length of “Southpaw” this music is allowed to build and develop and be showcased in ways that rarely happen in Morrissey’s songs, especially up to this point in his career.
#13 – “You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side” – From the album Your Arsenal
Morrissey’s Kill Uncle album had been somewhat thin and gutless musically, putting the emphasis on Morrissey’s words. For the follow-up album Your Arsenal Morrissey revamped his band and chose to give his songs a harder, tougher sound and nowhere is that more apparent than on the album’s rumbling, rocking, rockabilly-laced opener “You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side”. “You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side” comes barrelling out of the speakers like a street gang looking for a fight from the first note and never lets up. Meanwhile, Morrissey lets us know he is there to rely on when things get tough, as they inevitably do. A classic song.
#12 – “Everyday Is Like Sunday” – From the album Viva Hate
When The Smiths ended there was some debate about whether Morrissey could find success as a solo artist without his songwriting partner, the genius Johnny Marr. However, Morrissey quickly was able to find a new writing partner in producer/musician Stephen Street and the duo created the maudlin, melancholy masterpiece that is “Everyday Is Like Sunday”. Based on the Nevil Shute novel On The Beach Morrissey sings about the doomed people waiting for death (or perhaps worse, life) “in the seaside town they forgot to bomb” following a nuclear armageddon. His singing is nuanced and evokes both tragedy and apathy in equal measure, while the orchestral sweep of Street’s music provides the appropriate sense of grandeur and melodrama. It was an early solo hit for Morrissey and has become one of his signature songs, as well as a first wave alternative classic.
#11 – “Irish Blood, English Heart” – From the album You Are The Quarry
Following 1997’s Maladjusted Morrissey went on a seven-year hiatus. This time away from the spotlight provided distance and perspective on Morrissey’s career as a solo artist. It also saw the rise of emo rock into the rock mainstream, a genre whose stars had a definite debt to Morrissey. For these reasons, when Morrissey was ready to release a new album in 2004 with You Are The Quarry, the musical scene had come back around to him both critically and commercially and You Are The Quarry was looked forward to in a way that a Morrissey album had not been since Vauxhall & I a decade earlier. While Morrissey, for the most part, sticks to his usual mix of witty and emotional lyrics combined with a street tough musical attack, he did choose to work with producer Jerry Finn who was best known for his work with punk and pop-punk groups like Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, etc. Finn is actually a good collaborator for Morrissey as he allows Morrissey to sound like himself while still feeling a touch more current. This can be heard on the punkish first single “Irish Blood, English Heart”, a fast-paced rocker that serves as a new statement of purpose of sorts for Morrissey in the new millennium. As a song “Irish Blood, English Heart” would not feel out of place on Your Arsenal or Southpaw Grammar but Finn gives it a glossy sheen and a few production flourishes that make it feel like it could be a hit in 2004, which it was in much of the world.
#10 – “Hold On To Your Friends” – From the album Vauxhall & I
“Hold On To Your Friends” is a song that has always baffled me to some degree. In many ways, both lyrically and musically, “Hold On To Your Friends” feels like archetypal Morrissey. “Hold On To Your Friends” features a well-sung lyric that is both wisely knowing and self-pitying, while musically it relies heavily on the jangle-pop of his past before toughening up a little at the end to feel more like the Morrissey of the early 90’s. “Hold On To Your Friends” is classic Morrissey and one of my personal favorites by him. Furthermore, it was the follow-up single to “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get”, one of Morrissey’s most successful solo singles (and only American Top 40). Yet, “Hold On To Your Friends” did not perform well as a single, only reaching #48 in the UK and not charting at all in most other territories. It is a strange fate for a song that is both very good and also exactly what a successful Morrissey single should be. Whether a commercial success or not (and it wasn’t) “Hold On To Your Friends” is a great song.
#9 – “Life Is A Pigsty” – From the album Ringleader of the Tormentors
While at its heart “Life Is A Pigsty” does feel like a classic Morrissey track, it actually is one of his more unusual releases. “Life Is A Pigsty” clocks in at over seven minutes long, making it one of the longer Morrissey songs to be released on a proper studio album. Furthermore, the song relies fairly heavily on keyboards/synthesizers and sound effects, and while Morrissey increasingly has shown a willingness to use these tools in his music, he still rarely had done so to this extent at this point in his career. Indeed, “Life Is A Pigsty” has a more prog rock feel to it than the vast majority of the songs he had written for Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted, his two albums supposedly influenced by prog rock. The real shock of the song though is how brutally direct it is. “Life Is A Pigsty” both eschews Morrissey’s usual witty banter and clever metaphors for the directness that is “life is a pigsty”, a phrase that is neither poetic nor nuanced. This is no accident. Nor does it feel that Morrissey has simply lost his gift for words (they certainly appear elsewhere on the album). “Life Is A Pigsty” finds Morrissey admitting, quite directly and without any deflection, that he has fallen in love; a thing he had spent his entire life and career doubting could or would ever happen. This directness is his own frustration that it has happened to him, and at this inconvenient and even unfair, late stage in life. In a sense, “Life Is A Pigsty” is a love song, but a very, very bitter one, and that is why it is such a powerful song, because it reveals that Morrissey is, in fact, one of us and prey to the same vagaries of life and love as the rest of us. Morrissey has rarely dealt with us so directly or so personally and now that he has chosen to do so he wants to make sure that we don’t miss the point; his words are direct – he is in love and it is cruel of the world to let it happen now – and he allows his musical collaborators to create a gloomy, yet majestic epic that supports his words and heart.
#8 – “Piccadilly Palare” – From the compilation Bona Drag
Released by Morrissey as an early stand-alone single and soon collected on the Bona Drag compilation “Piccadilly Palare” would be the last time Morrissey worked with any of his former Smiths bandmates as Smiths bassist Andy Rourke plays on the track. The song is about the slang language Polari, originally developed by male prostitutes in London in the 1800’s and adopted by homosexuals in Britain of the 1960’s, in both cases used to hide their illegal activities from those who may wish bother them. Morrissey recasts it as a slang used by him and his friends as a way of showing both their outsider status and, potentially, their own sexual orientation. As an American who, at that time, had no idea of the history of Polari, it just seemed like a song about being cool outsiders and its very mystery and Britishness made me like the song as it seemed foreign and exotic. After all, what group of close friends doesn’t have their own slang, in-jokes, and shared history? As a young man I could both relate and still find mystery in the song. Over the years, finding out more about the actual meaning of the song, that sense of breaking the rules and norms, the underlying sense of tragic rebellion, has only strengthened my love for “Piccadilly Palare” even though Morrissey himself has said he doesn’t much care for it.
#7 – “My Love Life” – From the compilation World of Morrissey
“My Love Life” was a stand alone single released in 1991 and was the last song written by the Morrissey and Mark Nevin songwriting partnership that had been responsible for most of the songs on Morrissey’s Kill Uncle album. That album, in my opinion, is among Morrissey’s weakest and nothing from it made my 24 To Fight For list. However, “My Love Life” is a beautiful song and, I believe, easily the best written by the Morrissey/Nevin team. Simple and delicate, “My Love Life” finds the lovelorn narrator wondering: “I know you love one person, so why can’t you love two?”. The desperation and misery in that question, and the implied willingness to share their paramour, is near-perfect Morrissey and Nevin’s music provides the perfect, softly pulsing rhythm to cradle his words. “My Love Life” both is reminiscent of The Smiths without ever really openly recalling them and it is lovely and lonely all at once. The single was ultimately included on the World of Morrissey compilation released in 1995.
#6 – “The National Front Disco” – From the album Your Arsenal
A sweeping rush of a rock epic that expertly mixes Morrissey’s glam rock influences with his then current love for rockabilly, “The National Front Disco” was a highlight of his live show at the time. While the references to the far right National Front drew raised eyebrows in some quarters (and more so in the years since) Morrissey is pretty clearly saying that people will give up pieces of themselves in order to fit in, even if what they are trying to fit into can be seen as reprehensible. Morrissey was never afraid of political commentary or biting satire, and both are present here, but it does take a careful listen to understand the point is making. Musically, “The National Front Disco” is one of the highlights of his career and showcases his (at the time) new band of Alain Whyte, Boz Boorer, Gary Day, and Spencer Cobrin as the superb musicians and songwriters they were.
#5 – “Come Back To Camden” – From the album You Are The Quarry
When Morrissey came back from his self-imposed exile with 2004’s strong You Are The Quarry the bulk of the album combined the sound of his mid 90’s peak with the Jerry Finn’s pop-punk/emo production flourishes. However, one song, the lovely and lovelorn ballad “Come Back To Camden”, felt far more like an outtake from Viva Hate than from Your Arsenal, and it is a highlight of not only You Are The Quarry but of Morrissey’s entire 21st century second phase. The song evokes a sense of falling in love and losing it, while also creating a palpable sense of place. As one listens one can almost see the young lovers walking through foggy English mornings or taking tea outdoors in front of ivy-covered Victorian buildings. It is an ode to youth and love and the pain of losing it and knowing it is unlikely to come back. Morrissey rarely, if ever, matched it in his later career (although again, I would say that “Staircase At The University” from his album World Peace Is None Of Your Business at least comes close and likely would have been included on this list if it was available on Spotify).
#4 – “Glamorous Glue” – From the album Your Arsenal
Released as the fifth and final single from Morrissey’s classic Your Arsenal album was the rockabilly stomp of “Glamorous Glue”. Easily one of the best rock-oriented songs in Morrissey’s discography “Glamorous Glue” finds Morrissey pining about the loss of London’s (and by extension Britain’s) cultural relevance. Much of Your Arsenal seems to deal, at least indirectly, with Britain’s fading role as a key player on the global stage and “Glamorous Glue” finds Morrissey stating: “We look to Los Angeles for the language we use. London is dead! London is dead!”. That certainly never felt more true that it likely did in 1992 as Great Britain’s political empire was lost, the Britpop movement was still on the horizon, and the rise of American grunge and alternative rock dominated the music scene. Still, “Glamorous Glue” itself, with its roaring guitars and coolly retro rockabilly stomp was proof that Morrissey’s lament was only partially true, or at least wouldn’t be if he had anything to say about it.
#3 – “Disappointed” – From the compilation Bona Drag
Morrissey, at least early in his solo career, much like his previous band The Smiths, had a tendency to release some of his best music on singles rather than albums; at times even as the B-sides of those singles. One of the best examples of this is “Disappointed”. Originally released as the B-side of “Everyday Is Like Sunday”, “Disappointed” feels like a lost Smiths classic, combining elements of that band’s jangly guitar attack with a touch of the tremolo-rush of “How Soon Is Now?”. This combination gives the song a sense of being familiar and edgy, as the bass and drums punch through with an aggressive pop. Add to this Morrissey’s excellent lyric about the vagaries of pop stardom, including the devastatingly comic and self-deflating final line: “This is the last song I will ever sing (at which point a mock crowd cheers)/No, I’ve changed my mind again (at which point the mock crowd groans)/Goodnight and thank you. It’s a classic end to a song and, when “Disappointed” was used as the final track on Bona Drag (which at least in the US where his singles were hard to come by and never played on MTV or radio served as a de facto second album), a perfect way to end an album. Indeed, “Disappointed” is still my favorite Morrissey moment from his work before finding Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer.
#2 – “Speedway” – From the album Vauxhall & I
“Speedway” is a near perfect combination of words and music. Morrissey sings a slowly building tale about the betrayal of a friend set against the aural metaphor of a motor race. The song opens with Morrissey setting up the racetrack metaphor while a guitar riff that recalls the sound of someone slamming down the accelerator roars behind him. It is very cool and effective. Then as the story builds in tension so does the speed and intensity of the music, which also employs a very neat effect on the guitar that recreates the sound of the doppler effect and gives the illusion of cars/events racing past at high speed. The story continues to build, with Morrissey himself accepting some of the blame and responsibility: “All of the rumors keeping me grounded/I never said that they were completely unfounded”. Still, the rhythm and intensity increases as the tension builds, with Morrissey pleading his own ultimate faithfulness and loyalty, until finally the song explodes in a chaotic tangle of percussion that feels like a speeding car spinning out of control and crashing, bringing a tragic end to it all.
#1 – “Jack The Ripper” – From the compilations World of Morrissey and My Early Burglary Years
Another case where one of Morrissey’s best songs (perhaps his very best song) was originally hidden away on a B-side to a single. Although in this case there is more to the story than simply a great song buried as a B-side. “Jack The Ripper” is a darkly hued song that can be interpreted as either a literal narrative from the serial killer to the women he killed or as a metaphor about a lonely outsider to the woman who won’t return his love. One interpretation is darkly disturbing the other sadly tragic, but the fact that Morrissey doesn’t really clarify the perspective makes the link between the two seem fragile; as if its easy to see how loneliness and rejection can lead to rape and murder. Yet, for as dark as this all sounds, ultimately “Jack The Ripper” is a sad and beautiful masterpiece. At least it became so. The original studio version of the song that served as the B-side to “Certain People I Know” is good, but not great, and likely on its own would not have made this list. However, Morrissey and his band began to play a live version of the song on the accompanying tour for Your Arsenal and the live version of “Jack The Ripper” that was recorded at The Zenith in Paris and ultimately ended up on Morrissey’s now out of print Beethoven Was Deaf live album is incredible, adding a power and majesty and dark romanticism that is somewhat missing from the studio version. It is this live version (slightly edited down) that was included on both the World of Morrissey compilation and the My Early Burglary Years compilation and that is so incredible. Indeed, if you only know Morrissey from his studio albums and somehow have missed “Jack The Ripper” you should give it a listen as soon as possible. And for those who may be interested for comparison’s sake the studio version can be found on the “Certain People I Know” single or the This Is Morrissey compilation.
Alternative Reality: An Alternative Music Blog 