Morrissey👍

    

    I was thinking about what blog post I should do for my week and I had thought back to my first post on The Smiths. It clicked that I could write about their lead singer who had gone to do his own solo work. Originally I was thinking about writing about Jonny Marr the guitarist, but I feel Morrissey's solo career is better. 

Every day is like Sunday

    Every day is like Sunday, is a song about the narrator's boredom and every day being repetitive. In the lines "This is the coastal town That they forgot to close down Armageddon - come Armageddon! Come, Armageddon! Come!" The narrator states that this town should have been closed down and wants armageddon to come down and close it down. Then the narrator says "Every day is like Sunday Every is silent and grey" showing that every day is boring and dull. Then he says "Etch a postcard: "How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here" In the seaside town ...that they forgot to bomb Come, Come, Come - nuclear bomb." This is very similar to the first line about his displeasure of being in this boring town and wanting it blown up. Then in the final lines, he says "Every day is like Sunday "Win Yourself A Cheap Tray" Share some greased tea with me" Hammering in his view that every day has little to give.

The last of the international playboys

    The last of the international playboys, I think that this song is a criticism of the media making criminals famous. There is a particular jab towards the two criminals the Kray twins. The song starts off with the lines "Dear hero, imprisoned With all the new crimes that you are perfecting Oh, I can't help quoting you 'Cause everything that you said rings true." This line poses the criminal as a hero and their crimes being perfect. The narrator idolizes the things that this criminal says. The next lines are "And now in my cell, well, I followed you And here's a list of who I slew Reggie Kray, do you know my name? Oh, don't say you don't Please, say you do, oh, oh." I think that this sequence is a fantasy of the narrator meeting one of the Kray twins expecting them to know a dear fan. Then the song repeats those lines twice before going on these lines "In our lifetime, those who kill The news-world hands them stardom And these are the ways on which I was raised These are the ways on which I was, which I was raised." These lines are self-explanatory, and then the lines "I never wanted to kill, I am not naturally evil Such things I do Just to make myself more attractive to you Have I failed?" This might be the narrator actually committing a crime to become more attractive to the criminal. This is backed up by the music video because the main character is obsessed with these killers and horror movie slashers. At the point in the video where these lines are said he is shown running out of a dark alleyway with his face having regret posted all over it. 

Piccadilly Palare

    Piccadilly Palare, this song is about 60's rentboys (male prostitutes). The song starts out with our narrator saying "Off the rails I was And off the rails, I was happy to stay Get out of my way." He has gone off the normal track of life and doesn't want other people to try and get him back on. "On the rack I was Easy meat, and a reasonably good buy A reasonably good buy." He was just a piece of meat to be used by anyone who would pay. "The Piccadilly Palare Was just silly slang Between me and the boys in my gang." To understand this line we need to understand what Piccadilly and Palare mean. Piccadilly is a place in London and Palare was a slang language spoken by homosexual men in the 60's. The Piccadilly Palare was just silly slang" shows this slang language through the eyes of our protagonist, therefore to the listener. Describing it as "Silly slang," the narrator sees this slang as light-hearted. "Between me and the boys in my gang" is a clear representation of our protagonist’s position as a rentboy. The fact that this exclusively gay language is shared "between" him and the "boys in his gang, shows that he is part of a group of rentboys. Then there is a line written in Palare "So bona to vada. Oh you... Your lovely eek and your lovely riah" which means "So good to look at. oh you your lovely Face and your lovely Hair." This line shows the flirting that goes on in his gang. "We plied an ancient trade Where we threw all life's instructions away Exchanging lies and digs, my way," The "Ancient trade" that the boys in the gang "plied" to each other suggests that they have completely abandoned all rules of normal society "Where we threw all life’s instructions away". The "exchanging" of "lies and digs" suggests that they have subjected themselves to a life of borderline criminality and corruption. (No, no. No, no, no. You can’t get there that way. Follow me...) represents the quiet voice of society yielding them to get back on the rails and in tune with a proper lifestyle. "Good sons" (those bound by the laws of society) don't understand the special bond that this corrupted, yet enthralling lifestyle brings them. "You wouldn't understand, Good sons like you never do". This could also be interpreted as a childish dig at those more fortunate than himself for being part of the society that keeps them safe and well looked after. This could be a desperate plea for help from our protagonist. in this next sequence, our narrator questions his life "Why does he smile when he thinks about Earls Court?" Earls Court is a famous landmark in central London, and is therefore relevant to our protagonist's life. Society asks "Why he smiles" for the warped and distorted lifestyle he has led so far. He is also questioned about "why he cries about the battles he fought and lost" implying that he has never won any personal gains in his so-called "happily Off the rails" lifestyle. So why is it so great we ask? This is a spiteful attack on the conscience of our protagonist which makes him think and become fully aware that "It could all end tomorrow" Implying that he could become worn out and useless as a prostitute and be left for dead. He also questions that "it could go on forever" which implies that he would wear away his life, counting for nothing until the day he dies. Either way, he is "doomed" to a shameful end. This song criticizes the cruel and harsh life of male prostitutes and manages to convey a message of instinct vs society. 

                                                                                    Johnathon Spencer🌶️