It's Not Your Birthday Anymore

[Aine Ni Cheallaigh]

Oh my God, this thread has blown my mind. I will never hear this song in the same way again!

The question of whether you read his songs as standalone messages, or interpret them along with him-as-artist as part of the message is interesting. I am very much in the latter camp, watching Morrissey to see how he will express himself this time using this particular song.

I've found Jack the Ripper to be fascinating to watch live for this reason. The first time I heard him sing it, I had to mentally take a step back and be like, okay, here we go, he's telling a story where the first-person narrator is a creepy serial killer, this is not Morrissey talking. And yet bizarrely, everyone around me seemed to be taking it in as a straight-up love song.

And I don't know why or how, after hearing him sing it lots of times, I'm like, oh yeah, crash into my arms, such a beautiful sentiment. He's singing this love song to us.

I really don't think its because I'm dumb. I really think it's because he has such expressive power in his performance, the emotional content of what he intends to express takes precedence over the actual literal meaning of the lyrics. So this makes seeing him live absolutely compelling, because who knows where he's going to take these songs. One day, Eveyday is Like Sunday is a funereal dirge, the next, it's full of sunshine and hope. It's fascinating to watch.

 

[countthree]

Luckily until now I'm not a victim nor I have victim's mentality. But any of us could be one, no matter social classes, education levels, etc. Thanks to a former job, I know abusive relationships are more common than what we could imagine. Morrissey shows in that song he knows very well the dynamics of domestic violence, where everything seems perfect at certain moment and it turns a hell the next day. Of course he is talking about rape. The abuser seems to think it's love, like all abusers do. They think their victims belong to them, a feeling of ownership they wrongly call love. It's not a love game. It's a sick game of power.
Well, that's my personal interpretation of the song.

 

[countthree]

i like your interpretation, though i would add, that most of the time the abused also thinks that this kind of "love" has to be endured, is funny, part of adult life, makes you only stronger, protects you from even worse "love", is a sign of their own guilt. as far as i know, the first and most difficult step for the abused to get out of these relationships is to acknowledge the fact that it is indeed abuse and try to not simply accept the interpretation monopoly of the perpetrator or/and power elite. in a larger context it's not only relationships that are abusive, but our societies as well. in my eyes, and this is my personal interpretation, abuse is a leitmotif in morrissey's work reflecting our deluded dealings with an ideology which is largely based on an emptied concept of "love" disguising the actual hatred, abuse and exploitation.

Totally agree. When you begin to deal with these situations the first thing that strikes you is that abusive relationships are a repetitive pattern. Sometimes victims remain in that role during a lifetime, sometimes they become someone else's abuser. One way or another, abusers generally were victims during their childhood or they witnessed violent relationships in their families or communities. That's why some people grow believing abuse is a manifestation of love.
That happens in love or family relationships, as well as in other kind of relationships. Which is the reason why some people endure to be called the subject of someone else, or why they support the theory some people are better than others based on their "blood", race, sex, etc. They were subtly brainwashed during their formative years. That's why abuse is an exercise of power disguised as something else: love, loyalty, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

harder than facing the old man and telling him he was a real shithead and thus getting the introjection out of your system.

and when they do that, the site bots automatically hit the troll button.
Now, has calling someone a troll ever helped anyone?


now now.

 

[Anonymous]

'The old man' is slang for your penis, 'round our way.