I'd definitely agree that it's too long, otherwise it would have been a very radio friendly, almost mainstream sounding single, because it's so easily accessible - and something tells me that's the precise reason Morrissey lets it go on for almost 5 minutes.
Another song that is carried mostly by the vocal melody. Lots of fun to sing along with.
The lyrics are... a bit cryptic. Morrissey once gave an explanation which he retracted later on:
"Well... it really does mean something specific. I think it means that we should be pleased and proud of the female side of our character, of our nature. Or if we're female, we should be proud of the male side of our character and give it just as much import as the other side. So, everything's fine, it doesn't matter how you behave."
But it made me wonder about the lines
"Alma matters in mind
body and soul
in part and in hole"
Why is it "hole"? Not "whole"? In connection with his explanation about embracing our female/male sides etc, which "parts" is he actually talking about? I feel like the whole lyric is some kind of in-joke that you can't get unless you're inside Morrissey's mind and that "Alma" is merely a placeholder for something else. (Besides the obvious Alma matters/Alma mater pun.)
The reason why he's become so fond of singing it live in recent years seems rather obvious to me: The choices he has made may seem wrong (or strange) to us, but it's his life to ruin his own way...
The video is one of his greatest. Sexy as hell as well.