Morrissey A-Z: "Alone Again (Naturally)"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member


A very minor entry in our fledgling A-Z and I'm sure there's better footage out there than this - but still.

For me, it always seems like too obvious of a song for Morrissey to cover. I remember hearing the original a lot on Radio 2 when I was very young. But hey - what does anyone else think of this?
 
I have a soft spot for Gilbert O'Sullivan but I still agree that this one's a bit too obvious. It's probably his most famous hit, which makes it a rather unusual choice of song for Morrissey to cover. And he only played it once as an intro.
It's still beautifully suited to his voice and Gilbert was apparently delighted:



Out of the 3 (?) O'Sullivan songs Morrissey has covered, I Didn't Know What To Do is my favourite by a mile.
 
I have a soft spot for Gilbert O'Sullivan but I still agree that this one's a bit too obvious. It's probably his most famous hit, which makes it a rather unusual choice of song for Morrissey to cover. And he only played it once as an intro.
It's still beautifully suited to his voice and Gilbert was apparently delighted:



Out of the 3 (?) O'Sullivan songs Morrissey has covered, I Didn't Know What To Do is my favourite by a mile.


Oh I hadn't seen that, Gilbert's reaction - that's really sweet.
 
Not a great affiliation to this but, I seen him do “I Didn’t Know What To Do” in Dublin and somewhere else (possibly Antwerp) and it was rather marvellous..
 
While this performance is largely inconsequential, it adds a little interest that Morrissey has added these rarely performed snippets over the years.

Gilbert O'Sullivan is an underrated songwriter and musician, and it's interesting that Morrissey has performed 3 of his songs. Probably as many songs as he has performed by any other songwriter (not that I have checked).
 
It depends a bit on the definition of a real cover version, as he's done lots of tiny snippets that were only a couple of lines.

But he's done 3 (or 2 1/2) Dolls songs : Trash, Subway Train and Human Being

And Elvis was done at least twice by The Smiths (although A Fool Such As I is still kept under lock and key), once in full solo plus snippets here and there.
 
Too many snippets - this jumps to mind, but compiling them all is just too much work.
Lazily,
FWD.

 
Counting snippets Elvis surely takes the crown. Just a couple I found:

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You:



(@Ketamine Sun ! A snippet at least.)

It's Now Or Never:







Wooden Heart:
From 29:45



 
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Counting snippets Elvis surely takes the crown. Just a couple I found:

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You:



(@Ketamine Sun ! A snippet at least.)

It's Now Or Never:







Wooden Heart:
From 29:45




The “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You was done at one of those arena gigs in 2015, possibly Birmingham. I can seen him doing it, but not sure which one. TQID was the opening song he went into
 
Counting snippets Elvis surely takes the crown. Just a couple I found:

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You:



(@Ketamine Sun ! A snippet at least.)

It's Now Or Never:







Wooden Heart:
From 29:45




That koln one. I can’t believe a year has nearly passed, it seems surreal. Can still feel myself sat in a bar on the other side of the city, unsure if it was going ahead. It felt really strange. Hard to believe that was nearly the end of the world as we know it. That was a really good night, and it took the disappointed away of Paris being off.
 
The “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You was done at one of those arena gigs in 2015, possibly Birmingham. I can seen him doing it, but not sure which one. TQID was the opening song he went into
Thanks, I'm gonna look for it. My favourite Elvis song. He did the title line at the end of First Of The Gang To Die in Austin in 2009 as well.




Edit: Birmingham was right. He should just do the whole song at some point...

 
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Yea. I did think it was Birmingham but wasn’t sure. I tried to recall what he said at them all as he came to the mic, and narrowed it down to two it probably was.
 
That now or never one, I went to that in Bremen
One of the ones I recall off the top of my head, Dusty Springfield in Brixton, the 2011 gig. The night it all kicked off outside with the local black males.
 
I loved Gilbert as a kid. Saw him alive in Manchester. Was great. No idea when, I lost all sense of time 6 years or so, ago. I remember I didn’t stand and dance at the end. When the masses do, I don’t. :dancer:
 
Biz ended up gettin' sued and havin' his record pulled off the shelves
for samplin' this song after Gilbert O'Sullivan told him he couldn't.
In the Wild T mind, I always figured that Moz sang this to show his
solidarity with The Biz Mark. 🙃

 
Biz ended up gettin' sued and havin' his record pulled off the shelves
for samplin' this song after Gilbert O'Sullivan told him he couldn't.
In the Wild T mind, I always figured that Moz sang this to show his
solidarity with The Biz Mark. 🙃


Gilbert was an idiot to pull that, it was so good. I reckon it was the programmed money marketing men who done that. Hopefully.
 
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