Morrissey A-Z: "Children in Pieces"

Spent the Day in Bed, Love Is on its Way Out and Israel are all extremely good late period Morrissey songs in my opinion.
I thoroughly and wholeheartedly disagree. I can’t stand either.
 
I thoroughly and wholeheartedly disagree. I can’t stand either.
Spent the Day is one of Morrissey's biggest ever radio hits. So good that even Mike Joyce and Stephen Street went out of their way to praise it. It also got one of the biggest cheers of the night in the 2018 tour. I can see that the the arrangement could be grating but the songwriting is excellent. Gustavo has brought a fantastic new dimension to the latter day Morrissey sound. He also wrote Bobby Don't They Think which is a glorious thing. I guess some people just want Morrissey to sing over a basic indie guitar backdrop - Gustavo doesn't do those.
 
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Well, yes, possibly. It's not the first thing I associate with child abuse in an educational or even clerical setting though.

I always saw the lyric as a continuation of The Headmaster Ritual, especially the line You say you wanna go home (vs I wanna go home / I don't want to stay).

My mind also went back to the Headmaster Ritual today, a cousin of sorts.
And who'd expect that 20+ years later, he would add the sentiment
But instead of sympathy, I feel
My sentimental heart hardens


Eldritch explained it well, but I still find those lines chilling. It really is a very dark song.
 
Spent the Day in Bed, Love Is on its Way Out and Israel are all extremely good late period Morrissey songs in my opinion.
I like Spent The Day In Bed, not super keen on the other two.
But I feel like I'm the only person who enjoys The Girl From Tel-Aviv Who Wouldn't Kneel...
 
Spent the Day is one of Morrissey's biggest ever radio hits. So good that even Mike Joyce and Stephen Street went out of their way to praise it. It also got one of the biggest cheers of the night in the 2018 tour. I can see that the the arrangement could be grating but the songwriting is excellent. Gustavo has brought a fantastic new dimension to the latter day Morrissey sound. He also wrote Bobby Don't They Think which is flipping brilliant. I guess some people just want Morrissey to sing over a basic indie guitar backdrop - Gustavo doesn't do those.
I don’t care about radio hits. And I don’t like Bobby (see the Bobby thread in the A-Z for more on that matter). Gustavo can write music in some capacity, but he can’t write songs. His songs go nowhere and they lack tunes. He probably thinks he’s different and cool, and obviously has certain people fooled, but in my estimation he’s plodding and talentless in the songwriting department. His material is detrimental to Morrissey’s albums.
 
I like Spent The Day In Bed, not super keen on the other two.
But I feel like I'm the only person who enjoys The Girl From Tel-Aviv Who Wouldn't Kneel...
Typical example of abhorrent songwriting from Gustavo. Morrissey’s vocal melody and lyrics don’t help, of course. Awful, awful song.
 
My mind also went back to the Headmaster Ritual today, a cousin of sorts.
And who'd expect that 20+ years later, he would add the sentiment
But instead of sympathy, I feel
My sentimental heart hardens


Eldritch explained it well, but I still find those lines chilling. It really is a very dark song.
The change of perspective is what makes it so dark and also intriguing to a certain degree, but I feel like he could have done more. I don't know, maybe a third verse?
Something about the lyrics feels extremely unsatisfactory.
 
Typical example of abhorrent songwriting from Gustavo. Morrissey’s vocal melody and lyrics don’t help, of course. Awful, awful song.
Yeah. I figured as much. 😉
 
Spent the Day is one of Morrissey's biggest ever radio hits. So good that even Mike Joyce and Stephen Street went out of their way to praise it. It also got one of the biggest cheers of the night in the 2018 tour. I can see that the the arrangement could be grating but the songwriting is excellent. Gustavo has brought a fantastic new dimension to the latter day Morrissey sound. He also wrote Bobby Don't They Think which is a glorious thing. I guess some people just want Morrissey to sing over a basic indie guitar backdrop - Gustavo doesn't do those.
One of his worst-ever songs, for me. Irritating rinky-dink weirdness with such trite, childish lyrics, I'm mystified as to how or why anyone likes it - this is the guy who wrote Now My Heart is Full and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore,for God's sake. How far has the barometer fallen that this dismal stuff is considered good -"In sheets for which I paid, I am now laid"? *dink dink dink* "I love my bed", blah blah. Christ. It's Morrissey on "minimum effort" setting.
 
It's a shame that Children in Pieces was shelved for two years before being properly recorded in 2007. The rockier, instrumental demo is my preferred version and, with some touch up, would have fit in quite nicely on Ringleader.
 
One of his worst-ever songs, for me. Irritating rinky-dink weirdness with such trite, childish lyrics, I'm mystified as to how or why anyone likes it - this is the guy who wrote Now My Heart is Full and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore,for God's sake. How far has the barometer fallen that this dismal stuff is considered good -"In sheets for which I paid, I am now laid"? *dink dink dink* "I love my bed", blah blah. Christ. It's Morrissey on "minimum effort" setting.
Yeah, right on the money. I loathe everything about this song.
 
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