Morrissey A-Z: "In Your Lap"

I don't know a lot about The Arab Spring, but it doesn't stop me appreciating this song as a lament of fear and separation. 'I'm so tired of counting the days' and 'I'm dreaming of touching your arm' are lyrics that I'm sure many people have been able to relate to over the past year.
 
I don't know who was in charge of pacing/track positioning on LIHS, but having two piano-heavy ballards like Lap & Girl From... back to back really didn't do it for me - It seems to slow everything down for too long IMHO.
Not one I particularly listen to often - no huge dislike, just not my favourite.
Regards,
FWD.
 
Is it just me, or do quite a few of the songs on LIHS sound like they could be in musicals, especially on the second half of the album? I've never been able to shake that feeling. (Not saying it's good or bad, just kind of ... unexpected!)
 
Is it just me, or do quite a few of the songs on LIHS sound like they could be in musicals, especially on the second half of the album? I've never been able to shake that feeling. (Not saying it's good or bad, just kind of ... unexpected!)
If you don't want to say it's bad then I will.
 
Like FWD mentioned, sticking two very similar songs right next to one another at the beginning of Side 2 really kills the album's momentum, especially after a stellar first half. I do enjoy the piano on this track - Gustavo is obviously a talented player - but some of the production, surprisingly since Joe Chiccarelli has done great work on the 2014-2020 albums, pushes the instrumentation into a distant murk, where its hard to discern. Add to that some of the weaker lyrics on the album: as you can say with other songs from the LP, the heart and empathy is there to communicate these tough situations, but sticking it into some rhyming couplets, unless you're very good with not much at hand, doesn't typically translate into a powerful message. So, not the best and not the complete worst, but in an uneasy spot in the middle.
5/10
 
Like FWD mentioned, sticking two very similar songs right next to one another at the beginning of Side 2 really kills the album's momentum, especially after a stellar first half. I do enjoy the piano on this track - Gustavo is obviously a talented player - but some of the production, surprisingly since Joe Chiccarelli has done great work on the 2014-2020 albums, pushes the instrumentation into a distant murk, where its hard to discern. Add to that some of the weaker lyrics on the album: as you can say with other songs from the LP, the heart and empathy is there to communicate these tough situations, but sticking it into some rhyming couplets, unless you're very good with not much at hand, doesn't typically translate into a powerful message. So, not the best and not the complete worst, but in an uneasy spot in the middle.
5/10
Yes, good point about these lyrics. There's something quite sweet about the juxtaposition of the personal and the political, as in

They live to kill and they love just to harm
And I'm dreaming of touching your arm


...but it's nothing a vaguely talented 16 year old couldn't come up with.
 
Not as repulsive as some of the other songs on the album or on side 2 especially, but still far, far from a song I ever long to hear. Like Bookish said, it has a musical vibe to it, and that’s never a good thing. And the composition, like so many other of Gustavo’s songs, is both super pretentious and goes nowhere.
The best thing about the song is the lyrics and the atmospheric air.
 
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like the piano on this,good vocal as well,its one of those songs i dont like or dislike.there will probably be a better one tomorrow.
7 heads/10 laps
 
I really like this song and don’t mind it back to back with girl as I really like that song. The girl from is to lively imo with its stop starts and I think goes well with the somber in your lap. The song always makes me think of children hiding in there mothers arms as bombs go off
 
Oh and I agree about the production of lihs. Doesn’t ruin the album but out of the four he’s produced this one is of the least quality
 
All that musical drama wasted on a lyric that is just so uninteresting.
Yep, love the music generally on High School and this one's no exception. But it's the words that let much of the album down including on this song.
The following lyrics are pretty great though:
"I rescued you in so many ways
You're good for a laugh, that's all you can say
Summer is winter and winter prevails
And I'm so tired of counting the days
I'm so tired of counting the days"
 
I think the listening experience can be different here, depending on whether you listen to a record or to a CD / MP3 / streaming. I am in the latter group, and I really feel that the CD needs a quiet moment after that shellshock of "I bury the living". But I agree with others who said that 2 piano songs back to back really saps the energy out of the album.

I don't care much for the lyrics. Morrissey's talent is not in writing political protest songs. What's the shared sentiment or message here? Another reference to the security forces? That makes me yawn.
 
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