Morrissey A-Z: "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member






Our song for today is this Morrissey/Nevin composition, a B-side from the "My Love Life" single and subsequently featuring on a few compilation albums. (The second clip is the song being performed on the "Tonight with Jonathan Ross" show in December 1990.)

What do we think? (And tomorrow, we start on the letter J!)
 
Wow, where to start? One of his all time best b-sides. Hell, one of all time best songs, full stop. Line upon line of poetic brilliance. A vocal melody to kill for. Sparse, yet complete arrangement. Not too long, not too short. And that wistful feeling that permeates the song has no qualms whatsoever about breaking hearts.
 
I don't know of any works of art that are better than this, about the notion of being so damaged by love that you want/need to shut yourself off from its possibilities. It hit me hard when I was 21 and hits me even harder now. Absolute perfection in the form a song.
 
As everyone has already said, this song is truly spectacular. Dramatic and tension-filled, with release in those glorious choruses. Excellent lyrics, some of his all-time best and wittiest. What else is there to say really? The “I” section has produced so many classics, it seems fitting to end it on a song that meets those high standards once again.
10/10
 
Morrissey's finest song to be released in 1991 and the rendition on the Jonathan Ross show above is superb.

This really ought to have made the Kill Uncle album, but maybe it was felt that there ought to be only one piano ballad and There is a Place in Hell was selected.

The guitar b-side version is interesting and Morrissey's voice dominates it. You can hear the failings of the musicians though and there are rudimentary mistakes aplenty.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 58th from 264 solo songs.
 
Pure perfection,the lyrics,vocals and the superb musical accompaniment makes this song a personal favourite.
 
Morrissey's finest song to be released in 1991 and the rendition on the Jonathan Ross show above is superb.

This really ought to have made the Kill Uncle album, but maybe it was felt that there ought to be only one piano ballad and There is a Place in Hell was selected.

The guitar b-side version is interesting and Morrissey's voice dominates it. You can hear the failings of the musicians though and there are rudimentary mistakes aplenty.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 58th from 264 solo songs.
link to the Hoffman board rankings
 
amazing song,amazing hair in probably his best tv performance.
10 pleas/10 guiltys.VIVAMOZZ.
 
I remember seeing this on JR and spent the next 12 months waiting for a physical release to hear it again as I didn’t press play on the VCR
I’m almost certain I played the b-side before the a side when Love Life was released.
I played it to death and so much so, begun to not listen to it at all for years. I think picking Burglary Years up in HMV in 98, complete with the HMV import sticker reacquainted myself with it. Nice when he resurrected it in the live set in 06.
 
Nevin's almost ethereal use of Skeeter samples & dictaphone add some mystery to this 'poor me', almost prophetic song - it's a great track.
That said, just him and Steve Nieve on Ross is probably my go to version.
Regards,
FWD.
 
Songs like this remind me why I love Morrissey.
When he's at his best, he's peerless.
Brutally honest and moving, pop perfection.
 
Time to roll out the superlatives...best b-side, best TV performance, best hair (and make up!), best piano led song, best use of a sample...worst case of a wonderful song being omitted from an album in favour of a weaker track.
 
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Mr Shandy and myself have not always trod the straight and legal narrow - far from it (it's legal now, so nither mind). AND YET, there have been times, in our wilder youths and in our disgruntled MIDDLE ages, when we have erred. Oh yes, there has been a lot of erring, I can tell you.

SO, you must picture the scene: Minshull Street Crown Court, April 1995, Mr Shandy ARRAIGNED before the beasts of the bench for what now seems like a minor infraction involving recreational chemical sex enhancers, £3,000 in used fivers and an off-duty plod with a GRUDGE THE SIZE OF VENUS.

Would he? Dare he? The moment had come to decide between a quick fine and a branding iron on the wrist or to PUSH the dreadful misunderstanding further up the fundamentals of the British legal system. Mr Shandy, nervous yet composed. Myself, fluttering a 'kerchief in the public gallery. Mr Shandy rose to his feet and addressed the court in his best Gorton baritone - a Wilde for Shudehill if ever there was one - and announced: 'I CHANGE MY PLEA TO GUILTY'. I was so moved, I tell you.

Fined £300, 100 hours community service and a mention in the Manchester Evening News.

Bastards.
 
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