Morrissey A-Z: "Maladjusted"

I'll be honest, Southpaw Grammer and Maladjusted were not the follow-up albums fans expected or hoped for after Your Arsenal and Vauxhall. Difficult albums, the greatness of which only became apparent over time. In the late summer of 1997, Maladjusted began more or less where Southpaw ended. A rough, eternally long instrumental by Boz, in which Morrissey lyrically reveals himself and questions his own person doubtfully. Cryptic references to mystical places, his own career and life, that not everyone could understand. Today I consider the title song from 1997 to be one of the best Morrissey songs of the late 90s because he dares a lot, leans out far and doesn't necessarily want to be loved.

And again: Lillywhite gives the band a sound and the whole record an atmosphere, that still reaches me 24 years later.
 
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I love it, but it amuses me that Boz got paid for this basic 3 chord musical sequence. It must have been the easiest payday the guy every had in his life.
 
One of my favourite Morrissey solo tunes and one of his great album openers. Never to be trusted....
 
Not just my favorite Morrissey song, but one of my favorite songs of all time. It's a masterpiece.

The dark poetry of it, the complexity of the narration, the evocative feel of it; like a vivid dream, or a fading memory.

It's a perfect combination of words and sound. I never tire of it.
 
I love it, but it amuses me that Boz got paid for this basic 3 chord musical sequence. It must have been the easiest payday the guy every had in his life.
If Morrissey is to be believed (2009 liner notes), him choosing to chuck most of the original song away and put words to what was left i.e. the outro of Boz's tune may explain that.
FWD.
 
If Morrissey is to be believed (2009 liner notes), him choosing to chuck most of the original song away and put words to what was left i.e. the outro of Boz's tune may explain that.
FWD.

Morrissey = musical genius



well, with this song anyway.


On the subject of this song in the 2009 expanded and redesigned edition of the "Maladjusted" album, Morrissey wrote:

"Boz had written a risky tune with a dramatic outro. I ignore the risky tune and utilize only the outro, making it the entire recorded song. If Life is meaningless, then why did it ever begin? Michael Bracewell asks, 'are you mentioning Stevenage because you like Here we go round the mulberry bush so much?' and my answer is No. It is enough just to be."

From http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/songs/songs-maladjusted.htm
 
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Nothing more to add, it’s an amazing work of art, I wish it was stretched out for the entire album! that’s how much I love it.

As mentioned, the stream of conscious lyric can point once again back to poet Joni Mitchell in her song The Jungle Line ... also Morrissey’s nod to her when he sings ...

“You stalk the house
in a low-cut blouse:
"Oh Christ, another stifled
Friday night!"






Rousseau walks on trumpet paths
Safaris to the heart of all that jazz
Through I-bars and girders, through wires and pipes
The mathematic circuits of the modern nights
Through huts through Harlem through jails and gospel pews
Through the class on Park and the trash on Vine
Through Europe and the deep deep heart of Dixie blue
Through savage progress cuts the jungle line

In a low-cut blouse she brings the beer
Rousseau paints a jungle flower behind her ear
Those cannibals of shuck and jive
They'll eat a working girl like her alive
With his hard-edged eye and his steady hand
He paints the cellar full of ferns and orchid vines
And he hangs a moon above a five-piece band
He hangs it up above the jungle line

The jungle line the jungle line
Screaming in a ritual of sound and time
Floating, drifting on the air conditioned wind
And drooling for a taste of something smuggled in
Pretty women funneled through valves and smoke
Coy and bitchy wild and fine
And charging elephants and chanting slaving boats
Charging chanting down the jungle line

There's a poppy wreath on a soldier's tomb
There's a poppy snake in a dressing room
Poppy poison poppy tourniquet
It slithers away on brass like mouthpiece spit
And metal skin and ivory birds
Go steaming up to Rousseau's vines
They go steaming up to Brooklyn Bridge
Steaming, steaming, steaming up the jungle line
 
Nothing more to add, it’s an amazing work of art, I wish it was stretched out for the entire album! that’s how much I love it.

As mentioned, the stream of conscious lyric can point once again back to poet Joni Mitchell in her song The Jungle Line ... also Morrissey’s nod to her when he sings ...

“You stalk the house
in a low-cut blouse:
"Oh Christ, another stifled
Friday night!"






Rousseau walks on trumpet paths
Safaris to the heart of all that jazz
Through I-bars and girders, through wires and pipes
The mathematic circuits of the modern nights
Through huts through Harlem through jails and gospel pews
Through the class on Park and the trash on Vine
Through Europe and the deep deep heart of Dixie blue
Through savage progress cuts the jungle line

In a low-cut blouse she brings the beer
Rousseau paints a jungle flower behind her ear
Those cannibals of shuck and jive
They'll eat a working girl like her alive
With his hard-edged eye and his steady hand
He paints the cellar full of ferns and orchid vines
And he hangs a moon above a five-piece band
He hangs it up above the jungle line

The jungle line the jungle line
Screaming in a ritual of sound and time
Floating, drifting on the air conditioned wind
And drooling for a taste of something smuggled in
Pretty women funneled through valves and smoke
Coy and bitchy wild and fine
And charging elephants and chanting slaving boats
Charging chanting down the jungle line

There's a poppy wreath on a soldier's tomb
There's a poppy snake in a dressing room
Poppy poison poppy tourniquet
It slithers away on brass like mouthpiece spit
And metal skin and ivory birds
Go steaming up to Rousseau's vines
They go steaming up to Brooklyn Bridge
Steaming, steaming, steaming up the jungle line

Christ, that must be the worst piece of 'music' that's ever passed through my ears. :(
I'm just glad that Moz only used 5 of the words & left the rest to fester somewhere...:rolleyes:
 
Well...


the right people like it.



:p :cool:

Christ, that must be the worst piece of 'music' that's ever passed through my ears. :(
I'm just glad that Moz only used 5 of the words & left the rest to fester somewhere...:rolleyes:
 
Well...


the right people like it.



:p :cool:
:p well the right people are wrong...good grief.
I need to go cleanse my ears with some proper tunes now.
Moz!!

Edit: I went for:
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Something I can barely describe
...which seemed appropriate in the circumstances. :lbf:
 
:p well the right people are wrong...good grief.
I need to go cleanse my ears with some proper tunes now.
Moz!!

‘proper tunes’ :rolleyes:

Edit: I went for:

Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Something I can barely describe
...which seemed appropriate in the circumstances. :lbf:


You wouldn’t know a good tune even if it bit ya on the tympanic membrane !


:cool:
 
Masterpiece. A bloody masterpiece, from his most underrated album of all time. Hell, one of the most underrated albums ever, period. Love the stream-of-consciousness lyrics, the grinding, ‘out there’ music and heavy guitar work and that voice that just soars on top of it all and all the way through. I’ll be damned if this isn’t in my Moz top 5.
While it's my favorite song the album is more like a maxi-single with lots of bonus tracks to me. I rarely play it through.
 
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