ROTT Track Guide from NME

[Well]

Not new, I know, but here you go.

1: I WILL SEE YOU IN FAR-OFF PLACES

Beginning with an unexpected Arabian motif and wailing voices over strong guitars and a dynamic rhythm reminiscent of The Smiths’ ‘Barbarism Begins At Home’, the song immediately introduces one of the album’s key themes – love – as Morrissey directly serenades another individual. “Nobody knows what human life is, why we come why we go/So why then do I know I will see you in far-off places?” he asks, before echoing some of ‘You Are The Quarry”s sentiments by singing, “If the USA has done you wrong/I believe I will see you somewhere safe/Looking into the camera pulling faces”.

2: DEAR GOD PLEASE HELP ME

Featuring an arrangement by spaghetti Western king Ennio Morricone, this is the track which most explicitly acknowledges the Roman backdrop against which the album was recorded. Talking directly to the Almighty, over a gentle piano backing, Morrissey sings: “I am walking through Rome with my heart on a string/Dear God please help me/I am so very tired of doing the right thing”. With Moz singing in a new high register, Morricones’ backing sees a church organ slowly lead the song towards its swirling climax. But there is no prayer as Morrissey announces, “There are explosive kegs between my legs” before asking for advice on love, thus introducing ‘Ringleader Of The Tormentors’ second major theme: God.

3: YOU HAVE KILLED ME

Led by strong rock guitars that are reminiscent of Oasis at their poppiest, this is the album’s fitting first single. Boasting a euphoric chorus, Morrissey’s sense of humour comes to the fore. Again, speaking directly to another individual he sings, “You have killed me/Yes I walk around somehow but you have killed me”, adding, “as I live and breathe you have killed me”. Passionate and committed, this track completes the album’s trinity of topics, as it does with death.

4: THE YOUNGEST WAS THE MOST LOVED

Sounding like a solo song from the late-80’s ‘Viva Hate’ era, the band deliver an assured performance while Morrissey tells the tale of a young murderer. “The youngest was the most loved/The youngest was the cherub/A small boy from a small house/But he turned into a killer”, he sings before being joined by a Gorillaz-esque children’s choir for the outro.

5: IN THE FUTURE WHEN ALL’S WELL

Bearing producer Tony Visconti’s fingerprints with a T-Rex-style shuffling beat and chunky guitars, this track sees Morrissey’s band at their best. Boasting a dynamic bassline and a warm pop heart, Morrissey confides to the listener “Every day I play a sad game called ‘In The Future When All’s Well’”, before leaping into a falsetto. A potential future single.

 

[Well]

6: THE FATHER WHO MUST BE KILLED

Returning to death for this one, the lyrics find Morrissey at his most creative, as he tells the tale of a put-upon daughter. “Stepchild you have outlived your time”, he sings against a pounding backing. “You represent embarrassment and failure/And the father who must be killed is the blight upon your blighted life/And his might is his legal right to grind you down”.

7: LIFE IS A PIGSTY

Unlike his previous work, this track finds Morrissey at his most experimental. Over a thrusting bass and beats, the opening section has a light, dancey feel as storm and rain noises mingle into the song. Moz croons, “It’s the same old ends/But with broken fortunes and once again/I turn to you”. Then, with Spanish guitars breaking in over thunderclaps, the song switches gear. “Every second of my life I only live for you/You can shoot me or drop me off a train/But I still maintain/Life is a pigsty”, Moz sings, exploring the higher end of his register.
Before the listener can get settled, “Life Is A Pigsty’ mutates again as bold, electric guitars join and the singer concludes, “Even now, in the final hour I’m falling in love again”.

8: I’LL NEVER BE ANYBODY’S HERO NOW

Morrissey is again concerned with mortality as he gravely informs us, “My love is under the ground/My one true love is under the ground/And I’ll never be anybody’s hero now”. Despite death’s spectre looming over this album, Morrissey is never morbid. Instead, the track boasts a humour similar to The Smiths’ ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’, as Morrissey toys with his subject. It ends on a positive note. “As far as I know”, notes the singer, “I haven’t even died”.

9: ON THE STREETS I RAN

Beginning with exotic-sounding guitar scales, this grows until its full urgency is unleashed and Morrissey finding where his home now lies. “The streets are wet back home/And roads you can never know/You never had them but they always had you until the day that you croak/It’s no joke”, sings the former Manchester resident over a chiming hook.

10: TO ME YOU ARE A WORK OF ART

After death and God, we’re back to love, but even though it’s a raw ballad, in true Morrissey fashion there’s no hint of soppiness, just a wicked sense of humour. “I see the world/It makes me puke”, he sings over gentle acoustic guitars, “and then I look at you/And I know that somewhere there’s someone who can soothe me/To me you are a work of art/And I would give you my heart – that’s if I had one”.

11: I JUST WANT TO SEE THE BOY HAPPY

Finally uniting his trilogy of topics, with his own death, an appeal to God and an almost paternal love for the boy in the title, this ballsy-sounding, Oasis-esque rock song is one of ‘Ringleader Of The Tormentors’ highlights. With rough, jazzy trumpets joining the fray, it builds to a huge crescendo. “I just want to see the boy happy”, sings Morrissey. “Why is this such a bad thing?”

12: AT LAST I AM BORN

With the big tunes that give this record a more positive and direct edge than its predecessor, Morrissey cannot resist wrong footing the listener at the close. Opening with strings and thunderous kettle-drums, ‘At Last I Am Born’ initially sounds more at home on the ‘Gladiator’ soundtrack, but the music subtly evolves as flamenco guitars drift in and Morrissey ends in a confident and hopeful voice. “It took me a long, long time but now I am born”, he sings. “I was once a mess because of guilt of the flesh/But it’s remarkable what you can learn because you are born”.