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Rating: It is a mystery how some artists enjoy an immeasurable and almost infinite credit. Most likely, it is a credit they have earned in the field because in this world, nothing is given for free, but this category of artists (not only singers) exists, and it is not easy to come up with a plausible explanation for why this benevolence is so unending. Steven Patrick Morrissey, we can affirm without fear of contradiction, belongs to this category. Rarely have I heard his work questioned and almost no one has ever taken the trouble to speak ill of one of his records. Yet, upon closer inspection, he hasn't churned out series of masterpieces, quite the opposite. Even I must admit to being magnetically attracted to The King, as I've realized that I practically own his entire discography since 1983, the year of the release of the eponymous debut of the Smiths, and that I have followed him step by step even when he embarked on his solo career.
Leaving the Smiths aside, which I have always considered a great singles band and not a long-distance one, I must reluctantly recognize that Our Man, in almost two decades of activity, upon closer inspection, has published just a couple of remarkable works, namely "Viva Hate" and the recent "You Are The Quarry". To be magnanimous, let's include (in parts) "Your Arsenal" and "Vauxhall And I". For the rest, he has made a collection of decidedly avoidable albums, some downright bad, like "Southpaw Grammar". When in 2004 he returned to the scene after a seven-year absence, he did so in a regal tone, offering us with "You Are The Quarry" a record that in some sounds brought us back to the good old days, more than fulfilling expectations that, to be honest, were becoming vain.
This time, the wait lasted only two years, and unfortunately, the impression derived is that of a record released more for contractual reasons than genuine artistic talent. Turned in a more pronounced electric key compared to its predecessor, it fails to repeat its style and drags quite wearily throughout its twelve tracks, relying on craft and the voice (which is always first-rate) that mother nature wanted to give him to try to keep afloat. In short, the work is really bland with a rosary of useless songs photocopied one over the other, so shabby as to make this continuous genuflection towards Morrissey disgusting. I hope he spends another seven years without releasing anything and that they prove useful for him to design an album worthy of that name. In many cases, silence is golden, and rather than churning out series of records that add nothing, often taking away, it would be better to remain silent in anticipation of better times, to avoid squandering all the accumulated credit. The past and charisma remain, but as far as I'm concerned, we have truly reached the end of the line.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Dear God Please Help Me (05:51)
I am walking through Rome
With my heart on a string
Dear God, please help me
And I am so very tired
Of doing the right thing
Dear God, please help me
There are explosive kegs
Between my legs
Dear God, please help me
Will you follow and know
Know me more than you do
Track me down
And try to win me?
Then he motions to me
With his hand on my knee
Dear God, did this kind of thing happen to you?
Now I'm spreading your legs
With mine in-between
Dear God, if I could I would help you
And now I am walking through Rome
And there is no room to move
But the heart feels free
The heart feels free
The heart feels free
But the heart... feels free
The heart feels free
03 You Have Killed Me (03:08)
Pasolini is me
'Accattone' you'll be
I entered nothing and nothing entered me
'Til you came with the key
And you did your best but
As I live and breathe
You have killed me
You have killed me
Yes I walk around somehow
But you have killed me
You have killed me
Piazza Cavour, what's my life for?
Visconti is me
Magnani you'll never be
I entered nothing and nothing entered me
'Til you came with the key
And you did your best but
As I live and breathe
You have killed me
You have killed me
Yes, I walk around somehow
But you have killed me
You have killed me
Who am I that I come to be here...?
As I live and breathe
You have killed me
You have killed me
Yes I walk around somehow
But you have killed me
You have killed me
And there is no point saying this again
There is no point saying this again
But I forgive you, I forgive you
Always I do forgive you
05 In the Future When All's Well (03:54)
Armed with wealth and good health
The best of health
In the future when all’s well
I will lie down and be counted
In the future when all’s well
I thank you
I thank you with all of my heart
I thank you
I thank you with all of my heart
Lee, please stand up and defend me
In the future when all’s well
Confront what you are afraid of
In the future when all’s well
Every day I play a sad game called
In the future when all’s well
Living longer than I had intended
Something must have gone... right!
I thank you
I thank you with all of my heart
I thank you
I thank you with all of my heart
Please, please stand up and defend me
In the future when all’s well
Confront what you are afraid of
In the future when all’s well
Hold me closely if your will allows it
In the future when all’s well
Paired-off,
Pawed till I can barely stand it
The future is ended by a long, long sleep
The future is ended by a long, long sleep
The future is ended by a long sleep
08 I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now (04:14)
Warm lights from the grand houses blind me
Haves cannot stand Have-nots
And my love is under the ground
My one true love is under the ground
And I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s hero now
I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s hero now
They who should love me
Walk right through me
I am a ghost
And as far as I know I haven’t even died
And my love is under the ground
My one true love is under the ground
And I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s hero now
I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s hero now
(See as I... See as I... See as I...)
I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s lover now
I’ll never be
I’ll never be
I’ll never be anybody’s lover now
Things I’ve heard and I’ve seen
And I’ve felt and I’ve been
Tell me I’ll never be anybody’s lover now
It begins in the heart
And it hurts when it’s true
It only hurts because it’s true
10 To Me You Are a Work of Art (04:01)
I live a life
I feel the pain
To sing this song
To tell the tale
I wish I never even heard the song
I see the world
It makes me puke
But then I look at you and know
That somewhere there's a 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
I see the world
It makes me puke
But then I look at you and know
That somewhere there's a 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, had one
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 (02:59)
Lord, these words I beg of you
As I kneel down at my bed
Because soon I will be dead
Let’s face it soon I will be dead
And I just want to
I want to see the boy happy
With some hope in his pale eyes
Is that too much to ask?
Before I die
I have one final dream
For my own life I don’t care anything
Lord these words I beg of you
As I kneel down at my bed
Let’s face it soon I will be dead
And I just want to
I want to see the boy happy
With his arms around his first love
Is that too much to ask?
Before I die
I have one final dream
For my own life I don’t care anything
And I just want to
I want to see this boy happy
Why is this such a bad thing?
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Other reviews
By francis
Morrissey has granted himself to the public with what in my opinion will be considered his most introspective and 'human' album.
The gloomy, grumpy and decadent Morrissey has left behind the years of his personal 'Cataraxia' and has given himself to others, but above all to himself.
By kikujiro77
There’s the absolute perfection that only the (now) old Steven Patrick can distill in three minutes.
What can I say? You have killed me. Again.
