Morrissey Sings Merritt

"No one will ever love you honestly, oh no no noooooo"

Stevie T once called that Superior Pet Shop Boys ... but you're right - it works!

I wonder what else Morrissey and Merritt have in common!

Irish blood

English hearts?

They hate it when their friends are successful?

His mother was a German-Irish member of the 1960s counter-culture, and was an amateur songwriter and guitar player. She brought him up within the doctrine of Tibetan Buddhism. He did not know his father, Scott Fagan, a folk singer.
http://wiki.pinkpaper.com/stephinmerritt.ashx

"The Desperate Things You Do" would be so perfect. I am humming it in my head right now and it's blowing that head's mind.

I wonder what else Morrissey and Merritt have in common!

-- Party Sausage, Thursday, June 26, 2008 12:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

lol racism obviously

Jesus, that article is fucking astonishing. I have acted as an apologist in the past for both Sasha Frere-Jones and Jessica Hopper on occasion, but I had never read about that stuff. They both come off as complete and utter idiots.

They both come off as complete and utter idiots.

Alert the media! Oh, wait ...

Jeezus, it is indeed astonishing. It makes me angry, in fact - a dreadful 'when did you stop beating your wife?' quality, an utterly spurious accusation that (given the seriousness of the accusation) the accuser had no business making - just stupidity and spite. Absolutely diabolical.

Anyway,

1 Desperate Things You Made Me Do
2 Candy
3 No One Will Ever Love You
4 Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side

- god, this is already the best Morrissey record since Strangeways. How about a curveball: 'Love In The Shadows'?

Full Circle Department: the Playlist Merritt picked (that SFJ complained was too white) not only reviews Morrissey's I Am the Quarry but quotes the line "I've been dreaming of a time when to be English is not to be baneful, to be standing by the flag not feeling shameful, racist or martial."

"Personally, I find acoustic guitars depressing."

Acoustic Gutiar, how lovely you are
With your inlays of mother of pearl
Be a good guitar and you could go far
Just bring me back my girl

ow: these folks
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Acoustic-Guitar-lyrics-The-Magnetic-Fields/1B17A2D8B529169548256E8E000C832A
couldn't spell guitar, not me, honest

I'm not sure anything will beat "Meaningless" for this (the "ha ha ha"!), but "Swinging London" and "Aging Spinsters" come close.

Just not "Take Ecstasy with Me," Morrissey'd be chewing scenery on that one.

I'd like to hear the Magnetic Fields do "Suedehead".

"I Don't Believe In The Sun" would be too dead-on for Moz. "When I'm Out of Town", though...

Ooh, yes ... and 'Ageing Spinsters' could actually be M. I've always thought 'Swinging London' an overrated song, though.

As You Turn To Go
Strange Powers

I know I'm not supposed to say I'm sorry
I know you've had more loves than Mata Hari
But you know you're the star of my life story
And I'm so sorry

Dude would slay this.

I'm Lonely And I Love It (full orchestra)
I Thought You Were My Boyfriend (club mix)

Okay, this really needs to happen. I'll add "Just Like a Movie Star."

"The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure"

I'm already hearing the guitar riff replacing synth strings/bassline intro in my head. And it sounds amazing!

okay anyone who has a song with that title deserves whatever's coming to them.

whatever's coming to Merritt = imperishable plaudits and accolades forever in the songwriters' hall of fame.

Funny thing is how almost *every* suggestion on the thread sounds inspired! Makes me think there is a certain natural coherence to the idea (maybe obvious in one way, but not obvious enough for it to have actually happened yet), and it really *should* happen.

whatever's coming to Merritt = imperishable plaudits and accolades forever in the songwriters' hall of fame.

-- the pinefox, Thursday, June 26, 2008 10:04 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

mmm

I got all dressed up in dreams
And I waited by the door
But you never even called
To tell me you don't love me anymore

The first magnetic field song I heard was "I don't want to get over you"

That one.

if i make it tonight it'll be all right
it'll make a good song or something
i've been trying to give myself reasons to live
and i really can't think of one thing

i drive around, i walk around in circles
'cause i've got no sense of direction
and i guess i've got no sense at all

[chorus:]
all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain
and all the dope in new york couldn't kill this pain
and all the money in tokyo couldn't make me stay
all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain

i don't cry anymore, i walk out the door
and i usually keep on walking
i will sit in the bar where the cocktails are
but i really don't feel like talking

i lie around and let the darkness fall
'cause i've got a sense of perfection
and nothing makes much sense at all

'Just Like A Movie Star' might actually be the finest suggestion yet; I can really hear M delivering all of this:

--

I spent all day dreaming of the way I'd like to hold you
So I got absolutely nothing done but it was so much fun
And have I told you how beautiful you are tonight?
Just like a movie star

Quit your job, dear
Then you can stay here at home beside me
You be James Dean, I'll be Sal Mineo
You can hide me

How beautiful you are tonight
Just like a movie star

"Deep Sea Diving Boots" would be incredible done Meat is Murder-style, Marr lixx & reverb.

[i]You didn't have to say that I'm no good, 'cause I know.
There's no point pointing pistols at me now, I'll just go.
I never should have asked you to be kind, but I'm slow.
And I'm sorry, but how can I get to you
Stuck in my fifty-pound lead boots,
Stuck in my deep sea diving suit?

I never thought you'd turn on me, 'cos you're my best friend.
You say I never offered you a thing in the end.
And now you wouldn't trust me with a grain of sand.
I'm sorry, but how can I get to you
Stuck in my fifty-pound lead boots,
Stuck in my deep sea diving suit?

('Suit') -- you don't mean like the title track, no? - but like 'I Want The One I Can't Have', or something? Not sure what the paradigm would be, really; I'm finding it hard to think of a Smiths track at the same speed as this TMF one.

I can only really agree that anything ever would be incredible done with Marr lixx and reverb.

Thinking of M. singing these lyrics brings out a morose self-pitying dimension that he would highlight but that never feels so strong for me when Merritt (or other TMF singer) is singing them.

I have always loved the line "There's no point pointing pistols at me now, I'll just go" - not sure why 'pistols', but I guess the repetition of 'point' is what he was really pursuing.

jangly "Cemetry Gates" style version of "Born On A Train"

in general I think Merritt's approach to music is very dissimilar from Morrissey's approach to music so this is interesting to me

http://www.sendspace.com/file/rgqhyj

In an old silverline
I was yours, you were mine
I was hoarse, you were mean
We designed drum machines

But every day in every way
Im falling out of love with you
Every kiss means less and less
Im falling out of love with you
Every hour kills a flower
Im falling out of love with you
You just bore me more and more
Im falling out of love with you

They made sounds much like drums
I was young you were dumb
Now youre older and im wiser
We design synthesizers

But every day in every way
Im falling out of love with you
Every kiss means less and less
Im falling out of love with you
Every hour kills a flower
Im falling out of love with you
You just bore me more and more
Im falling out of love with you

Haha Pinefox. You know what is more likely to happen? A covers album that collects all of the previously released covers, with an odd previously unreleased live version or two thrown in for good measure. Much cheaper that way!

Supposedly when The Smiths started out they worked on a cover of Marianne Faithfull's "Summer Nights" - http://youtube.com/watch?v=rVtSTyWeKZc - which you can easily imagine in a Merritty pastiche...

You're not wrong, Virginia.

This thread is an immense disappointment to me.

How about "Good Thing I Don't Have Any Feelings"? It would perfectly match the "tragic" nihilistic style of "Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me".

anyone want to reel off a list of songs moz actually has covered, incl live only?

I see what you mean, N.

Don't know that song.

Could be a good list I guess.

I Want A Boy For My Birthday
(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame
What's The World
Golden Lights
Work Is A Four-Letter Word
East West
Cosmic Dancer
Trash
That's Entertainment
Skin Storm
My Insatiable One
Interlude
Moon River

I have no idea after that :/

I would be happier if we could combine this with the calypso thread and imagine Morrissey singing Lord Kitchener songs. Lots of them would suit him really well, actually.

his cover of cosmic dancer is pretty incredible

he does that 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuh' thing at the end like he does @ the end of wonderful woman

he'd do a killer moon river i gotta say - did he do any covers on his last tour?

thought of merritt and covers when i first heard Springsteen's "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" on the radio, a merritt-ish song isn't it?

01. All My Little Words
02. Papa Was A Rodeo
03. Come Back From San Francisco (though I can't really hear Moz ever singing 'I miss doing the wild thing with you.")
04. Josephine
05. With Whom To Dance
06. Please Stop Dancing
07. Losing Your Affection
08. i Thought You Were My Boyfriend
09. Too Drunk Too Dream
10. Underwear
12. All The Umbrellas In London
13. When You're Old And Lonely

Following Alba's list...

'Street Life' - Roxy Music
'No One Can Hold A Candle To You'- Raymonde
'Drive-In Saturday'- David Bowie
'Redondo Beach' - Patti Smith
'Nothing Rhymed' - Gilbert O'Sullivan
'You Say You Don't Love Me' - Buzzcocks
'A Song From Under The Floorboards' - Magazine
'Harry Rag' - Kinks

'A Song From Under The Floorboards' - Magazine

ooh

From True To You (see especially the last line):

How and why do you choose to cover such diverse and intriguing songs as No One Can Hold A Candle To You, Redondo Beach, etc.?

Adele
Blackpool, England

Everything has its place and its reason. Certainly, the early Smiths covers, for example 'Work is a four-letter word' and 'Golden lights' were done as acts of playful perversity - they weren't meant to be groundbreaking miracles of sound. And that's usually how it is, just a matter of throwing something unexpected into the mix. 'No One Can Hold a Candle to You' was originally written and sung by James Maker, and we've been good friends now for 30 years. He released 'Born that Way' a couple of years back and that's one of my favorite recordings of all time. As for 'Redondo beach', I've always said how Patti Smith's 'Horses' album changed my life. When I told Patti I had released it as a single she said it wouldn't chart because of the 'Patti Smith curse', but we just missed the top ten by a few copies, even though, as always, zero airplay. I also had it in my mind that the opening line was "let it be known," which it isn't, it's "late afternoon."

I have often planned a covers album, but I always scrap the idea because it seems to be such a standard maneuver now.

"You Say You Don't Love Me" -- Buzzcocks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQLFTIphyN8

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