Southpaw Grammar
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| Southpaw Grammar | |||||
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| Studio album by Morrissey | |||||
| Released | August 28, 1995 (UK) September 12, 1995 (USA) |
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| Recorded | March-April 1995 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Label | RCA (UK), Reprise (USA) | ||||
| Producer | Steve Lillywhite | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Morrissey chronology | |||||
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Southpaw Grammar is the fifth solo album by the singer Morrissey, formerly of Mancunian band The Smiths. It was released in August 1995 and charted at number 66 in the USA and at number 4 in the UK. The singles lifted from it were "Dagenham Dave" (which reached number 26 in the UK singles chart in August 1995) and "The Boy Racer" (which reached number 36 in the UK singles chart in October 1995). To date it is the only Morrissey album which does not feature his image on the cover.
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[edit] The Record
On its release Southpaw Grammar confounded fans and critics alike. Following the massive success of Vauxhall and I, widely (but not universally) considered to be Morrissey's finest solo moment thanks to its sentimental, emotionally charged lyrical content that lacked his usual acerbic wit and scathing criticisms, Southpaw Grammar is a departure to say the least.
The nature of the album is difficult to fathom out. Musically, the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten minute mark, the near two and half minute drum solo courtesy of Spencer Cobrin which opens the track "The Operation" and the sampling of a Shostakovich1 symphony have led some to dub this album as 'Morrissey's flirtation with prog-rock.' Some critics were impressed by this apparent attempt at progression, while others dismissed the longer tracks as mere self-indulgence. By this album Morrissey had been writing with Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer for almost as long as he had been writing with Johnny Marr by the time of the Smiths demise and perhaps felt comfortable enough with his writing partners to move in a completely different direction. The catchy pop numbers are by no means gone, as proven by the two singles "Dagenham Dave" and "The Boy Racer". Curiously, there are no ballads on this album.
Lyrically, things are even more perplexing. According to Morrissey himself, the title refers to 'the school of hard knocks,' that is, boxing, a southpaw being boxing slang for a left-hander. Some have taken this a step further and believe Southpaw Grammar to be a concept album about boxing, or just the violence prevalent in modern society in general. Certainly, the lyrics are far-removed from the emotional rawness in Vauxhall and I and leave even many hardened Morrissey/Smiths fans in bewilderment. "The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils" is interesting as it is possibly the antithesis of the ideas he put forward in the Smiths song, "The Headmaster Ritual", from their album Meat Is Murder. The theory here is that Morrissey goes from berating the over-zealous administration of discipline, as he saw it, to berating the lack of it. Whether this would be pure hypocrisy or simply a shrewd re-evaluation in light of the abolition of corporal punishment is a moot point. The other theory is that the song is a reaction to the spate of child abuse allegations around that time, catching many teachers between a rock (the need to discipline their pupils) and a hard place (the pupils' parents; as the lyrics have it, "lay a hand on our children and we'll have you, oh yes, WE'LL HAVE YOU")
The critical reception to Southpaw Grammar could be considered the opposite to the almost universal praise garnered by his previous album, Vauxhall and I, not in that it was a total condemnation, but that there were some truly polarised reviews: some hailing it as Morrissey's most real, intense and ambitious work yet, others lambasting it as over-orchestrated twaddle barely worth listening to. The NME were especially damning of their one-time hero, claiming the album was 'a loud mess to sell to America.' It must be borne in mind also that many reviewers commented upon the idiosyncratically English nature of the lyrics, even by Morrissey's standards, so there is no real consensus on which market this album was aimed at. The answer is probably no-one, given the fact that this album does not obviously appeal to any specific group; it is an album Morrissey wanted to make. Whether this reflects positively on the album is not obvious.
[edit] 2008 Remaster
On 30 May 2008, true-to-you.net revealed Sony-BMG will issue a remastered version of 'Southpaw Grammar' in July. This album, first released in 1995, will include three previously unreleased tracks, and new artwork. [1]
The three new tracks are rumored to be : "Honey You Know Where To Find Me", "Laughing Anne", and "You Should Have Been Nice To Me". It is not known whether or not the reissue will feature the previously released B-Sides "Nobody Loves Us" and "You Must Please Remember" or if there will be a new tracklisting.
[edit] Track listing
- "The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils" (Lyrics by Morrissey, music by Boorer) – 11:15
- "Reader Meet Author" (Lyrics by Morrissey, music by Boorer) – 3:39
- "The Boy Racer" – 4:55
- "The Operation" – 6:52
- "Dagenham Dave" – 3:13
- "Do Your Best and Don't Worry" – 4:05
- "Best Friend on the Payroll" – 3:48
- "Southpaw" – 10:03
The Fifth Symphony is sampled on "The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils".
[edit] Personnel
- Morrissey - Vocals
- Alain Whyte - Guitars, backing vocals
- Boz Boorer - Guitars
- Jonny Bridgewood - bass
- Spencer James Cobrin - Drums
