Morrissey A-Z: "I Am Not a Dog on a Chain"

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

Lyrically, this isn't great, continuing the descent into paranoid 'alternative facts' that started on 'Spent the Day in Bed', and some of the rhymes just seem random and clumsy ('Because of my fleece, because of my niece' is just downright embarrassing). What saves the song and stops it from becoming unbearable, is that it is sung so lightly, and set over such a jaunty little tune. It's a great contrast, and stops it feeling like the Trumpian/David Ike rant that it is.

By the way - what are people's reading of the lyrics at the end?:

The dead are dead
Ice cold and hard
To where they can't be overcharged
They have no breath
They have no eyes
At least they won't be going twice

Ignoring the awkward grammar of the third line, I had trouble initially wondering what this had to do with the rest of the song. Now I'm thinking maybe he's talking about himself - having already 'died' socially and commercially from having shared his views, and then being ostracised and cancelled by so many people, he has no further fear of what people say about him. Or am I completely misreading this?

I disagree about the fleece/niece rhyme.

'Fleece' makes sense in the context of Canada Goose, it's in line with the imagery of an animal being skinned. I took it as his way of saying there are many things one can be condemned ('skinned alive') for - one's opinions ('because of my views') or the "truth" (whatever that may be...); 'fleece' could stand for his clothes or outer appearance, which is often ridiculed, and his 'niece' is obviously his nephew, who gets a lot of flack, which is also reflected on Morrissey.


As for the last part of the lyrics - I'm none the wiser, really. I thought it sounds like he's envying the dead here, because they're already done with life and don't have to deal with the type of stuff he himself gets thrown at him anymore. A bit like Munich Air Disaster 1958 - they can't hurt them because they're all safely dead...

I like your interpretation though.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

Lyrically, this isn't great, continuing the descent into paranoid 'alternative facts' that started on 'Spent the Day in Bed', and some of the rhymes just seem random and clumsy ('Because of my fleece, because of my niece' is just downright embarrassing). What saves the song and stops it from becoming unbearable, is that it is sung so lightly, and set over such a jaunty little tune. It's a great contrast, and stops it feeling like the Trumpian/David Ike rant that it is.

By the way - what are people's reading of the lyrics at the end?:

The dead are dead
Ice cold and hard
To where they can't be overcharged
They have no breath
They have no eyes
At least they won't be going twice

Ignoring the awkward grammar of the third line, I had trouble initially wondering what this had to do with the rest of the song. Now I'm thinking maybe he's talking about himself - having already 'died' socially and commercially from having shared his views, and then being ostracised and cancelled by so many people, he has no further fear of what people say about him. Or am I completely misreading this?

It isn't a descent into alternative facts - he believes the mainstream media doesn't cover animal rights issues because of capitalism & that is pretty much true - most people would rather not think about it & just buy stuff.

He also thinks that wars are covered badly by the media & that's true too.

Plus his own coverage is dire.

The end bit probably is a reference to social death.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

I disagree about the fleece/niece rhyme.

'Fleece' makes sense in the context of Canada Goose, it's in line with the imagery of an animal being skinned. I took it as his way of saying there are many things one can be condemned ('skinned alive') for - one's opinions ('because of my views') or the "truth" (whatever that may be...); 'fleece' could stand for his clothes or outer appearance, which is often ridiculed, and his 'niece' is obviously his nephew, who gets a lot of flack, which is also reflected on Morrissey.


As for the last part of the lyrics - I'm none the wiser, really. I thought it sounds like he's envying the dead here, because they're already done with life and don't have to deal with the type of stuff he himself gets thrown at him anymore. A bit like Munich Air Disaster 1958 - they can't hurt them because they're all safely dead...

I like your interpretation though.

Virginia Woolf said she envied the dead - the struggle to achieve was over.

I thought maybe the niece was really the nephew. It's clunky but it's not as deranged as the critics made it sound.

 

[GirlAfraidWillNeverLearn]

Virginia Woolf said she envied the dead - the struggle to achieve was over.

I thought maybe the niece was really the nephew. It's clunky but it's not as deranged as the critics made it sound.

I never had any doubts about this. I think someone on here posted part of the lyrics before we actually got to hear the song and I always thought it was about the nephew.

Gender has no great significance for him -
You're a girl and I'm a boy, I'm a girl and you're a boy - a niece might as well be a nephew and vice versa, if it fits the rhyme scheme.

 

[Bluebirds]

Well it made me laugh out loud on first listen. In a good way I hasten to add

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I'm told this album exists. Haven't seen it in a single local shop.

I Am Not A Bigfoot In A Chain Store.

 

[The.Truth.]

Nephew is not an easy word to rhyme.
Words and phrases that rhyme with nephew: (2 results)
2 syllables:
leffew
3 syllables:
grandnephew
Words and phrases that almost rhyme †: (11 results)
2 syllables:
bless you, curfew, deluge, eskew, menu, nephews, nephro, refuge, rescue, rescued, venue

But fleece was the word he needed a rhyme for. There should be lots of choices. I would have suggested "because of my feathers, but, you know, whatever."
Or maybe "because of my down, but I won't bow down." This would be a sort of callback to "I will be in the bar, with my head on the bar." and why not?

Words and phrases that rhyme with fleece: (225 results)
1 syllable:
breece, buice, cease, cece, chese, cleese, crease, cspdn, dease, deess, freise, frice, friess, gees, geese, giese, grease, grece, greece, griess, haese, kiess, kneece, kniess, lease, leece, leese, leise, liess, maese, meece, meese, meise, miesse, neace, neece, neice, neiss, neisse, nice, niece, niess, peace, pease, peece, piece, preace, prease, prece, preece, priess, quiesce, rease, reece, reese, reise, rhys, riess, schiess, seis, siess, spece, speece, sptlese, suisse, tese, trece, treece, t sce, vice-, weise, wiess, yeas, zeese

2 syllables:
alease, allweiss, apiece, aris, attrice, at peace, audris, bareass, begrease, berceuse, bernice, berniece, brocious, buslease, campese, capece, caprice, cerise, chambless, chauffeuse, chess piece, clarice, clarisse, codice, crosspiece, decease, decrease, defease, degrease, delice, denice, denise, devries, dispeace, edris, eglise, elise, encrease, erice, eyepiece, falise, felice, gallese, gilcrease, goose grease, greenpeace, hair grease, increase, invece, janiece, joyeuse, kaprice, katrice, kilcrease, knee piece, kosice, latrice, lollis, luis, macneice, magness, make peace, markese, maryse, maurice, mccleese, mcneece, mcneese, mcneice, morrice, mouthpiece, obese, pacis, patese, patrice, police, raptis, ravi's, release, saoirse, sarkese, set piece, shenice, showpiece, sublease, surcease, timepiece, tunis, unpeace, urease, vanness, vantrease, vantreese, varese, varice, wool grease

3 syllables:
altarpiece, bbc's, by the piece, centerpiece, chimneypiece, coxitis, diurese, elbow grease, essoreuse, glossitis, guyanese, interstice, kiss of peace, legalese, limaceous, masterpiece, miamis, pilates, pipe of peace, press release, reincrease, reserveese, solarise, squamaceous, syntheses, taxaceous, testaceous, valrelease, viennese

4 syllables:
breach of the peace, cervicitis, enthesitis, irianese, period piece, petrosynthese, sangiovese, secret police, vietnamese

He really should have gone for "secret police," "breach of the peace," or even "Vietnamese" in some way. It writes itself.

 

[Tim Emm]

I Am Not A Bigfoot In A Chain Store.

I was not referring to chain shops. There's only one such thing in my town, and that's a chain of TWO stores, all in this region.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I was not referring to chain shops. There's only one such thing in my town, and that's a chain of TWO stores, all in this region.

dude, chill. I was just making a harmless joke.
No reason to downvote my post.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Nephew is not an easy word to rhyme.

Le Pew ?

Words and phrases that rhyme with nephew: (2 results)
2 syllables:
leffew
3 syllables:
grandnephew
Words and phrases that almost rhyme †: (11 results)
2 syllables:
bless you, curfew, deluge, eskew, menu, nephews, nephro, refuge, rescue, rescued, venue

But fleece was the word he needed a rhyme for. There should be lots of choices. I would have suggested "because of my feathers, but, you know, whatever."
Or maybe "because of my down, but I won't bow down." This would be a sort of callback to "I will be in the bar, with my head on the bar." and why not?

Words and phrases that rhyme with fleece: (225 results)
1 syllable:
breece, buice, cease, cece, chese, cleese, crease, cspdn, dease, deess, freise, frice, friess, gees, geese, giese, grease, grece, greece, griess, haese, kiess, kneece, kniess, lease, leece, leese, leise, liess, maese, meece, meese, meise, miesse, neace, neece, neice, neiss, neisse, nice, niece, niess, peace, pease, peece, piece, preace, prease, prece, preece, priess, quiesce, rease, reece, reese, reise, rhys, riess, schiess, seis, siess, spece, speece, sptlese, suisse, tese, trece, treece, t sce, vice-, weise, wiess, yeas, zeese

2 syllables:
alease, allweiss, apiece, aris, attrice, at peace, audris, bareass, begrease, berceuse, bernice, berniece, brocious, buslease, campese, capece, caprice, cerise, chambless, chauffeuse, chess piece, clarice, clarisse, codice, crosspiece, decease, decrease, defease, degrease, delice, denice, denise, devries, dispeace, edris, eglise, elise, encrease, erice, eyepiece, falise, felice, gallese, gilcrease, goose grease, greenpeace, hair grease, increase, invece, janiece, joyeuse, kaprice, katrice, kilcrease, knee piece, kosice, latrice, lollis, luis, macneice, magness, make peace, markese, maryse, maurice, mccleese, mcneece, mcneese, mcneice, morrice, mouthpiece, obese, pacis, patese, patrice, police, raptis, ravi's, release, saoirse, sarkese, set piece, shenice, showpiece, sublease, surcease, timepiece, tunis, unpeace, urease, vanness, vantrease, vantreese, varese, varice, wool grease

3 syllables:
altarpiece, bbc's, by the piece, centerpiece, chimneypiece, coxitis, diurese, elbow grease, essoreuse, glossitis, guyanese, interstice, kiss of peace, legalese, limaceous, masterpiece, miamis, pilates, pipe of peace, press release, reincrease, reserveese, solarise, squamaceous, syntheses, taxaceous, testaceous, valrelease, viennese

4 syllables:
breach of the peace, cervicitis, enthesitis, irianese, period piece, petrosynthese, sangiovese, secret police, vietnamese

He really should have gone for "secret police," "breach of the peace," or even "Vietnamese" in some way. It writes itself.

 

[Tim Emm]

dude, chill. I was just making a harmless joke.
No reason to downvote my post.

I assumed the Bigfoot thing was a weight joke. I get those a lot. I apologize, as I couldn't see any other way to read it.

 

[Tim Emm]

dude, chill. I was just making a harmless joke.
No reason to downvote my post.

It took me a minute there to figure out how to remove the downvote, but I did. Cheers.

 

[Denton Dave]

The music was written by Jesse Tobias.

Lyrics by Chuck from Bumf*** Ohio, aged 12. Facebook philosopher.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I assumed the Bigfoot thing was a weight joke. I get those a lot. I apologize, as I couldn't see any other way to read it.

I was just comparing the scarcity of the album and not seeing it in the shops to seeing the mythical elusive creature.
And playing with the album’s title.

 

[No 27]

Never heard it. Have no inclination to hear it. Shite.