Break Up The Family
| MORRISSEY Song | |
|---|---|
| Name | Break Up The Family |
| Album/Single | Viva Hate |
| Length | 3:55 |
| Recorded | Autumn-Winter 1987 |
| Writer | Morrissey/Street |
| Producer | Stephen Street |
Information
Break Up The Family is a song that appears on Morrissey's debut album, Viva Hate. It was co-written and produced by Stephen Street.
Recording
Recording for Viva Hate commenced at The Wool Hall studios in Bath, England in early October and would last until late December. Street recruited Durutti Column guitarist Vini Reilly and session drummer Andrew Paresi to back Morrissey, with Street himself taking over bass duties.
Release
Viva Hate was was released on 14 March 1988 by HMV Records and debuted at #1 on the UK charts.
Re-releases
EMI, in celebration of their 100th anniversary, released a special edition of Viva Hate in the UK in 1997. In addition to featuring brand new artwork, including a new cover shot by Eamonn McCabe, the Centenary Edition features 8 bonus tracks — only one of which was contemporaneous with the album. Surprisingly, "Hairdresser On Fire" does not appear on this version despite originally appearing on the North American version of the album as a bonus track.
On 02 April 2012, a newly remastered special edition of Viva Hate, supervised by Stephen Street, was released. Controversially, Morrissey chose to omit one of the album's original tracks, "The Ordinary Boys," and include the session demo "Treat Me Like A Human Being." In addition to the track list changes, the intro and extended fadeout of "Late Night, Maudlin Street" has been edited. The original album artwork was restored for this release, however, the typeface font on the front cover has been changed, as was the case with the 2011 Bona Drag remaster.
Lyrics
The strange logic in your clumsiest line
It stayed emblazoned on my mind You say: "Break up the family And lets begin to live our lives I want to see all my friends tonight"
It wasn't Youth, it wasn't Life Born Old, sadly wise Resigned, well, we were To ending our lives
I'm so glad to grow older To move away from those awful times "I want to see all my friends tonight"
Yes, you found love, but you weren't At peace with your life Home late, full of Hate Despise the ties that bind
Oh, I'm so glad to grow older To move away from those younger years I'm in love for the first time And I don't feel bad
"Let me see all my old friends Let me put my arms around them Because I really do love them Now, does that sound mad?"
Captain of games, solid framed I stood on the touchline Hailstones, driven home In a car - no brakes? I don't mind...
I'm so glad to grow older To move away from those darker years I'm in love for the first time And I don't feel bad
So wish me luck my friends, goodbye So wish me luck again, goodbye Wish me luck again goodbye... Wish me luck again goodbye...
Personnel
- Morrissey - Vocals
- Vini Reilly - Guitars, Keyboards
- Stephen Street - Bass guitar, guitars
- Andrew Paresi - Drums
- John Metcalfe - Viola
- Fenella Barton - Violin
- Mark Davies - Cello
- Richard Koster - Violin
- Robert Wollard - Cello
- Rachel Maguire - Cello
- Producer - Stephen Street
- Assistant Engineer - Steve Williams
- Art co-ordination - Jo Slee
- Layout - Caryn Gough
- Photography - Anton Corbijn
- Photography - Steve Wright
Live History
Play count (Morrissey concert): 80
Morrissey live history:
- Tempe, Arizona 1999-10-05 (Morrissey concert)
- Santa Barbara, California 1999-10-06 (Morrissey concert)
- Indio, California 1999-10-09 (Morrissey concert)
- Deinze, Belgium 1999-10-12 (Morrissey concert)
- Köln, Germany 1999-10-13 (Morrissey concert)
- Hamburg, Germany 1999-10-14 (Morrissey concert)
- Bremen, Germany 1999-10-16 (Morrissey concert)
- Berlin, Germany 1999-10-19 (Morrissey concert)
- Leipzig, Germany 1999-10-20 (Morrissey concert)
- Tilburg, Netherlands 1999-10-22 (Morrissey concert)
Appears On