The Father Who Must Be Killed

Cover art

MORRISSEY song
Name	The Father Who Must Be Killed
Album/single	Ringleader Of The Tormentors
Length	3:53
Writer/composer	Morrissey / Alain Whyte
Producer	Tony Visconti
Release	April 2006
Recorded	Autumn 2005

Information

Lyrics

Step-child, you have out-lived your time
You represent embarrassment and failure
And the father who must be killed
Is the blight upon your blighted life
And his might is his legal right to ground you down

Step-child, with every petty swipe
You just might find you're fighting for your life
And the father who must be killed
Is a step-father, but nonetheless
The way he chews his food rips right through your senses

Step-child, there's a knife in a drawer in a room downstairs
And you, you know what you must do...

So the step-child ran with the knife to his sleeping frame
And slams it in his arms, his legs, his face, his neck
And says:
"There's a law against me now"

And the father who must be killed
With his dying breath he grabs her hand
And he looks into her eyes
He says "I'm sorry," and he dies

Step-child, I release you
With this broken voice I beseech you
Why are lives so short?
The step-child thought
Heart pointing to the sky
"No warm to warm me
  No hand to touch me
  And no bible-belters to mess with me
  Mama, don't miss me
  Mama, don't miss me
  This death will complete me
  But where I go there'll be no one to meet me
  I know there'll be no one to meet me"

But still, the step-child pressed the knife to her throat
Heart pointing to the sky
    "Just as Motherless birds fly high
     Then...so shall I
     So shall I
     So shall I
     So shall I
     So shall I..."

Live History

Play count (Morrissey concert): 14

Morrissey live history:

... further results

Appears On

Ringleader Of The Tormentors

Mentioned In

LYRIC PRIDE - Morrissey Central (July 10, 2024)

Related Forum Threads

Morrissey A-Z: "Father Who Must Be Killed, The" - Morrissey-solo (Mar 05, 2021)