let me kiss you

there's a place in the sun,
for anyone,
who has the will...to chase one,
and I think I've found mine,
yes I do believe I have found mine, so...

close your eyes
and think of someone
you physically admire
and let me kiss you
let me kiss you

I've zigzagged all over America,
and I cannot find a safety haven...
say...would you let me cry...
on your shoulder?
I've heard that you'll try...anything twice

close your eyes
and think of someone
you physically admire,
and let me kiss you
let me kiss you

but then, you open your eyes
and you see someone that you physically despise
but my heart...is open...
my heart...is open...to you...

In typical Morrissey fashion, much more complex than the standard pop love song, this song revisits the self-deprecating bent after the third track on You Are the Quarry, "I Have Forgiven Jesus." It starts upbeat enough: "there's a place in the sun, for anyone...yes I do believe I have found mine." But if he has found his place in the same, his reason for living (presumably a person?), why then does he feel the need to temper his advances with "close your eyes, and think of someone you physically admire?" Does Morrissey really believe he is really that unlovable, that physically distasteful? This is a theme that he perpetually places firmly in the forefront of many of his love songs, and one must wonder if he has been rejected so many times in his life that he takes great pains to make sure he won't get hurt from any of his unsuccessful advances.

After having "zigzagged all over America," he still "cannot find a safety haven." I presume he's saying he's been all over world, not just America, and in U2 fashion he "still haven't found what I'm looking for." The first time I heard this song, I developed a lump in my throat after this verse, because this explores such universal themes of feeling alone in the world (which was a common theme of Smiths songs) and being without true love. What is being referred to "I've heard that you'll try anything twice" - I'm not sure, and this is quite an interesting lyric. I'm going to take a major guess here in that the person he is singing about is either a former lover, or perhaps someone he once considered a potential love interest, but somehow the first time he tried to court this person, it didn't work out - either he was rejected or the time just wasn't right. Or, if Morrissey was interested in breaching in generally taboo territory for pop songs - unconventional sexuality. Perhaps what is being tried "twice" is a hidden reference to something homosexual, in the Morrissey tradition?

One step worse is "but then you open your eyes, and you see someone that you physically despise." This is the sad realization that the object of his affection is not enamored at all with the physical presence that he presents, and reiterates why he tells this person to "close your eyes" - he knows he is not wanted, and he accepts it in full, adding, "my heart is open to you" - indicating with heartbreak, "I know I am not who you want, but I will be here, waiting in the wings, if you so choose to find it in your heart to love me."

Recurring themes of not being loved by the right person, and searching for unconditional love - are important in You Are the Quarry, especially in the previously mentioned "I Have Forgiven Jesus" and also in "Come Back to Camden" and "The World is Full of Crashing Bores."


lyrics by Morrissey, copyrighted 2004 Attack Records, Sanctuary Group

sing your life

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1