I started the Song of the Day series way back in July with a Smiths song and 164 songs later I’m returning to the band. Look for the next installment around song #329.
This track appears on The Queen is Dead which I consider one of the best albums recorded by anybody, ever. I can’t imagine a more clever, catchy, emotionally satisfying batch of songs. Those who think Morrissey is capable of only woe-is-me sob-fests need to give it a listen and realize how friggin’ hilarious he is.
‘Cemetry Gates’ is one of my favorite tracks on the album, not least because it’s a rare song that name drops Keats, Yeats and Wilde and deals cleverly with the topic of plagiarism. Apparently it was written as a response to criticism that Morrissey had incorporated lines from famous writers into his songs. Morrissey didn’t view this as plagiarism but rather part and parcel of a grand literary tradition.
His hero, Oscar Wilde, was well-known for cribbing lines from other writers to pepper his own work. I was just doing a little research on this and found a great exchange between James Whistler and Wilde. After hearing Whistler deliver a clever quip, Wilde said “I wish I’d said that.” “Don’t worry,” Whistler replied, “You will.”
So I meet you at the cemetry gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetry gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
While Wilde is on mine
So we go inside and we gravely read the stones
All those people, all those lives
Where are they now ?
With loves, and hates
And passions just like mine
They were born
And then they lived
And then they died
It seems so unfair
I want to cry
You say : “‘Ere thrice the sun done salutation to the dawn”
And you claim these words as your own
But I’ve read well, and I’ve heard them said
A hundred times (maybe less, maybe more)
If you must write prose/poems
The words you use should be your own
Don’t plagiarise or take “on loan”
‘Cause there’s always someone, somewhere
With a big nose, who knows
And who trips you up and laughs
When you fall
Who’ll trip you up and laugh
When you fall
You say : “‘Ere long done do does did”
Words which could only be your own
And then produce the text
From whence was ripped
(Some dizzy whore, 1804)
A dreaded sunny day
So let’s go where we’re happy
And I meet you at the cemetry gates
Oh, Keats and Yeats are on your side
A dreaded sunny day
So let’s go where we’re wanted
And I meet you at the cemetry gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
But you lose
‘Cause weird lover Wilde is on mine
Meet Me In Montauk 
Just don’t like them. Period. Pretentious music by a pretentious artist.
Man, your musical sweet spot is so narrow! It’s amazing you have any albums at all. 🙂
anyone who is such a fan of oscar wilde has to be interesting–clever lyrics.
I think part of the problem is the same issue I have with Rufus as was discussed earlier. I find Morrisey’s voice bland and passionless. As I have often said, I am attracted to interesting and passionate voices.
While I can certainly understand criticism of both Wainwright and Morrissey’s voices, I think “bland” and “passionless” are the last two words I’d use to describe either of them.
They’re sort of like the Baz Luhrmann of music… outrageously over-the-top and sometimes grating, but definitely interesting and passionate.
how are their voices outrageously over the top?
They go from a whisper to a scream (to quote another interesting, passionate, occasionally grating singer), they hold notes longer than you’d expect, they never shy away from high drama.
Eh, I don’t hear that at all with Morrisey, and I don’t think Rufus holding notes too long makes him outrageously over the top.
Perhaps what I mean though, is that I tend to gravitate toward the grittier singers. Those who hold their notes too long and with too much vibrato just don’t really work for me.
How many Smiths/Morrissey songs have you heard, though?
I like gritty singers, too. I guess I like a little bit of everything.
First, I love this song! I’d never heard it before, but it’s clever and sounds great – a winning combination in my book.
Second, I have put Dana on “pretentious” notice. He is no longer to use that as a knee-jerk response whenever he doesn’t like something. As I pointed out to him earlier today, nobody is more pretentious than Sting (former English teacher and very dear to my heart), yet Dana would not throw that accusation out if Clay were to post a song where Sting name drops Nabokov.
Third, I don’t get the complaint about Morrissey’s voice. I find it very appealing to listen to – not grating or note-holding or bland or passionless. Not only is his voice appealing in a general sense, but it suits this song (and others he sings, I’m sure) perfectly.
So… I give my thumbs way up to this song and will likely use it in my class, as it’s quite a witty way to launch into a discussion of plagiarism. Thanks 😉
Well, it was the literary references that drew out my pretentious comment, not necessarily that I didn’t like the song.
And I might also add that I find a bit of pretentiousness in those who pride themselves on having extremely diverse and eclectic taste (“i find myself equally at home whether listeing to Mozart, Madonna, Eminem or Metallica”—Puh-leazw!). Critics and proclaimed music “afficionados” seem to wear their eclectic taste like some badge of honor. I think it’s a bunch of hogwash. It strikes me as very Emperor’s New Clothes–dare any critic or true music fan not jump on the bandwagon of the next “it” thing.
Now, to Clay’s credit, he broke that mold recently with his Lil Wayne write-up. But, still, I feel ZERO compunction to jump on the Smith’s love affair just because a bunch of critics proclaim them as the second coming. And I would hope and expect that my saying it ain’t my cup of tea doesn’t make me any more shallow than Clay saying he likes it makes him pretentious.
As for the voice, I don’t find Morrisey’s voice grating, or Rufus’ for that matter. They are just not the type of grittier, down to earth soulful voices I like listening to.
Oh, and I have heard enough of the Smiths to recognize their sound (and Morrisey solo as well) and to know I don’t really care for it.
Who said you were shallow? I believe Clay said you were narrow 😉 And I hope you don’t think I’m saying I like this song because I care what critics think. If I didn’t like the song, I’d say so, critics be damned.
As for your other point, while I don’t think it’s appropriate to crow about it, I do think it’s admirable to be able to appreciate a wide variety of styles – whether in music, films, television shows, books, hell, people for that matter. I know that I hope my music, movie or book collection (or flair corkboard, for that matter 🙂 demonstrates many facets of my personality. If I owned nothing but classical or rap or 70’s soft rock, I would think that would suggest I was a less interesting person. Or, at the very least, a less interested person.
I don’t say that I like a variety of things to be pretentious, it just happens to be true. Some might argue (as you probably have in the past) that I’m a bit too forgiving… too quick to like a goofy pop album by Hanson or an equally goofy prog-rock album by Pink Floyd.
This year I’ve found myself outside the critical consensus on Little Wayne as well as Fleet Foxes, to name two acts on opposite sides of the spectrum. And I haven’t seen my #1 album on any of the year-end lists. I think when it comes to music, even more so than movies, I just like what I like.
That said, I do seek out critically acclaimed albums because I find critics are a better barometer for me than top 40 lists or MTV.
I have no problem with you not liking The Smiths, just as you shouldn’t have a problem with me not loving James Taylor (he of the gritty voice!).
Well, I suppose I am just a narrow and uninteresting person.:)
By the way, I never said I “love” James Tayler. I do think he is an excellent songwriter, and while he is not a gritty singer, few would argue that his voice isn’t pleasant and far from grating. Rather, I took umbridge with the suggestion that he was boring.
You’re neither narrow nor uninteresting; in fact, despite your protestations to the contrary, you, too, have an eclectic taste in music. You sing along to every Jonas Brothers song that pops on the radio and watch with enthusiasm American Idol, yet you have loved The Talking Heads at their most pretentious, along with equally talented (and arguably “pretentious”) Joe Jackson, Tori Amos, Eminem, Prince, and on and on. And I’m not sure how gritty voiced any of them are 😉
The commonality of all the artists you mentioned from a vocal perspective is a unique, atypical voice. And, of course, each are incredibly good songwriters.
Certainly the same could be said of Rufus Wainwright and Morrissey. I think ultimately there is no magic formula of what any of us likes… sure there are certain things that tend to appeal to us, but there are always exceptions.
There is a magical formula; it’s just a mystery.