The Moz/Smiths Top 100, Part 258: PLEASE HELP THE CAUSE AGAINST LONELINESS

How do you rate Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness?

  • 10

    Votes: 6 9.8%

  • 9

    Votes: 13 21.3%

  • 8

    Votes: 12 19.7%

  • 7

    Votes: 13 21.3%

  • 6

    Votes: 8 13.1%

  • 5

    Votes: 4 6.6%

  • 4

    Votes: 2 3.3%

  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 2

    Votes: 1 1.6%

  • 1

    Votes: 2 3.3%
  • Total voters
    61
Houdini

Houdini

Junior Member
In 2007, and early 2008, we put up polls for all 234 then released Morrissey and The Smiths-songs. More than 25,000 votes were cast and the result was The Morrissey/Smiths Top 100, or indeed, The Morrissey/The Smiths Top 234. This year many people have asked me to continue with the polls as 18 new Morrissey-songs have been released since. With the release of 'Swords' now seems as good a time as any to start them.

Now that we've done all the new songs from 2009, and the older songs released this year, and with no foreseeable new songs in the near future, to finish these series off we'll move to the unreleased (full) tracks that have emerged over the last couple of year, i.e. Born To Hang, Happy Lovers United, I'm Playing Easy To Get, Lifeguard On Duty, Oh Phoney, Please help The Cause Against Loneliness and Striptease With A Difference, in that order.

The penultimate song.

Song 258: PLEASE HELP THE CAUSE AGAINST LONELINESS


Voting should be something along these lines:
10: Perfection
9: Near perfect, brilliant
8: Really good Moz/Smiths song
7: Good Moz/Smiths song
6: OK, Nothing special
5: Uninspired
4: Poor
3: Bad
2: Should never have been released
1: He should be ashamed

Previous polls (voting will remain open):

Part 257: Oh Phoney
Part 256: Lifeguard On Duty
Part 255: I'm Playing Easy To Get
Part 254: Happy Lovers United
Part 253: Born To Hang
Part 252: You Should Have been Nice To Me
Part 251: Fantastic Bird
Part 250: Honey, You Know Where To Find Me
Part 249: I'm OK By Myself
Part 248: Sorry Doesn't Help
Part 247: You Were Good In Your Time
Part 246: It's Not Your Birthday Anymore
Part 245: One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Part 244: When Last I Spoke To Carol
Part 243: Black Cloud
Part 242: Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
Part 241: Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Part 240: Because Of My Poor Education
Part 239: Shame Is The Name
Part 238: I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Part 237: My Dearest Love
Part 236: Drive-In Saturday
Part 235: Children In Pieces
Part 234: That's How People Grow Up
Part 233: All You Need Is Me
Part 232 and previous
 
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I give it a seven. A pleasant, upbeat song with lyrics that are trademark Morrissey, cleverly exploiting his own reputation as a loner to identify with the cause the record was promoting to the point of making fun of himself, flippant and serious at the same time.

cheers
 
a 6

a b-side, when hearing it, the purpose it has, a filler song prolly for Viva Hate,
or one of the early solo singles b-sides

wondering if its a Smiths song]:confused:
 
A 7. Fabulous lyrics, but a bit too upbeat/cheerful music for my taste. But the version with only Morrissey is almost an 8.
 
Opening riff reminds me of:



It's okay, a strong 6. And Yes Moz, I would like to note your inside leg. :horny:
 
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dizzywhore_1804 said:
Would be a 10 if not for the "I'm so very young bit", which repeats once too often for a solid classic.
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. The title is fantastic; the upbeat music gives the idea a good contrasty-dress. But why such a lame-repeat???

I have said elsewhere: when a great writer like Moz drops a clunker of a line, examine closely because it may have greater substance than is apparent. Can someone point to a deeper meaning to the "very young..." crap? (sorry.....)
 
My 5 yr old just walked past singing, "Please help because again the lowness would you like to see my phone address" :D
 
I have said elsewhere: when a great writer like Moz drops a clunker of a line, examine closely because it may have greater substance than is apparent. Can someone point to a deeper meaning to the "very young..." crap? (sorry.....)
Click to expand...

I read that as referring to the cause for his being lonely, ie, deficient or unfinished human development, being an incomplete person, unable to fulfill the social functions expected of him as an adult. It's a common enough theme in his lyrics - "At last I am born", "I am the ghost of troubled Joe", "sixteen clumsy and shy, that's the story of my life". Expressing that by calling himself "so very, very young" at the same time puts a spin on it that both affirming and hopeful - affirming because being very young is not essentially a negative thing but could from several angles rather be regarded as very positive, and hopeful because to the extent being very young is a problem, it normally isn't a permanent one. Explanation, self-depreciation, self-praise and ultimate hope, all in four words. Hardly a pointless line. :)

cheers
 
Corrissey said:
Opening riff reminds me of:



It's okay, a strong 6. And Yes Moz, I would like to note your inside leg. :horny:
Click to expand...


Maneater! :eek: :D

edit: I know it was probably jsut overlooked but I think that it's better when you can see the names with the poll results. It is interesting to see who you agree with.

I gave a 7. Compared to just the recent unreleased tracks it's better than that, but in the overall picture it's fairly average. Unlikely to be anybody's favorite song. (free lyric there)
 
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Thanks, Qvist, I thought there must be some intent behind it. I thought maybe he just meant "Lonliness is for crabby old men; I'm too young to be so lonely...." but your suggestion has more to it.... Still, I might connect to it if his lyric implied an arrested-state more directly.... But it's true: some of us are still standing at the corner of the playground wondering how the hell we inject ourselves into the games (or if we want to).

AS Homer Simpson once said: "Hmmmmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter."
 
Thanks, Qvist, I thought there must be some intent behind it.
Click to expand...

I've no idea whatsoever if that was the intent behind it. It's just how it makes sense to me. ;)

I thought maybe he just meant "Lonliness is for crabby old men; I'm too young to be so lonely...."
Click to expand...

Perhaps he did, who knows. But if so, it would appear to be in contradiction with most of his other lyrics, which certainly don't imply that loneliness is for the old?

but your suggestion has more to it.... Still, I might connect to it if his lyric implied an arrested-state more directly.... But it's true: some of us are still standing at the corner of the playground wondering how the hell we inject ourselves into the games (or if we want to).
Click to expand...

You're right, it is a rather oblique way of making the point, and hence easily missed. But also one that carries a lot of meaning that wouldn't have been there if it had been made in a more straightforward way, such as by calling himself "ill", or "failed", or "stalled" or something like that. In a way, it changes the whole complexion of the lyric. The music's a bit of a pointer in that direction too - who the hell makes a song about loneliness, as a charity contribution to a campaign against loneliness, and describing himself as lonely, and sets it to a tune that is almost over-the-top jolly? Not someone with a clear-cut, straight-faced literal message, is what I would suggest. :)

AS Homer Simpson once said: "Hmmmmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter."
Click to expand...

Knowing Homer, that was probably a very ill-advised decision. :lbf:

cheers
 
Soil Falling Over said:
Yes, exactly. The title is fantastic; the upbeat music gives the idea a good contrasty-dress. But why such a lame-repeat???

I have said elsewhere: when a great writer like Moz drops a clunker of a line, examine closely because it may have greater substance than is apparent. Can someone point to a deeper meaning to the "very young..." crap? (sorry.....)
Click to expand...

I don't mind the first repeat (I'm so young, I am so really really you-u-ung) and think it's quite effective, it the fact it's used to fade out the song I don't like.
 
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