Meaning of "...Far-Off Places " lyrics ?

[123xyz]

I've always wondered what was meant by the final handful of lyrics in this song i.e.

" I believe I will see you
somewhere - safe
looking to the camera
messing around and pulling faces ."


Hardly a vital question , I know.

Tenuously , I suppose the thought that comes to mind ( reading/listening to those lines) is .... is what ? Very vaguely , perhaps it's an attempt to shove aside the usual cliched representations of Arabs in the media e.g. fiery , hot-blooded, shouting, etc. , etc. and replace it with the type of behaviour the rest of us (?) might exhibit when confronted by cameras ...


Had a look through some older threads ( one of which almost touched on the above interpretation) - maybe after six years , something else has suggested itself ...?


I'd really like to hear other speculations ...

 

[Tingle3]

For my money the 'pulling faces' line is simply a way of confirming that the subject is in fact safe and happy (which is what you'd hope for someone you like or love) - as distinct from a person captured through the lens who is having a harrowing time or worse, dead. A lesser artiste would have sung 'I believe I'll see your smiling face again sometime'.

Morrissey enjoys pulling faces for the camera - so there's no reason to doubt that he'd like to see others doing it. He's maybe happiest when he's gurning, lifting eybrows to the heavens, giving an 'eek' from the side of his mouth. Such an expressive face.

If your god bestows protection upon you
And if the USA doesn´t bomb you
I believe I will see you somewhere safe
Looking to the camera, messing around
And pulling faces.

 

[123xyz]

For my money the 'pulling faces' line is simply a way of confirming that the subject is in fact safe and happy (which is what you'd hope for someone you like or love) - as distinct from a person captured through the lens who is having a harrowing time or worse, dead. A lesser artiste would have sung 'I believe I'll see your smiling face again sometime'.

Morrissey enjoys pulling faces for the camera - so there's no reason to doubt that he'd like to see others doing it. He's maybe happiest when he's gurning, lifting eybrows to the heavens, giving an 'eek' from the side of his mouth. Such an expressive face.

If your god bestows protection upon you
And if the USA doesn´t bomb you
I believe I will see you somewhere safe
Looking to the camera, messing around
And pulling faces.

That face is a constant field of motion , isn't it ? If I wanted to rip off Coleridge's description of Hamlet's character , I'd say watching Moz's facial acrobatics during an interview is like "... looking at a waterfall..".


The specifically "Arabic" elaboration , I guess, comes from both Alain's Eastern riff and the reference to USA bombings.