Maybe it's just me but I find that Morrissey's words has lost a bit of variety during his solo career. Especially his ability of applying humour. In The Smiths the bitterness, the harshness, the exact pinpointing of people's needs and longings were sometimes accompanied by a certain sort of mitigating humour. For instance ""; "I dreamt about you last night, and I fell out of bed twice"(Reel around the fountain) or "every household appliance is like a new science in my town"(Nowhere fast) or the complete scene in "Vicar in a tutu".
Also, Morrissey's Smiths lyrics had some sort of short-story quality to them. Take the following lines in "This Charming man": "Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate - will nature make a man of me yet?"", and "It's gruesome someone handsome should care" and " a jumped -up pantry boy who never knew his place- He said : return the ring". In just a few sentences Morrissey sets the scene to a juvenile tale of hope and despair. "Cementry gates" is a similar example of this.
Despite the often lacklustre predictions of the future, Morrisseys lyrics would now and then embody some sort of hope. "Stretch out and wait", "Sheela take a bow" and "Ask"(leaving out "the Bomb" of course) are examples of this.
In Morrissey's later poetry mainly all that's left is the naked and sombre descriptions of life's turmoil. "Teenage dad on his estate" or "Best friend on the payroll" spring to mind here.
I'm trying to keep out the accompanying music and trying only to focus on the words. It's difficult not to read the words and leave out the often joyful guitar picking of Johnny Marr, but I still think there's a difference. Please prove me wrong.
