Morrissey A-Z: "The Harsh Truth of the Camera Eye"

Completely agree with those who've praised it - love this song to bits and never get tired of it.
Sonically extremely varied and interesting, fantastic vocal delivery. The lyrics are great in their campness and the samples and effects emphasise that theatrical feel.

Laugh with us all now here
If you can
Then take the pictures home
And scream


Funny that others have mentioned The Secret Of Music (I can definitely hear it) because when I first listened to I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, the song that reminded me of The Harsh Truth was The Truth About Ruth (and I'm not talking about the title), which seemed very apt.
 
I will admit it does contain one genius line - and that's the outrageous forced rhyme of 'This photographer / he must have really had it in for yer'.

Incidentally, is this the only album where he pronounces 'you' as 'yer'? Off the top of my head he does the same thing in 'Our Frank' ("Give it a rest won't yer/Now will you just give over") , but my brain is too addled to think of other examples right now. Clearly he didn't sing 'Yer the one for me, fatty' so he must have stopped at some point.
 
I like the song. If anything I think morrissey might be the let down here. The words are alright and the vocal melody is hit and miss but the tune is pretty good altogether. Think it would be improved if the sound were a bit crisper
 
Imagine, if you will, listening to this as an instrumental. Would you listen to it more than once? I wouldn't.

Therefore it's reliant upon Moz to carry it by his vocal delivery, melody and lyric. For me, he doesn't quite manage it.
 
I didn't like it then, dislike it less now.

The best part are the lyrics. I somehow think that Morrissey could still relate to every single word of it today. You just need to replace the camera eye by the smartphone (eye). Perhaps the reason why he chose to include this song on that recent compilation, in spite of his documented dislike for KU?

I also love the "I don't want to be judged, just want to be loved" part. In this world of social media and competitive work places, isn't it nice to just be around people that love you for who you are? It is certainly a feeling that I can relate to.

Finally the music, I still think it is too monotonous and slow for its length which makes it tiring. I agree with the refences to more recent songs. Can this one be his first display of love for ambient noise?
 
It really is nowhere near as bad as its reputation at the time of ‘worst Morrissey-song’. Really enjoyed that Moz decided to include it on This is Morrissey a couple of years ago. It’s ok and fun to hear every once in a while but the song is too long and doesn’t really go anywhere.

6,7
Surely the notion of "worst Morrissey song" is a moving target.
I wonder how many of them have earned this reputation at some point in time?
 
Imagine, if you will, listening to this as an instrumental. Would you listen to it more than once? I wouldn't.

Therefore it's reliant upon Moz to carry it by his vocal delivery, melody and lyric. For me, he doesn't quite manage it.

I’m not saying that I’m speaking for everyone, but I don’t think much of the music instrumental backings that Morrissey has sung on would be noticed or listened to much without his art slapped on top, and that includes The Smiths too.

Yes, they’re all fine and enjoyable on their own, but not repeated listens, not really.

Let’s be honest, those instrumentals, even Marr’s songs without Morrissey singing on them would not have produced the same reaction, fandom, love and continued longevity those songs have if Morrissey did not sing on them.
 
I think the Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye is just so tired of people discussing it and really doesn’t want ....

... to be judged anymore.

love it blindly or just kindly leave it for others to enjoy.

Its more of a mood piece, and not really fair to compare it to most of his other work. It works on its own, and for me, works on KU.

And it still rings true for him..



:cool:
 
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Surely the notion of "worst Morrissey song" is a moving target.
I wonder how many of them have earned this reputation at some point in time?
Yes, over the last decades quite a few.
During those pre-internet-days of the 1990’s the only other song was probably Papa Jack. And for those real fans who would include b-sides Journalists Who Lie ;)

Both coming up quite soon :)
 
This song sucks but I’ve always loved it. Extremely relatable lyric and the “I don’t want to be judged anymore...” bit is integral to understanding who Morrissey is. Probably the “realest” lyric on the entire album.
 
Yes, one of the strangest in the catalog for sure. For me it highlights what's wrong with Kill Uncle and its lack of much cohesion (while there are also songs on KU I quite like). I think being a bit shorter, it would've have played better as an odd & quirky b-side where the expectations would be less than that of an album track.
 
This song sucks but I’ve always loved it.

:lbf:

Extremely relatable lyric

actually, I’ve always had trouble relating to this lyric because I always look great, even in photos! :p


and the “I don’t want to be judged anymore...” bit is integral to understanding who Morrissey is. Probably the “realest” lyric on the entire album.


don’t know, I think Our Frank, FFF, and especially End of the Family Line to name a few, are also pretty real and offer up a insight into Morrissey’s views about
the world or his relationship with the world. Or did I misunderstand what you meant by ‘realest’ ?
 
Yes, over the last decades quite a few.
During those pre-internet-days of the 1990’s the only other song was probably Papa Jack.
Both coming up quite soon :)
Don't talk about a solid who-ish rocker like that. The dismissal of Popa Jack from the ill-advised Maladjusted remaster is one of the biggest scandals in Morrissey's back catalogue. Time will tell.
 
I didn't like it then, dislike it less now.

The best part are the lyrics. I somehow think that Morrissey could still relate to every single word of it today. You just need to replace the camera eye by the smartphone (eye). Perhaps the reason why he chose to include this song on that recent compilation, in spite of his documented dislike for KU?

I also love the "I don't want to be judged, just want to be loved" part. In this world of social media and competitive work places, isn't it nice to just be around people that love you for who you are? It is certainly a feeling that I can relate to.

Finally the music, I still think it is too monotonous and slow for its length which makes it tiring. I agree with the refences to more recent songs.


Can this one be his first display of love for ambient noise?

Depends on how you define ‘ambient noise’ but Morrissey did grow up on those Nico albums, The Marble Index, Desertshore and The End.. which are full of what can be
labeled ambient noise. Beautiful (& beyond words to describe these) records, if you’re not yet familiar with them.


Though I’m sure he welcomed Langer and Winstanley’s
added sounds, in a way, just an extension of laughter or samples used in some Smiths songs.

I posted a Nico song on the next page .....
 
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don’t know, I think Our Frank, FFF, and especially End of the Family Line to name a few, are also pretty real and offer up a insight into Morrissey’s views about
the world or his relationship with the world. Or did I misunderstand what you meant by ‘realest’ ?
The second I hit submit I remembered “The End of the Family Line” but I couldn’t be bothered to edit. But yeah, I guess the “real” is there on Kill Uncle but maybe a bit more obscured than on some other records of M’s.
 
Yes, one of the strangest in the catalog for sure. For me it highlights what's wrong with Kill Uncle and its lack of much cohesion (while there are also songs on KU I quite like). I think being a bit shorter, it would've have played better as an odd & quirky b-side where the expectations would be less than that of an album track.
I think the main quality of Kill Uncle is that it is very coherent. The songs taken separately are not so good, but, yes I repeat myself, as an album, it really works.
 
It fits it just nicely on KU.
I’ll hear no bad word about the album

the songs work as an album !
 
Yes, over the last decades quite a few.
During those pre-internet-days of the 1990’s the only other song was probably Papa Jack. And for those real fans who would include b-sides Journalists Who Lie ;)

Both coming up quite soon :)
“Real fans”
That’s certainly not you, is it.
 
I’ve never been keen on this track, the lyrics especially....
But it’s the music that drags me in...

It’s like slowed down fair ground music , and a fair ground that is owned by Ed Gein....
I can see all the people in line , waiting to go into the house of horrors, this song playing to them as they await entry.......
Though they shall never come out the other side with any of their own skin....
That said, it’s a grower....
 
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