New single - "Jacky's Only Happy When She's Up On The Stage"; first play on Jeremy Vine show

UPDATE Nov. 7:

Link to pre-order limited edition 7" (Dec. 8 release date) posted by an anonymous person:

Jacky's Only Happy When She's Up on the Stage / You'll Be Gone (Live) - Norman Records

Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s On Stage is the second single to be taken from Morrissey's Low In High School album, his first since 2014, which is being met with a mix of excited anticipation and ambivalence. It will be backed with a live version of You’ll Be Gone. Limited edition 7” on the massive BMG label.


Now on YouTube and other streaming / download services. Link posted by Tbevie:



Also on Spotify as a single:








Jeremy Vine has announced via twitter:



1st play on his show tomorrow 12.00pm - 2.00pm


UPDATE 9:25 PM PT:

Some posts moved to the thread:

"Jacky's Only Happy When She's Up On The Stage" - sleeve posted on @officialmoz / Twitter

41187_jackys_only_happy_sleeve.jpg
 
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Much better more obvious choice for a single than I wish you lonely though I didn’t feel like that was a single really
Dare I say that this is possibly one of the worst songs Morrissey has concocted. Lyrically clumsy, plodding, no real hook, no memorable chorus. Maybe a faster tempo and at least some melodies would have lifted it. Feels like a paint by numbers effort this one. Pilgrimupnorth
 
That has to be one of the dumbest comments I've ever read on here.

Yes. Any fool knows that the best thing you can do it try with all your might to forget about how bad Morrissey's band were prior to this album.
 
That has to be one of the dumbest comments I've ever read on here.

Err, you do know that I was quoting a post about Your Arsenal don't you?

Morrissey's band were awful in concert before this. Lots of energy for certain, but nowhere near enough talent to be able to pull off an album like Your Arsenal without a great producer. I go with Stephen Street on that one.
 
Oh, absolutely! It's a real guitar masterpiece, and there's a certain dynamic between Alain and Boz - Alain playing stark, economic melodies, Boz adding the acoustic "chug" - that wasn't present on the Kill Uncle tour and can probably be attributed to Mick Ronson (particularly evident on 'Seasick, yet still docked'). There's also some nice use of Ebow and feedback - and, hey, 'Jean Genie' is one hell of a riff!

I didn't mean to claim that Joe Chicarelli was a better producer than Mick Ronson (how would you begin to compare?), only that I preferred the production on his albums... or should I say "the sonics"? "Producer" is such a nebulous term - It covers people (Tony Visconti?) who have strong opinions on compression ratios and pre-delay settings, and people (Rick Rubin, allegedly) who never so much as tweak an EQ band, yet appear to have a radical effect on literally every other aspect of the creative process (or not, as the case may be).

Interesting that Maladjusted had such weak production, given that it was also produced by Lillywhite. Possibly a good case for not sticking with one producer for too many consecutive albums. I remember reading about how the drums on 'Speedway' were recorded at Hook End Manor. They schlepped hundreds of feet of cabling in from London and tracked them in the dining room, because Lillywhite wanted to capture the lively reverb! I imagine the ingenuity must run a little dry by album number three.

Thanks for your intelligent response that was interesting to read.

You are probably aware, but as well as it being Lillywhite's 3rd album, it was also recorded while he was getting divorced so not surprising if he wasn't at the top of his game.
 
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Err, you do know that I was quoting a post about Your Arsenal don't you?

Morrissey's band were awful in concert before this. Lots of energy for certain, but nowhere near enough talent to be able to pull off an album like Your Arsenal without a great producer. I go with Stephen Street on that one.

Yes I read the comment that you replied to Flibberty. Go back and listen to Viva Hate.
 
Partly due to press coverage like this?

Rolling Stone:
Hear Morrissey Slam United Kingdom in Brusque New Song.
"This country is making me sick," Morrissey declares on new 'Low in High School' cut.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-morrissey-slam-united-kingdom-in-urgent-new-song-w511198

Pitchfork:
Morrissey previously performed the track for BBC Radio 6: That version included a chant of “Brexit, exit, Brexit, exit.”
https://pitchfork.com/news/listen-t...-jackys-only-happy-when-shes-up-on-the-stage/

If it wasn't about Brexit, by time people read this type of article - it will be!
For myself, it's too ambiguous to pronounce judgement either way.
Yes, it could have some link to Brexit, but the 'sexual neglect' bit would need better explaining for me to go along with that symbolism.
Regards,
FWD.

That "Brexit" chant seemed to me one of his casual ways of changing the lyrics live just because it rhymes with "exit". It doesn't really connect with the rest of the lyric. As for that "this country is making me sick", it's just parodying diva behaviour like the rest of the song. Besides, since Morrissey supports Brexit and that's what the country voted for, it wouldn't make sense if the song was about Brexit.

I think the whole song is really Morrissey making fun of himself. He just distances the whole thing by putting a fictional character saying all those things. If it was about Brexit, one would have to build an awkward theory about Jacky being a metaphor for Britain or something like that, but for me that doesn't scan at all.
 
You are probably aware, but as well as it being Lillywhite's 3rd album, it was also recorded while he was getting divorced so not surprising if he wasn't at the top of his game.

No, I didn't know that, but it makes a lot of sense. That would have been another source of ennui surrounding Moz in 1997 - along with the music industry, the fanbase, and the state of music in general (Brit pop was old news; old Morrissey must have seemed prehistoric). I love many songs from Maladjusted and its B-sides, but none of them for their "get up and go." It's really quite pleasant how much better things are now.
 
Oh I get it... Jacky as in union jack. "Since she left EU". The song is about brexit?
Next the Rosetta stone.
 
I'm really curious how anyone could interpret this as a Brexit song. It's clearly autobiographical:

[Verse 1]
Jacky's only happy when she's up on the stage
I make this claim, now let me explain
Since she lost you
Jacky's only happy when she's up on the stage
Free in the truth of make-believe
Since she lost you

[Chorus 1]
She is determined to prove
How she can build up the pain
Of every lost and lonely day

[Verse 2]
Jacky's only happy when she's up on the stage
She'll make you believe what you'll never believe
Since she lost you
Jacky's only Jacky when she's up on the stage
Living bodies that actually move!
Since she lost you

[Chorus 2]
She is determined to prove
How she can fill up the page
Of every lost and lonely day
1, 'u-xx_large_top_margin': $height > 1}" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block;">

[Verse 3]
"Cue lights! I am singing to my lover at night!
Scene Two: Everyone who comes must go!
Scene Four: Blacker than ever before!
Scene Six: This country is making me sick!"

[Verse 4]
Jacky cracks when she isn't on stage
See the effects of sexual neglect

No script, no crew, no auto-cue
No audience telling her what to do!
Exit, exit
Everybody's heading for the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's heading for the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's running to the exit, exit
Everybody's heading for the exit, exit
Everybody's heading for the exit, exit
Everybody's heading for the exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit, exit

Yes, aside from the Union Jack(y) and (Br)exit ideas, this reading doesn't really sense to me. There are too many lyrics that don't fit: "the effects of sexual neglect", etc. The overall tone itself is quite doomy and "everybody heading for the exit" is clearly a bad thing for Jacky in the narrative, so it reads like an anti-Brexit statement, if anything. Why would Morrissey portray it in such a negative way if he was supposedly in favour of it?
 
Some people really want to see this as a brexit song because they're obsessed with the subject. The same with those who heard brexit exit. They're looking for it
 
Err, you do know that I was quoting a post about Your Arsenal don't you?

Morrissey's band were awful in concert before this. Lots of energy for certain, but nowhere near enough talent to be able to pull off an album like Your Arsenal without a great producer. I go with Stephen Street on that one.
I was actually just listening to Live in Dallas the other day and wondering wtf happened. The band sounds like they have no idea what they're doing, Moz is growling through every song, and every few minutes it sounds like mic/instrument wires are coming loose. Compare that to Beethoven Was Deaf recorded only a year later; night and day.
 
Yes I read the comment that you replied to Flibberty. Go back and listen to Viva Hate.
You do realize that Morrissey had precisely zero of his Kill Uncle era band for Viva hate, right?
 
This song is a grower I have found. First few listens it struck me as plodding and repetitive without a strong hook but it reveals it's charm in time. That said I must believe he has a better single on deck.
 
That "Brexit" chant seemed to me one of his casual ways of changing the lyrics live just because it rhymes with "exit". It doesn't really connect with the rest of the lyric. As for that "this country is making me sick", it's just parodying diva behaviour like the rest of the song. Besides, since Morrissey supports Brexit and that's what the country voted for, it wouldn't make sense if the song was about Brexit.

I think the whole song is really Morrissey making fun of himself. He just distances the whole thing by putting a fictional character saying all those things. If it was about Brexit, one would have to build an awkward theory about Jacky being a metaphor for Britain or something like that, but for me that doesn't scan at all.

I still think he's quite possibly singing about Kristeen Young. Especially in that verse, especially on that line, as the last time she toured with him, he was plagued with illness and cancellations, and she ended up booted off the tour for supposedly getting him sick. Then you have the "Morrissey gives great head" scandal previously, hence the "effects of sexual neglect." In this case, since "she lost you" would translate to "Since she lost me." Filling up pages could be her relentless social media whore thing she did after being kicked off the tour, and "everybody's running for the exit" would be painfully self-explanatory regarding her act.
 
Just pointing out the obvious. Sure, he had a handful of leftover Smiths to make his grand solo splash, but you can't deny his band were like a bunch of overly eager puppies, frequently going out of tune and out of time.
 
Somethin' tells me that thar girl on the cover of this single ain't no real girl! It's one of those girls with twigs n' berries folded up in thar
 
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