1
Unruly boys
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
Unruly boys
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
No...a crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
A crack on the head
Is just what you get
Why? Because of who you are!
And a crack on the head
Is just what you get
Why? Because of what you are!
A crack on the head
Because of :
Those things you said
Things you said
The things you did
Unruly boys
Who will not grow
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not grow
They must be taken in hand
Ah...oh, no...oh, no
Ah...oh, no...oh, no
No...no, no, no
No...no, no
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
Unruly boys
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
No...a crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking
A crack on the head
Is just what you get
Why? Because of who you are!
And a crack on the head
Is just what you get
Why? Because of what you are!
A crack on the head
Because of :
Those things you said
Things you said
The things you did
Unruly boys
Who will not grow
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not grow
They must be taken in hand
Ah...oh, no...oh, no
Ah...oh, no...oh, no
No...no, no, no
No...no, no
Lyrics submitted by Idan, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Barbarism Begins At Home Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The meaning of the song is similar to that of "The Headmaster ritual". You may well have picked up on the fact that Morrissey is quite an individual, and depending on your experiences in school you may have discovered that some teachers really don't like those kind of students (but some love them, so no offence to teachers in general). There's an interview where Morrissey says he nearly got expelled for saying the dictionary was his favourite book.
The song is from the perspective of conservative authority. The unruly boys and girls who decide to do things their own way must be suppressed, it claims. Morrissey obviously had a few problems with that. The second paragraph is probably Morrissey expressing a feeling that I certainly felt when I was in school - that sometimes teachers decide to punish you (because they don't like you) and then search for the excuse. So if a disliked student asks for help then they get told off for being stupid, if they they don't then they get told off for doing the work wrong. If a student is being falsely accused of something then he can keep silent and be punished for something he didn't do, or make his case and be punished for "answering back", and so on.
Basically it's Morrissey complaining about horrible teachers who had no respect for his individual character.