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Oh hello
I am the ghost of Troubled Joe
Hung by his pretty white neck
Some eighteen months ago
I travelled to a mystical time zone
And I missed my bed
And I soon came home
They said :
"There's too much caffeine
In your bloodstream
And a lack of real spice
In your life"
I said :
"Leave me alone
Because I'm alright, dad
Surprised to still
Be on my own..."
Oh, but don't mention love
I'd hate the strain of the pain again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So it shall be again
And people who are uglier than you and I
They take what they need, and just leave
Oh, but don't mention love
I'd hate the pain of the strain all over again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So why can't it be now?
And people who are weaker than you or I
They take what they want from life
Oh, but don't mention love
No - no, don't mention love!
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
Your youth may be gone
But you're still a young man
So phone me, phone me, phone me
So phone me, phone me, phone me
Oh, I think I'm in love
Oh, I think I'm in love
Oh, I think I'm in love (think I'm in love)
Urrgh, I think I'm in lerv
Oh...
I am the ghost of Troubled Joe
Hung by his pretty white neck
Some eighteen months ago
I travelled to a mystical time zone
And I missed my bed
And I soon came home
They said :
"There's too much caffeine
In your bloodstream
And a lack of real spice
In your life"
I said :
"Leave me alone
Because I'm alright, dad
Surprised to still
Be on my own..."
Oh, but don't mention love
I'd hate the strain of the pain again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So it shall be again
And people who are uglier than you and I
They take what they need, and just leave
Oh, but don't mention love
I'd hate the pain of the strain all over again
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
It has been before
So why can't it be now?
And people who are weaker than you or I
They take what they want from life
Oh, but don't mention love
No - no, don't mention love!
A rush and a push and the land that
We stand on is ours
Your youth may be gone
But you're still a young man
So phone me, phone me, phone me
So phone me, phone me, phone me
Oh, I think I'm in love
Oh, I think I'm in love
Oh, I think I'm in love (think I'm in love)
Urrgh, I think I'm in lerv
Oh...
Lyrics submitted by Idan, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 03:03
"A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours" as written by Steven Patrick/marr Morrissey
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I am the ghost of Troubled Joe Hung by his pretty white neck Some eighteen months ago
----------------------
Ghost of Troubled joe refers to someone who is clearly in a bad spot but doesn't show it to the outside world in his actions. This refers to a suicide imho
I travelled to a mystical time zone, And I missed my bed , And I soon came home
----------------------
The writer could be referring to a visit to a psychiatric ward, or doing some drugs but determining they didn't really help, so he returned to his state of mind.
They said : "There's too much caffeine In your bloodstream, And a lack of real spice In your life"
--------------------
The people intervening (doctors / parents etc.) relate his depression to commonality
I said : "Leave me alone, Because I'm alright, dad, Surprised to still Be on my own..."
--------------------
Still figuring things out, surprised that the promised life hasn't occurred yet.
Oh, but don't mention love I'd hate the strain of the pain again
--------------------
Until he sorts himself out he doesn't want to think of a relationship.
a rush and a push and the land that, we stand on is ours, it has been before
so it shall be again, and people who are uglier than you and I, they take what they need, and leave.
--------------------
A paranoia of outsiders involving themselves with you, a warning that they don't understand, that they ignore their impact etc.
And people who are weaker than you or I, They take what they want from life
--------------------
I don't think he means literally weaker, but rather, of a mindset that is pragmatic rather than idealistic.
Your youth may be gone, But you're still a young man, So phone me, phone me, phone me
--------------------
The loss of angst, but hopefully not idealism, phone me i think refers to the loss of friends and adventure to mundane life activities.
and a lack of real spice in your life" -- Amazing. Sadly at times story of my life ;)
Maybe a little personal, but I always related it to my suicide attempt?
Other than the obvious line "hung by his pretty white neck", the line "too much caffeine in your blood stream" was exactly what a doctor told me when they had me checked out. And the "lack of real spice in your life" was always like, you don't have enough fun, you don't out yourself out there. The "I travelled to a mystical time zone And I missed my bed And I soon came home" was always like after I came home from the hospital everything felt strange and I don't know, the hospital was a mystical time zone? And "don't mention love" always reminded me of like, pretending you don't need love when you really really do. And the "And people who are weaker than you or I They take what they want from life" about not understanding why other people who are lesser than you can survive, but you struggle so much.
I don't know, might be a dark spin on it, but I never even though of the political things behind the song, it's really interesting to hear some of that.
That we stand on
Is ours
Love Moz's phrasing on that one. :-)
Troubled Joe is hung by his "pretty white neck." The narrator travels to a mystical timezone. The title of the song is a reference to a quote from Sperenza Wilde.
Too much caffeine in the blood stream = Tea, China
Lack of real spice in your life = Spice trade, India
People who are uglier than you and I = the colonised people, the "other"
He's using colonisation as a metaphor for the power struggle of an unequal romantic relationship. He's taking "love is a battlefield" and turning it into "love is a colonial occupation."
There's another reference to Oscar Wilde in the line 'some eighteen months ago'. Wilde was inside Reading Goal for eighteen months. It's also in 'I started something I couldn't finish' where Morrissey sings "And now eighteen months hard labour seems fair enough".
I think it is metaphorical. It's more about the imagery than the literal lines of the song. Being in love can make someone feel quite 'colonised' in a way. Taken over and without freedom or will left.
we stand on is ours
it has been before
so it shall be again
and people who are uglier than you and I
they take what they need, and leave
why can't it be about a moment in someone's life? These lines are always going to be political for me, even though it mentions love, can't it be about how someone is feeling, about everything?