The Smiths – Half a Person

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Call me morbid, call me pale
I've spent six years on your trail
Six long years
On your trail

Call me morbid, call me pale
I've spent six years on your trail
Six full years of my life on your trail

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I'll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the why...W.C.A.
I said : "I like it here - can I stay ?
I like it here - can I stay ?
Do you have a vacancy
For a back-scrubber?"

She was left behind, and sour
And she wrote to me, equally dour
She said : "In the days when you were
Hopelessly poor
I just liked you more..."

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I'll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the why...W.C.A.
I said : "I like it here - can I stay ?
I like it here - can I stay ?
And do you have a vacancy
For a back-scrubber ?"

Call me morbid, call me pale
I've spent too long on your trail
Far too long
Chasing your tail
Oh...

And if you have five seconds to spare
Then I'll tell you the story of my life :
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
That's the story of my life
Sixteen, clumsy and shy
The story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
The story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story of my life
That's the story...

Send "Half a Person" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 03:38

"Half a Person" as written by Steven Patrick/marr Morrissey

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

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39 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Seems to be partially inspired by Anne Marie McVeigh. A girl that Morrissey was in love with for years before the Smiths. Of course, there are other characters in there too.
    Flag starchiefon July 13, 2012   Link
  • +1
    Memory:this song just made me cry. I dated a girl when i was 15, we were perfect for each other, we met we had the same shirt on, her birthday is 360 days away from mine. Girl seduced me, got me to break up with her, was okay at first, then she talked to me again, fell again for her, but it was awkward. She came over, then there was that fight, she was crying and sobbing, and i got into a fight with my family, over her, she was the sweetest girl i ever met. Every year we talked, when i would see her, it was more awkward one time, i saw her and broke down in front of her, and all of her friends, when i met her i was also crying. Hung out again, like once per year, haha, then we go to college, low and behold she is there again, fall for her again, feelings are so tumultuous, a girl has a crush on me, but i am still focused on her, i date this new girl, but i dated her to get her to focus on me i know it sounds weird but it didnt work. We hung again, she worked at the pvc pharmacy, ironically the one that is a BLOCK away from my house now. We got stoned together, hung out again, then after that, in 2011 i had a dream of her, 2 weeks later she messages me on aim. im like what the flipping fuck, recently, i decided i wanna see korn live i never seen korn once, so i get tickets for this show. right after i get the tickets, i went to my buddies page who is playing a show the same fucking day. And HER NAME is at the top, i never seen that name besides once before. she has a unique name. now i shuffled the ipod song number 5 is this 2 songs later is KoRn, and now my sister won tickets for the concert, and it will be the first time me going with my sis to a concert, AND HER LAST NAME IS MORRISSEY, PLEASE GOD JUST GIVE ME HER and let us be soul mates.
    Flagged grungegrungeon February 07, 2012   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • 0
    Memory:this song just made me cry. I dated a girl when i was 15, we were perfect for each other, we met we had the same shirt on, her birthday is 360 days away from mine. Girl seduced me, got me to break up with her, was okay at first, then she talked to me again, fell again for her, but it was awkward. She came over, then there was that fight, she was crying and sobbing, and i got into a fight with my family, over her, she was the sweetest girl i ever met. Every year we talked, when i would see her, it was more awkward one time, i saw her and broke down in front of her, and all of her friends, when i met her i was also crying. Hung out again, like once per year, haha, then we go to college, low and behold she is there again, fall for her again, feelings are so tumultuous, a girl has a crush on me, but i am still focused on her, i date this new girl, but i dated her to get her to focus on me i know it sounds weird but it didnt work. We hung again, she worked at the pvc pharmacy, ironically the one that is a BLOCK away from my house now. We got stoned together, hung out again, then after that, in 2011 i had a dream of her, 2 weeks later she messages me on aim. im like what the flipping fuck, recently, i decided i wanna see korn live i never seen korn once, so i get tickets for this show. right after i get the tickets, i went to my buddies page who is playing a show the same fucking day. And HER NAME is at the top, i never seen that name besides once before. she has a unique name. now i shuffled the ipod song number 5 is this 2 songs later is KoRn, and now my sister won tickets for the concert, and it will be the first time me going with my sis to a concert, AND HER LAST NAME IS MORRISSEY, PLEASE GOD JUST GIVE ME HER and let us be soul mates.
    Flagged grungegrungeon February 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I thought this song was about a female fan stalking Morrissey, no? Just me? And he feels a connection with her since, like her, he will always be '16, clumsy and shy'...
    Flag yousirnameon September 16, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"sixteen, clumsy and shy" is a beautiful line
    Flag ScottishAngleon March 10, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I always took this song to be a lot darker. I always thought of it as an awkward teenager who became obsessed with a girl and followed her around for 6 years. As for the part about the YWCA, I always thought of that as sort of a morbid kind of joke about him trying to stay there because that's where the girl was, despite the fact that he was a male. And then the backscrubber thing, I also took as a sort of black humor, asking the people at the YWCA if he could sleep there and wash the girls' backs. "I like it here can I stay?" I would too.
    Flag Diothalamuson January 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think I have this one...I believe P-Nice wanted to follow Catherine the Great to a soccer tournament in London. "She was left behind, and sour" because he had sprayed her back with the scented shell so he could follow her on the tube. Being on a modest stipend, his only option was to find lodging at the YWCA as a back scrubber, which ironically, led them back together as she was in need of a scrub to remove the scent of the shell...
    Flag SergeantPon March 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it sounds like a girl has been in love with a musician's music (and himself to an extent) and has found him and is stalking him (six full years of my life on your trail)and then meets up with him and then begs for a conversation "five seconds to spare" and then tells him about her life. Thats as simple as it can get.
    Flag 5cloneon February 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about how he loves this girl for years and years and wasted his time on her.
    Flag Frostypeanuton February 24, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion:Goodness, Morrissey knows me. The Smiths know me. From Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, to I Know It's Over, it feels like everything just gets me. The lyrics, the way the music goes, everything is just amazing. Everything is painful, but so beautifully, a love so desired, so sought after, but it's not equal. It's tragic, and impossible to handle. When I feel like I'm going to breakdown, listening to the Smiths helps me realize how much I'm not alone.
    Flag PoodleTootson February 05, 2010   Link

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