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


Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher, cyrilsneer

Half A Person Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Half a Person song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

44 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +13
    General Comment

    One of the most fantastic verses in this song:

    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:

    He spends 6 full years obsessed with a person and asks back only 5 seconds from her! This is fantastic! This is Morrissey!!!!

    Acesgirlon March 07, 2006   Link
  • +8
    General Comment

    I concur with most of the above suggestions. HALF A PERSON is one of Morrissey's finest moments -- a Smithian treasure tucked away on a B-Side aimed at unfurling a circular relationship between himself the pop star and the young boy who like us is on a journey of discovery from small town to the big city, from a position of despair and strangeness to one of metaphorical prostitution to become what we want, SOMEBODY. And in our glory we are told that we are missed for our adolescent endearing troubles selves and we yearn again for those make belive days and the full circle continues. Morrissey lived this as do many a clumsy, shy teenager with a dream. Will you fall into the circle? I am and I hope only that I am soon promoted from back scrubber.

    davidbeauyon September 11, 2005   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    this is my FAVORITE smiths song by far...

    clumsy and shyon April 16, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think it's him realising that no matter how famous and rich he is going to get it's not actually going to change his life. He'll always be 16, clumsy and shy.

    In fact, his success has managed to alienate him from people who might have liked him in the past. It's increased his isolation when he thought it would make his life better.

    Aurora2on October 26, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    One of the most fantastic verses in this song:

    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:

    He spends 6 full years obsessed with a person and asks back only 5 seconds from her! This is fantastic! This is Morrissey!!!!

    Acesgirlon March 07, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    i especially like the repetition of certain phrases within the lyrics - e.g. "six long years on your trail." The repetition gives the phrase a feeling of almost an indictment of the other person.

    DPR4444on June 15, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I can relate completely to the lyric, "I've spent six years on your trail". I recently got in contact with a guy I sort of lost touch with a few years ago...and I realize that all these years I've sort of held him up to a perfect standard. And now, years later, I realize that I've just been looking for him when he was there all along. I spent years thinking about him, and now that I'm talking to him again, it's like I did spend six long years of my life on his trail, trying to find him again.

    It's about dreaming of someone, searching for that person you think is going to complete you.

    And that is my strangely vague and personal message for songmeanings today that did not contribute anything to the post discussion haha. Everyone has to do one eventually!

    AlamoBasementon September 16, 2008   Link
  • +2
    My Opinion

    Goodness, Morrissey knows me. The Smiths know me. From <i>Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me</i>, to <i>I Know It's Over</i>, 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.

    PoodleTootson February 05, 2010   Link
  • +2
    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.

    grungegrungeon February 08, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i love this song. i tried looking for some hidden meaning but all i could come up with was that it's this guy who chased this girl and that they were both poor but when he came back from the "YWCA" he was better off and he had changed. maybe it has nothing to do with money. but i love this song.

    socialdisease89on September 28, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head &gt; Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.