The Boy with the Thorn in His Side

Isnt 'the boy with a thorn in his side' a referance to the story of 'Androcles and the Lion' in which a lion with a thorn in its paw is misjudged to be an angry agressive lion but is infact in pain and in need of help. I thought that Morrissey was saying that his critics had misinterprated his songs and lyrics juding him as a bitter, miserable man but in fact he has a desire for love. I also think the 'thorn' in his side may represent the depression and lonliness he suffered from growing up (and may still suffer from), that would also support the ending lyrics of 'when you want to live, where do you start, where do you go, who do you need to know?'- his desire for love that is being prevented by his depression.

Talking about whinings. I love to choose a song and then read all the reviews on this site while I'm listening to the track itself. I like when they say "it's about Jesus", then: "don't dare to compare the Smiths with Jesus", "has to do with homoerotic feelings", and: "has nothing to do with gays at all" The only thing that I don't take is a little somebody who dares to write "It's so sad how low the level of discourse is on this site" OK, smart ass: Speak your mind and let the others speak their minds as well. This is democracy. Comments like "we have the incessant whinings... and then we have the teenage literalists[...]" make people fear of saying a word at all, and this is a place where listeners make their own reviews high or low, not some spoon-up-i-know-it-all-snobbish rubbish show as you seem to expect. How hard would Morrisey kick your ass off.

On the opposite, tef I loved your review, and I don't think is stupid at all. And everybody write what you want. Cause I love to read everything you say, wittiest comment or just "I loved this song" stuff. This is simply a small Forum, not University. Not Church.

I think this song is about two young men involved in a homosexual relationship. They have went public with it and have been ridiculed. No one believes that they are truly in love, they see it as something else.

'How can they see the Love in our eyes And still they don't believe us ?'

This line most reflects my opinions on the song.

I have this DVD where Morrissey walks around and chats with Margie Clarke and she asks him if this song was inpsired by Oscar Wilde and he says no, the thorn is the music industry, the radio stations that never payed their records and never believed in them - so if after all this time they still don't believe, what else can a poor boy do. Intresting - I thought it was about something completely different....

I absolutely love this song. You gotta love "behind the hatred there lies a murderous desire for love"

i believe this song's about a boy who is bullied, cuz he's different. whomever he is it doesnt matter. dont u get it? this boy could be Jesus, harry potter, charlie brown, courtney love or morrisey himself... it could be anyone of us. we all have been bullied for being different, even if it was just once, in your school, in your family, among your friends, at work, wherever! we all have been a boy with a thorn in our side. i dont think the mention of a "thorn" matters, its just a simple word, to show that he's different. "Behind the hatred there lies A murderous desire for love" these lines show what we truly want, even if we are misunterstood or mad at someone, we just want to be accepted and loved. that's what i understan of the song, so i think ppl who say it's about Jesus, or about gay discrimination, they're right. this song's about all of us. and it could apply to gay ppl, or kids bullied in schools, or music industry,yadayada... i'm not gonna argue so dont go sayin my opinion is stupid cuz i dont care. this is what i get of the song and in the end it's all about feeling it. i feel it right?

There seems to be a lot of people saying that this song is about a gay relationship that is misunderstood by the society that surrounds them. I think that isn't necessarily true, but is about how Morrisey feels in terms of his surrounding society and people's views towards him and his sexuality. The song shows to me that Morrisey wants to be loved like everybody else, but finds it difficult because society will not accept him. He struggles to blend in if that makes any sense. People ''don't believe us'' referring to others like Morrisey and ''how do you start'', ''where do you go'' - he simply doesn't understand why he cannot fit into normal society. There is an underlying sense of wit and humour in this song, I have no idea why? But like a lot of Smiths song there is a funny side to them. But is it to hide embarrassment? Trying to fit in with Society normally? Or to enjoy their music, as Morrisey doesn't seem to enjoy a lot else? Lyrically Brilliant and not subtle

uh morrissey is a good songwriter and all, but he was hardly the first person to use the phrase "thorn in his side" which is a common figure-of-speech. odd how people will seize upon a single word in a song and extrapolate endlessly, ignoring everything else. if it were "the boy with a chip on his shoulder" we'd get dissertations on whether he was writing about barkdust or chocolate chip cookies.

I once read an explanation that suggested Morrisey is "The boy with the thorn...". The thorn being cynical critics who accused him of hollow, whiney melodrama and, in the case of songs like Suffer Little Children and Panic, a sensationalist. In the second verse, he includes his fellow artists. I like that idea, but on a personal note, it seems to get at how much we hurt the ones we love with our "murderous desire"...making it a perfect follow-up to "Bigmouth Strikes Again."

marquicerise, that made me really, really sad when i read that. :(