Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others

Because I've never interpreted these lyrics so literally, they never seemed that odd to me.

I thought that this song could be about a scenario where two lovers are faced with the challenge of each belonging to a different social class. It's an issue that has plagued society from the dawn of time, so this idea seemed to fit.

With the reference to "some girls' mothers" being "bigger" than others, I figured that this could be referring to the fact that there is a clear segregation of families within the different classes, and often the parents dictate the romantic fate of their children based on status, not on love (arranged marriages, etc.)

The pillow part, I thought could mean - and please bear with me here ... "listen, I know that we can't be together due to our differing social status within society, but I still want to be close to you somehow & share my dreams with you. They may be the same dreams as yours." ... or something along those lines.

The music fits the lyrics if you think of it that way. And I know that my imagination may have run wild, and that I totally romanticized the song, but great music allows people to do that.

And if it's just a song about boobs, so be it.

Much British male working class discussion centers on football and comparing girls breasts. If you are moderately sensitive or bright this process becomes very boring. Morrissey seems to capture his disdain perfectly singing the verses in a repetitive and dismissive fashion. In essence, throughout history all women have had different sized breasts so can we talk about something interesting now! The Sugarcubes — Mama has a similar meaning.

For those unwilling to accept this is about breasts--or at least sexual shapes, the only time The Smiths performed it live, Morrissey added another verse at the end:

"On the shop floor there's a calendar as obvious as snow as if we didn't know!"

Boy grows into adulthood with lofty ideas about beauty, truth and the poetry weaved throughout the world. Then gets suddenly struck with how basic the adult world seems to operate - a straightforward Attractiveness Competition held between every woman on earth, one overseen and perpetuated by men. Morrissey, not specifying exactly what it is about women that varies in size, highlights how trivial the boy sees this 'one concern'. People are shaped differently, who cares?

And while he might mourn about it, he starts to discover that HE cares too... And he finds that both exciting and confusing.

i think it could be an ironic comment on romanticism. it seems to contrast the reality of sex and relationships in the contemporary, adult world, to morrissey's wistful romanticism, recalled particulalry in the final lines: 'send me your pillow, the one the you dream on'. The fact that these lines come from a 60's song reinforces the ironic juxtaposition of morrissey's nostalgic romanticism with the crudeness of the chorus, suggesting that morrissey is a fish out of water - a romantic in an unromantic world, his romanticism reduced to irony to get the metaphor across. perhaps this sums up the smiths' work as a whole. For me it is also about the shattering of illusions: 'as anthony said to cleopatra, as he opened a crate of ale'. This great romantic story is sardonically cut to down to size. Morrissey has 'just discovered' that the world is not the romantic place he 'dreams on'. It is reminiscent of later Morrissey tracks such as 'Used To Be a Sweet Boy' on Vauxhall and I. That is not to say that it is a melancholy or defeatest song. Wit and irony is a means of defeating the bland and the crude and asserting Morrissey's own brand of romanticism.

I think just the way Morrissey sings this song on the record is so tender. He makes the lyrics mean so much more than they seem to at first glance. It's almost like a love song to women as a whole.

Some stupid people think the lyrics are too silly to go with Marr's music. These people have no soul.

It's referring specifically to women's breast sizes. The last lines are from the song "Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On", the Cleopatra scene was most likely inspired by "Carry On Cleo".

In the course of a man's life, especially nowadays, we go through a lot of different relationships. When I look back at the girls I've dated now, I realize that some girls mean more to me than other girls do- 'Some girls are bigger than others'. And this one girl especially it seems will always be bigger than the others. :( So to me this song isn't about the physical size of a woman but rather the size of the feelings and emotions that you have for them. And that is the genius of Morrissey..

hmm I always thought Moz was making a reference to Orwells "Animal Farm" All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others...just a thought :)

I forget where I heard this, but apparently that sound effect at the beginning, where the volume level goes up and down, was put in by engineers so that the recording couldn't be used (standard practise, apparently), but the recording was used anyway, in error. Which doesn't contribute to the discussion re the meaning of the song, but, y'know, I thought people might be interested.