Lyrics for Paint A Vulgar Picture as interpreted by weezerific:cutlery

Paint A Vulgar Picture Lyrics
At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"

Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)

A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, THIS was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to

BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please them !"
(sadly this was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you ?

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."

But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know

Who could never really know
Oh ...

Best of ! Most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour ! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium !"
(THIS was your life...)

And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm

So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again ...

At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last ! - a dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now

No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again

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  • 23 Comments
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KungFu_Metal_Master
03-07-2002

Rated 0 
definitely a small defining of what the Smiths are all about

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jenwill2
03-12-2002

Rated 0 
This song gives me the chills, given Moz's current situation-- reissue, repackage, repackage!" Until he releases new stuff, the record co's that own the older will doubtlessly give us "Best ofs Morrissey"-- and there's not a damn thin ghe can do about it. The irony is that this song was directed at the larger labels (I believe the SMiths were on Rough Trade, a smaller label when this was written) and now Moz refuses to sign with a smaller label, though he has a full CD recorded. AAARGH!!

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makersandwater
07-10-2002

Rated 0 
great, great song. it is ironic, though, given the fact that there are roughly 20 smiths songs that appear on multiple albums ("Buy both, and feel deceived..."). at any rate, the song effectively communicates the ups and downs of fame and the music biz.

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SweetestSiren
06-20-2004

Rated 0 
I really love this song. I agree that it does a good job of showing the ups and downs of the music business.... and how it's so hard to refuse it. "You could have said no, if you wanted to / You could have walked away, couldn't you?" Kind of a price-of-fame song. The "true love" at the end is himself, given the "On their hands, at last, a dead star.... / But they can never taint you in my eyes / They can never touch you now."

I love the title of this song, and the line:
"And if it fails to recoup, well maybe:
'You just haven't erned it yet, baby.'"

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mourningglory
07-03-2004

Rated 0 
Morrissey tells us how the record company truely operates. Eating you up and spitting you up. The dead star, perhaps Morrissey was preparing us for the Smith's breakup?

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z0MbiE
07-04-2004

Rated 0 
y did the smiths breakup?

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Artificial Idiot
01-31-2005

Rated 0 
When Morrissey cites "sycophantic slags", it's supposedly a direct attack on over zealous band groupies... or just groupies in general. Who really knows?

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marquicerise
12-28-2005

Rated 0 
"You just haven't earned it yet, baby"
-Geoff Travis

"Paint a vulgar picture"
-Oscar Wilde

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infotainment_lad
02-18-2006

Rated 0 
'y did the smiths breakup?'

Band tensions had been running high for a long time, especially since Johnny Marr preferred to have John Porter as the producer, while Morrissey preferred Stephen Street. Morrissey was accused of sabotaging a few songs, such as Ask, and it apparantly started to get unworkable. They were forced to take on a new manager who (for reasons I can't remember) they couldn't work with at all, and so he was fired and replaced by Johnny Marr, who eventually got sick of it and decided to take a break. However, they then had to record b-sides for the Girlfriend In A Coma single, and they got in an argument because Morrissey wanted to (and eventually did) do a Cilla Black cover. Marr left the band, and they eventually decided to split up rather than attempt to replace him.

If anyone else wants to correct me on any points there, go ahead.

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CharmingMan
02-28-2006

Rated 0 
infotainment.. most is right although not sure where you are getting all your info from - I note you were not even born when the Smiths split up! - but hey, you certainly have good tastse!!

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Nina78
09-03-2006

Rated 0 
What a gorgeous song... Apparently about 60s singer Billy Fury who died in relative obscurity at age 42 - another one of Moz's musical obsessions/inspirations. Does anyone know if he met Billy Fury when he was young as described in the song?

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Nina78
09-06-2006

Rated 0 
And I would suggest that the "sycophantic slags" are the record company executives taking credit for knowing (the true essence of) the artist, rather than groupies...

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ken1988
12-22-2006

Rated 0 
Also the NME acted like a catalyst for the smiths split, announcing marr had left, when in fact he had taken a holiday as stated earlier. This led to Mozza not talking to the NME until he released "You are the quarry".

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ken1988
12-22-2006

Rated 0 
Also the NME acted like a catalyst for the smiths split, announcing marr had left, when in fact he had taken a holiday as stated earlier. This led to Mozza not talking to the NME until he released "You are the quarry".

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whenwhenwhen
07-04-2007

Rated 0 
I thought he stopped talking to the NME because of their scathing review of the Madness thing, when he was bottled off stage after performing The National Front Disco while waving a Union Jack?
I could be wrong so feel free to correct me on that!

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gravitydwarf
11-18-2007

Rated 0 
It's about worshipping pop stars and then becoming one yourself.

At the death of a long-forgotten star, the record company seeks to make money out of his brief posthumous fame, and people argue about who knew him best. His life was a matter of seeking to please the media and the crowds.

Meanwhile, M remembers being so obsessed with this star back in the day that he once touched him at a sound check. He can't believe that this once-great man has now died in relative obscurity, just to be dragged through the same system that brought him down in the first place.

And now M himself is a star and he thinks about the business that he's in:

'You're just the same as I am'.

He knows he's in the same game, but he can't get out of it. Perhaps in theory he had a choice about pursuing this career -- but who could turn it down? Especially an idol-worshipping, 'faceless' kid from an ugly new house...

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tamnin
04-06-2008

Rated 0 
What I love most about this song is how it takes a sad theme, a sad situation, and makes a beautiful and uplifting song. You see the same in There Is A Light. This meta-song illustrates how music lifts you up, how you "dance your legs down to the knees", even as "me and my true love wil never meet again".

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Nicofronzo
07-13-2008

Rated 0 
what does he means by “me and my“true love” will never meet again”?

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Loves_young_dream
11-24-2008

Rated 0 
Just the way he portrayes the corruption of the superstar buissness, its fantastic. I cant help but thinking of
James dean in this song. If the boy who was "Faceless, fawning and boring" was Morrissey at the begining of his
Career. Because james dean is certainly a "dead star". And we all know Moz had more than a little thing for him.
I spose Morrissey didnt want his memory of Jimmy dean tainted by the whoring out of the media.

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stranger34
06-26-2009

Rated 0 
I had been listening to Strangeways last night and when i put on my IPOD Death of a Disco Dancer was on and I thought how that could be applied to Michael Jackson... But this song, with Michael Jackson in mind, is very strong.

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1 Reply
Duffo
08-06-2009

Rated 0 
James Dean? What would he do at a sound check?

It's about Morrissey twice. Paints a vulgar picture of himself as a disgusting arrogant star. As the young obsessed guy AND as the older star who has become a very whorelike person to the fan who thought he was true. Nice prediction though :P

And it's about self-hate.
Ever occurred to one of you that the fan murders his idol and that this is why they have a dead star on their hands? He wants to keep the idol from turning furthermore into a disgrace. He knows what will happen to his future self as a star, and pictures a fan like he once was killing him.

Look at the lyrics and read between the lines:

"I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm"

harm? what harm? He's clearly following his idol after being brutally rejected. I walked a pace behind you... Seems like a bit of stalking to me.
"They cannot touch you now" right...

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PrettyPretty_
08-08-2009

Rated 0 
somehow, some way, this song makes me want to smile and cry all at once.

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patfrombelgium
09-17-2009

Rated 0 
I still remember the announced press-conference in Belgium with The Smiths. Every newspaper and magazine had sent their journalists and photographers, and they were all been gathering in the hotel in Brussels but at the right time Morrissey, nor the others didn't turn up. It ended with furious articles in the press, about the snobby attitude of Morrissey, and with 'official' apologies from the record company stating to demand explications of the band.

A few months later the Smiths gave a personal comment to the press in Belgium in this song about being a toy in the hands of greedy businessmen, and being told to 'please the press in Belgium'...

What a band!...

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