I think one thing relevant here that no one remarked on was the song "Suffer Little Children" which could have a relation, in terms of Morrisey's emotional outlook, and poetic form, or themes, as you'd have it.
"Suffer Little Children" is about the "Moors Murders" (you can look it up on Wikepedia) -- a series of child murders said to have affected Morrisey quite a bit. (One of the lines is, "Oh, Manchester, so much to answer for", and that was his general childhood area.
So my take is that this "Cradle" song ties into that... his emotional desire to protect children. And perhaps kind of "cross-pollinated with themes like those in "Pretty Girls Make Graves", which seems to me to be about, one one hand, his heterosexual experiences, and perhaps desire for that...and then, that that wasn't going to be his thing.
I don't mean to presume about his sexuality, have never researched it, but have a strong feeling.
So, again, the concept I have is that he has a natural, gentle paternalism, but won't be a father, but is horrified by children being hurt. And they just kind of blend into a "non-literal" poem about all these issues.
Maybe this is a presumptive reading, I guess only Morrisey can tell anyone. (I assume he hasn't...again, I don't really do research on this stuff, generally.)
I think one thing relevant here that no one remarked on was the song "Suffer Little Children" which could have a relation, in terms of Morrisey's emotional outlook, and poetic form, or themes, as you'd have it. "Suffer Little Children" is about the "Moors Murders" (you can look it up on Wikepedia) -- a series of child murders said to have affected Morrisey quite a bit. (One of the lines is, "Oh, Manchester, so much to answer for", and that was his general childhood area. So my take is that this "Cradle" song ties into that... his emotional desire to protect children. And perhaps kind of "cross-pollinated with themes like those in "Pretty Girls Make Graves", which seems to me to be about, one one hand, his heterosexual experiences, and perhaps desire for that...and then, that that wasn't going to be his thing. I don't mean to presume about his sexuality, have never researched it, but have a strong feeling. So, again, the concept I have is that he has a natural, gentle paternalism, but won't be a father, but is horrified by children being hurt. And they just kind of blend into a "non-literal" poem about all these issues. Maybe this is a presumptive reading, I guess only Morrisey can tell anyone. (I assume he hasn't...again, I don't really do research on this stuff, generally.)