"Irish Blood, English Heart"
(Morrissey/Alain Whyte)

 

These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "You Are The Quarry" album. There are no variations between the printed lyrics and what Morrissey actually sings in the studio version.

Irish blood, English heart
this I'm made of
there is no one on earth
I'm afraid of
and no regime
can buy or sell me
    I've been dreaming of a time when
    to be English
    is not to be baneful
    to be standing by the flag not feeling 1
    shameful, racist or partial 2
Irish blood, English heart
this I'm made of
there is no one on earth
I'm afraid of
and I will die
with both of my hands untied 3
    I've been dreaming of a time when 4
    the English are sick to death of Labour
    and Tories
    and spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell
    and denounce this royal line that still 5
    salute him / and will salute him forever

 

1 Now and then on the 2007-2008 Greatest Hits tour Morrissey extended this line to "you can see me standing by the flag not feeling shameful..." On the latter tour's third American leg the change was almost standard but by the time he returned to England and France in early 2008 he had more or less stopped doing it. He returned to it on most dates of the first leg of the 2009 Tour Of Refusal, then on the second and third legs he stopped again. The change was not done on the Swords Tour later that year.

2 In early live performances of this song on the 2002 tour Morrissey sang "racist or racial". Then throughout the tour he started singing "racist or partial" and this is what would end up being recorded and released in 2004. On the You Are The Quarry tour Morrissey very occasionally returned to the original "racist or racial". On the 2009 Tour Of Refusal and Swords Tour he sang "never racist or partial" on and off.

3 On the first leg of the 2009 Tour Of Refusal Morrissey changed this line a few times to "I will die with both of my legs untied". The change would reappear very occasionally later that year.

4 On the first leg of the 2007 Greatest Hits tour Morrissey changed this line to "I've been dreaming of a time when Americans are sick to death of Republicans and Democrats". Then by the tour's second leg and throughout its third leg he dropped 'Democrats' from the line and just sang "I've been dreaming of a time when Americans are sick to death of Republicans (pause)". When the tour brought him back to Europe there was no point in singing those words anymore so he reverted to the original lyrics. And then by the time he returned to the USA in 2009, the Americans had elected a Democrat, so he stuck to the song's original words.

5 On the 2009 Swords Tour Morrissey introduced the previously unheard "and denounce these horrible royals that still salute him".

Note: Most of the time this song was played live throughout 2007-2009 Morrissey added to this song's outro an improvised an undecipherable series of shouts. If anyone has ever been able to decipher any words, please write.