These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "You Are The Quarry" album. Additions to the printed lyrics are in darker text while omissions are striken out.

The whispering
may hurt you
but the printed word
might kill you
the whispering
may hurt you
but the printed word
might kill you
so don't let the blue
the blue eyes fool you ¹
they're just gelignite
loaded and aiming right between your eyes
CDs and t-shirts and promos and God knows
you know I couldn't last
someone please take me home
The teenagers
who love you
they will wake up
yawn and kill you
the teenagers
who love you
they will wake up
yawn and kill you
so don't let the blue
the blue eyes fool you ¹
they're just gelignite
loaded and aiming right between your eyes
CDs and t-shirts and promos and God knows
you know I couldn't last
someone please take me home
there's a cash-register ringing and
it weighs so heavy on my back
someone please take me home
The critics who ²
can't break you
they somehow help to make you
the critics who ²
can't break you
unwittingly, they make you
so don't let the good days
of the gold discs ³
creep up and mug you
No, no, no, no, no!
with evil legal eagles
you know I couldn't last
accountants rampant
you know I couldn't last

every -ist and every -ism ⁴
thrown my way to stay
and the Northern leeches go on
removing, removing, removing
then in the end
your royalties bring you luxuries ⁵
your royalties bring you luxuries
oh but - the squalor of the mind ⁶
the squalor of the mind
the squalor of the mind
the squalor of the mind

 

² On the You Are The Quarry tour Morrissey often changed this line to "so don't let the good days of the old discs". This can be heard on live album "Live At Earls Court".

³ In early performances on the You Are The Quarry tour Morrissey sometimes changed these lines to "the critics who just cannot break you", "the critics who fail to break you", "the critics who just hate you" or "the critics who cannot stand you".

⁴ On live album "Live At Earls Court", Morrissey is heard singing "with every -ist and every -ism".

⁵ On the You Are The Quarry tour Morrissey sometimes downplayed this line by following it with a contradicting comment such as "not really!" or "no they don't!" An example is found on live album "Live At Earls Court" on which he is heard adding the comment "... maybe".

⁶ In the regular edition of "You Are The Quarry" this line was printed as "but oh - the squalor of the mind". The slight correction was made for the Deluxe Edition of the album.