"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"
(Morrissey/Marr)

 

These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "Strangeways Here We Come" album. Additions to the printed lyrics are in darker text while omissions are striken out.

The lanes were silent
with nothing or no one around for miles
there's nothing, no one, nothing around for miles
I doused our friendly venture
with a hard-faced
three-word gesture
I started something
I forced you into a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
...and now I'm not too sure
I grabbed you by the guilded beams
that's what Tradition means
and I doused another venture
with a gesture
that was...absolutely vile
I started something
forced you to a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
...and now I'm not too sure
I grabbed you by the guilded beams
that's what Tradition means
and now eighteen months' hard-labour
seems...fair enough
I started something
and I forced you to a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
and now I'm not too sure
I started something
I started something
typical me, typical me
typical me, typical me
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
and now I'm not too sure

 

The words heard faintly at the very end of the song are "Okay Stephen, let's do that again". They are by Morrissey, to producer Stephen Street.