"Paint A Vulgar Picture"
(Morrissey/Marr)

These lyrics are transcribed in light blue as they appear in the "Strangeways Here We Come" album and are reproduced here without permission. Variations between the printed lyrics and what is sung by Morrissey are indicated in darker text for additions and omissions are deleted.

At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
and ooh, the plans that they weave
and ooh, the sickening greed
At the record company party ¹
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 ²
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)
A-list, playlist
"Please them, 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 ³
"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 "please, take ⁴
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
Best of! Most of! ⁵
Satiate the need
slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and be feel deceived
climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium!" ⁶
(THIS was your life...) ⁷
and when it fails to recoup?
Well, maybe:
You just haven't earned it yet, baby ⁸
I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
you're just the same as I am ⁹
what makes most people feel happy
leads us headlong into harm ¹⁰
so, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I dance my legs down to the knees
but me and my 'true love'
we will never meet again...
At the record company meeting ¹¹
on their hands - at last! - a dead star! ¹¹
but they cannot can never taint you in my eyes ¹¹
no, they cannot can never touch you now ¹¹
No, they cannot hurt you my darling ¹¹
they cannot touch you now ¹¹
but me and my 'true love' ¹¹
will never meet again ¹¹

 

² In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey sang "and it's too late to tell him how great he really was".

³ When performing this song on the 1997 Maladjusted tour, Morrissey introduced the change to "BPI, MTV, BBC, kiss their arses" and later moved to "MTV, MTV, MTV, kiss their arses".

⁴ In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey sang "I cried 'please take me with you' ".

⁵ In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey added a whole verse before going into this line: "At the record company party, on their hands at last! a dead star. Double-pack with a photograph, extra track and a tacky badge. And they paint a vulgar picture of the way they say that you were but they never can really hurt you my darling, they can never touch you now".

⁶ When performing this song on the 1997 Maladjusted tour, Morrissey almost always changed this line to "please depressing Belgians". Sometimes he took it even further and sang "please the bloody Belgians".

⁷ In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey sang "Sadly this was your life".

⁸ When performing this song on the 1997 Maladjusted tour, Morrissey sometimes sang "I just haven't earned it yet, baby", particularly during the second American leg.

⁹ In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey sang "See! you're just the same as I am".

¹⁰ In an early studio outtake of this song Morrissey sang "leads you headlong into harm". When performing this song on the 1997 Maladjusted tour, he sometimes sang "still leads me headlong into harm", particularly during the second American leg.

¹¹ When performing this song on the 1997 Maladjusted tour, Morrissey never sang these lines. In an early studio outtake of this song he actually sang "And still they paint a vulgar picture of how you really were but they can never change you in my eyes, they can never hurt you now. They can never touch you my darling, never hurt you now, but me and my true love we will never meet again".

Quote:

Answering journalist Len Brown's question "So was 'Paint A Vulgar Picture' an attack on Rough Trade?" in the 13 February 1988 issue of the NME, Morrissey said "No, it wasn't about Rough Trade at all. So I was a bit confused when Geoff Travis, the Rough Trade big boy, despised it and stamped on it. It was about the music industry in general, about practically anybody who's died and left behind that frenetic fanatical legacy which sends people scrambling. Billy Fury, Marc Bolan..."