Morrissey A-Z: "I Have Forgiven Jesus"

Unfortunately not one of my favourites. I never really warmed up to this single. The production leaves no room to breathe or play around. Also not really attractive in terms of melody and far away from his best work.
 
One of the best from quarry, I love this song. Lyrics are what put it’s over the top (I remember putting most of them In the best lyrics thread after dog cam out) but that yearning vocal melody sure fits the exasperated anguish and worn down feeling that being judged all the time brings
 
A strong song, but under normal circumstances this would never have made the top ten. It shows just how much Morrissey-fever had taken hold in 2004 that this could be a decent sized hit.

Having said that, I don't think Jerry Finn's clean production sound did any harm in getting airplay for the singles.

Roger Manning's involvement in the sessions also gives them a different (and imo superior) sound to the previous album.

I enjoy the dark humour of the lyrics.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 42nd from 264 solo songs.

Not great quality but I feel like this Sunday morning (!) performance on CD: UK illustrates your point quite nicely.

 
Oh god that little smirk on his face at the ridiculousness of it all.
He's always smirked when he mimes on these mainstream programmes. He used to smirk on Top Of The Pops. The scoundrel. I don't know whether it's because he's embarrassed about being so open about his plight on mainstream TV and wants people to take it all with a pinch of salt.
 
He's always smirked when he mimes on these mainstream programmes. He used to smirk on Top Of The Pops. The scoundrel. I don't know whether it's because he's embarrassed about being so open about his plight on mainstream TV and wants people to take it all with a pinch of salt.

Probably embarrassed.

He does an adorable smirk when he sings castration in the Spent The Day In Bed video.
 
The nerve of forgiving Jesus.

Great song.

He & Sinead really should pool their anguish sometime, they go weirdly in parallel but with her always trying to embrace religion & him being wary of it.

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One of the very, very few Christmas songs I can stand.
And you won't even hear it on the radio or in the stores around that time of the year.
I guess his unique brand of humor doesn't sit well with the masses, another good reason for me to embrace it.
 
One of the very, very few Christmas songs I can stand.
And you won't even hear it on the radio or in the stores around that time of the year.
I guess his unique brand of humor doesn't sit well with the masses, another good reason for me to embrace it.
Christmas song?
 
When I first saw the title:

1. I thought I'd hate it
2. I thought it would be some self pitying ode to how someone as meek as him could yet be able to hold a deity to account.

I was right about #2 but wrong about #1.
 
Christmas song?
It is obviously not a Christmas carol. It just made the Christmas chart in 2004 and had Jesus in its title. Yet it is nice to know that Jesus still has a place in Morrissey's heart, in spite of all the guilt and self-depreciation that religion has imposed (and continues to impose) on him, and that he has the ability to forgive, which is a very Christian thing after all.
 
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Could just as well be an Easter song, as we have hail and snow here right now too. 😆
 
Sort of surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reaction this song is getting. It's a good one, but didn't realize how beloved it was around here. To call it his "best ever" seems absurd. That said, I very vividly recall hearing this during his Apollo Theater run in 2004 before Quarry came out and being taken aback by the strength and darkness of its finale.
 
Sort of surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reaction this song is getting. It's a good one, but didn't realize how beloved it was around here. To call it his "best ever" seems absurd. That said, I very vividly recall hearing this during his Apollo Theater run in 2004 before Quarry came out and being taken aback by the strength and darkness of its finale.

:thumb:Those Apollo shows, what a great time that was.
 
Certainly one of the best tracks on the album, nicely dark and moody.

Will Morrissey ever forgive Mohammed though?
 
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