Official reviews of 'Spent the Day in Bed'

Stephen Street (in a tweet)
Got to say, I really like the new #morrissey single! Good work all involved

Stuart Maconie 6 Music
(comment after playing the song on his show)
“I absolutely loved that. It’s becoming, you know, hugely unfashionable to say you like anything that Moz does but that is great. “

Daily Telegraph – “Morrissey's new single, Spent The Day in Bed, shows we should be excited about his next album. Spent The Day in Bed was unveiled this morning on BBC 6 Music. It boasted a vintage Morrissey construction in its flowing, easygoing melody over an urgent rhythm section, although with a fresh energy to the arrangement. There was no sense of reaching back towards the sparkling indie guitars of The Smiths. Instead, this single was constructed around a fast, almost Baroque keyboard line and pyschedelic rhythm guitar, with Morrissey casually bossing the vocal line.

Morrissey recalled Philip Larkin through tongue-in-cheek attention to the humdrum details of ordinary lives. But the iconic singer revelled in the joys of taking a sneaky duvet day and used it as a springboard to address a bigger point with a chorus that advises all his “friends” to switch off from our world of incessant news: “The news contrives to frighten you / To make you feel small and alone / To make you feel that your mind isn't your own.”

All of this is delivered with typical bluff northern charm, carrying on to a coda constructed from recurring Morrissey motifs evoking the dreary commuter existence you might escape by staying under the covers: “no bus, no boss, no rain, no train.” It is a delightful and funny, philosophical little gem that bodes well for his return.

Morrissey has been recording in Ennio Morricone's studio in Rome Last week, at the Mercury Awards, I ran into a record executive who helped set it up, and he was raving about it. He called it the best solo album of Morrissey's career. That has got to be worth getting out of bed for.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/morrisseys-new-single-spent-day-bed-shows-should-excited-next/

The Times – “The new single is funny, maudlin, slightly ridiculous and has the kind of rebellious outsider spirit that made us fall for him in the first place.

Well this is a surprise. Morrissey has spent a decade doing everything he could to denigrate his once impeccable legacy: using much of his autobiography to settle petty scores with a high-court judge; writing an unreadably pretentious novel; and burning his bridges at one record company after another. After that, nobody could reasonably expect him to come back with a half-decent song. Yet here he is with Spent the Day in Bed, which is funny, maudlin, slightly ridiculous and imbued with the kind of rebellious outsider spirit that made us fall for him in the first place. It has a pretty good tune too.

Beginning with a delicate, almost baroque electronic piano and a handful of squeaky retro-futuristic synthesizer bleeps, Morrissey makes the case for…” (rest of review behind the paywall)
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pop-review-morrissey-spent-the-day-in-bed-dvxdfldhj

The Guardian - Backed by chirpy organ and strummed guitars, it’s a typically existentialist, Eeyoreish song from the former Smiths singer, in which he rejects the “emasculation” and “castration” of the rat race, instead recommending that you stay in bed and ignore the news, “because the news contrives to frighten you / to make you feel small and alone / to make you feel that your mind isn’t your own”.
www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/19/morrissey-new-single-spent-the-day-in-bed

Please add any more to this thread.
 
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After one listen I liked it enough to pay 99p to listen again. I’ve put it on a number of times and I like it. Post ‘04 I don’t think it’s got as much punch as IBEH or even YHKM. but it stands up better than WPINOYB and TMAAP.

TMAAP?
What was that?
Hangs head in shame :oops:
 
I don't think there's ever been a Morrissey/Smiths album where the lead single has been the best song on the album.

That's a good point - I think they are thinking more in terms of radio play and perhaps in the old days - sales - for the singles.
 
Admittedly it wouldn't have passed B-side status in the glory days but it's rather humorous and has some memorable lines.

Maybe at best it would have been a b-side in the 1988-1994 era. Since Morrissey does not create the music this is a shared commentary on his collaborators, which IMHO are long overdue for refresh/replacement.
 
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Well, I would say it's more a The More You Ignore Me than a Dagenham Dave. I don't think there's ever been a Morrissey/Smiths album where the lead single has been the best song on the album.

Yes, Dagenham Dave was an all-time low for a Morrissey single along with Roys Keen (according to our mega poll). This is nowhere near those two. It's more of a You Have Killed Me or an Arms Around Paris i.e. a pretty good song. I would argue that Suedehead was just about the best song (or at least top 3) off Viva Hate but, otherwise, fair point about the lead singles. The trouble, really, is that Morrissey chooses these singles, and his choice is based more on the message in the lyrics than the quality of the music.
 
I'll give you a hint. "guaranteed number one for anyone else."
clue two Hilton.

An FB mate pointed out "No, Bus, No Boss, No Rain, No Train" sounded liked "No criminal , No Copper, No Court , No Cage' by some band called wild beasts . Never heard of them myself . He posted that on Monday , so I'm guessing he just mean into terms of structure and bounce .
I think everyone is correct about the lead single being a smooth opener. Get the radio people on board. Only a few weeks away and we will have a better idea of things , the M Vale sessions. I hope there is a Life Is A Pigsty among the chirpy pop MOR.
 
Yes, Dagenham Dave was an all-time low for a Morrissey single along with Roys Keen (according to our mega poll). This is nowhere near those two. It's more of a You Have Killed Me or an Arms Around Paris i.e. a pretty good song. I would argue that Suedehead was just about the best song (or at least top 3) off Viva Hate but, otherwise, fair point about the lead singles. The trouble, really, is that Morrissey chooses these singles, and his choice is based more on the message in the lyrics than the quality of the music.

Arsenal didn't have the best singles with we hate it and fatty though it's nenof my fav morrissey albums. I also disagree about suedehead. It's a song I've never cared for and find it average though Sunday is still one my all time top morrissey songs and singles
 
Only stone and steel accept my answer

Your hint did it, more then the "guaranteed number" one Calamine gave. :thumb:
Guaranteed number ones don't exist as Boz should know.

In my defense I have to say it should have been ITMAAP and not TMAAM. :)

I NEED to know, what's wrong with " Paris "? If it is about abbreviations?

I am not in favour of the abbreviations consisting of the album or song titles by using the first character in capitals.
Or it should be in a puzzle or cryptogram.

The positive side is you start searching in the Smiths and Moz catalogue and the song titles immediately trigger impressions and impulses to listen to them again, but it is a bit distracting as you forget about the songtitle you were looking for. :squiffy:

I prefer the system used by Moz and band in the setlists they use during concerts.

So, for instance Skull and not SISMS.
Paris and not ITMAAP.

This should be in the TOS. IMHO. :p
Make life a bit easier for new fans as well, otherwise they will spend the day in bed. :rolleyes:
 
I NEED to know, what's wrong with " Paris "? If it is about abbreviations?

I am not in favour of the abbreviations consisting of the album or song titles by using the first character in capitals.
Or it should be in a puzzle or cryptogram....

I prefer the system used by Moz and band in the setlists they use during concerts.

So, for instance Skull and not SISMS.
Paris and not ITMAAP.

This should be in the TOS. IMHO. :p
Make life a bit easier for new fans as well, otherwise they will spend the day in bed. :rolleyes:

I completely agree. I lodge this complaint once every decade, to no avail.
 
Your hint did it, more then the "guaranteed number" one Calamine gave. :thumb:
Guaranteed number ones don't exist as Boz should know.

In my defense I have to say it should have been ITMAAP and not TMAAM. :)

I NEED to know, what's wrong with " Paris "? If it is about abbreviations?

I am not in favour of the abbreviations consisting of the album or song titles by using the first character in capitals.
Or it should be in a puzzle or cryptogram.

The positive side is you start searching in the Smiths and Moz catalogue and the song titles immediately trigger impressions and impulses to listen to them again, but it is a bit distracting as you forget about the songtitle you were looking for. :squiffy:

I prefer the system used by Moz and band in the setlists they use during concerts.

So, for instance Skull and not SISMS.
Paris and not ITMAAP.

This should be in the TOS. IMHO. :p
Make life a bit easier for new fans as well, otherwise they will spend the day in bed. :rolleyes:

Sorry ‘QQQ’ ;) I don’t usually do acronyms and usually do struggle to think which song they relate to. And I didn’t notice the obvious typo until your reply.

I blame trying to type on a smartphone - chubby fingers on a Kate Moss keyboard doesn’t always work.
 
My mitigation is that it’s such a forgettable track!

Well Boz obviously thought it was a guaranteed number one. :rolleyes:
Which proves, (to me) they haven'r got a clue.
As Moz also once said, in the interview with Russell Brand on the bonus DVD of Ringleader. And said it was revealing more so than to discuss the in's and out's if a possible hit single.

Think about that "guaranteed number one" nonsense.
It sounds like marketing slang used by A&R peeps.
They can't possibly know. No one can and that is what it should be.
So many guaranteed number ones never entered any charts.

And so many songs deemed to be forgotten even before they were released made it huge. That is great I think. :D
 
Sorry ‘QQQ’ ;) I don’t usually do acronyms and usually do struggle to think which song they relate to. And I didn’t notice the obvious typo until your reply.

I blame trying to type on a smartphone - chubby fingers on a Kate Moss keyboard doesn’t always work.

You don't have to say sorry.
It's a subject that I like and you triggered me! :thumb:
 
I'm trying to think of any "guaranteed number ones" in Morrissey's catalog ... " Paris " is not one of them. In terms of radio-friendliness, etc. - I'd say " Ignore Me " (trying to follow the preferred writing syntax) would be near the top. To be honest, I don't think a #1 was ever in the cards for Morrissey. If the Smiths couldn't do it with Ask - one of their most accessible & poppy songs ... well, that's just not a good sign.
 
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I'm happy for all the positive reviews and even happier that we have a new single to discuss. Roll on 17 November! :guitar:
 
Maybe at best it would have been a b-side in the 1988-1994 era. Since Morrissey does not create the music this is a shared commentary on his collaborators, which IMHO are long overdue for refresh/replacement.

"Spent the Day in Bed" is rumored to be a Gustavo co-write and if this indeed the case, then that would mark just his fourth collaboration with Morrissey since joining the band in 2009. It seems like we've been saying the same thing for years, new collaborators! And when we get one, we're still not pleased. The people who wanted to kick Alain out of the band since the late 90s suddenly longed for his return once Jesse Tobias entered the songwriting fold.
 
I'm trying to think of any "guaranteed number ones" in Morrissey's catalog ... " Paris " is not one of them. In terms of radio-friendliness, etc. - I'd say " Ignore Me " (trying to follow the preferred writing syntax) would be near the top. To be honest, I don't think a #1 was ever in the cards for Morrissey. If the Smiths couldn't do it with Ask - one of their most accessible & poppy songs ... well, that's just not a good sign.

The concept of a number one song is a little vague.It depends more on Morrissey's general popularity and the state of the singles chart at the time than the quality of the song. The closest he ever got was with You Have Killed Me which few would argue was anything better than OK-ish. Had it been released the week before, it would have been number one. It was an era (2006) when the singles chart was in the doldrums and just before downloading became a big thing.
 
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