I think I was being a bit dramatic with my first post, certainly.
For me, I think it is something to do with "Viva Hate" in general, I have such strong feelings about that album.
Before Viva, Morrissey was just 'the singer of the Smiths' to me. Great lyrics, yeah, but he nicked a lot from Shelagh Delaney and Oscar Wilde and I didn't really feel anything for the "man behind the words", as it were. He told stories but the lyrics were ambiguous, he had a very obvious "persona" in the early days. Then Viva Hate came along and it was just one raw, heartbroken, furious musical grieving. It just swallowed you whole. "Maudlin Street" fit its time and place, and even the music being sparse was fitting because Viva is about losing Johnny, and you can really feel that absence. "Viva Hate" came from heartbreak and it's a f***ing masterpiece.