Morrisey, former lead singer of the Smiths is not renowned for his calming lyrics. It is hardly surprising then that his first new release in three years pursues a disquieting tone.<\/p>\n
Here is a link to the official YouTube video https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1rmAi9XmlIo<\/u><\/p>\n
The staccato \u2018intro\u2019 stands in stark contrast to the rest that bed invites. The driving rhythm that ensues militates against daytime repose. Perhaps this is intentional. With the notable exception of night workers most people take to their bed for sleep at night. Those staying the day in bed are typically ill, out of, or eschewing work, homemakers or possibly retired.<\/p>\n
Morrissey pre-empts any workshy judgement being made of him, stating \u201cI\u2019m not my type\u201d. The reason, it appears, that he is \u201cvery happy\u201d he \u201cspent the day in bed\u201d is that he seeks to avoid what he asserts is the enslavement of being a worker.<\/p>\n
Often associated with time off work is watching daytime TV, an eclectic mix of soaps and shopping channels. But rather than endorsing avoiding these, Morrisey advocates his listeners \u201cStop watching the news\u201d. As he offers this advice the rhythm modulates, becoming free flowing, and the melody resolves, running counter to the conspiracy theory he implies. \u201cNews contrives to frighten you\u201d, with the purposes, he alleges, of minimising personal significance, isolating and controlling individuals. \u201cTo make you feel small and alone\u2026that your mind isn’t your own\u201d. This cocktail of ideas is likely to provoke anxiety even in the most stable among us.<\/p>\n
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The theme of escape continues into the second stanza as Morrisey, lying in his paid for sheets, consoles himself that his \u201cdreams\u201d are \u201cperfectly legal\u201d. So persuaded is he by the efficacy of his strategy that he urges all he embraces as friends to \u201cStop watching the news\u201d. The benefit to be derived from following this advice he suggests is \u201ctime [to] do as I wish\u201d. The accompanying music slows, taking on an ethereal quality, emphasising the freedom to imagine.<\/p>\n
By his third meditation on the advantages of spending the day in bed, Morrisey pleads with those who will listen to follow his recommendation to \u201cbe good to yourself\u201d before the \u201cpillows\u201d of bed become the \u201cpillars\u201d of a tomb because \u201clife ends in death\u201d.<\/p>\n
As Morrissey\u2019s treatise melts into the \u2018outro\u2019 the repetitive alliteration of \u201cno bus, no boss\u201d and the rhyming of \u201cno rain, no train\u201d echo the rhythmic quality of a commuter journey. But Morrisey\u2019s sardonic observation goes further he seems to see the routine of work as a depersonalising pursuit, one which emasculates and castrates, offering \u201cno highway, freeway motorway\u201d as escape to wilder reverie. Morrisey finally reinforces his view of the work-a-day world as enslaving by what sounds like the lash of a whip.<\/p>\n
While I acknowledge news can shock, here is not the place, nor is there the space, to enter into a debate about whether the way in which it is told contrives to frighten, diminish, isolate and control people. Indeed, I find conjecture about conspiracy theory as unsettling as the concept itself. Spending the day in bed to avoid the object of our terror flies in the face of recognised desensitisation treatments of progressively facing our fears.<\/p>\n
For me the alarm raised by this song is observing the balance between work and rest. Time and space to reflect on experiences and imagine possibilities offers enrichment. We work more effectively from a place of rest. The routine and creative aspect of work can be beneficial. Granted, some of us have greater opportunities and wider choices than others about what we work as and who we work for. Fundamentally, I find myself unable to agree with Morrisey\u2019s thesis. After all, if we stay the day in bed to avoid being enslaved as a worker who will pay for the bed sheets in which we lie?<\/p>\n
A registered therapist or counsellor or a trained pastoral carer can support and accompany you in helping face your fears and anxieties.<\/p>\n
David Sinclair is a registered accredited psychotherapist, counsellor and supervisor.<\/p>\n
He is the Pastoral Care Director of the Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC), a faith- based soul care agency.<\/p>\n
David is also the Service Manager of Wessex Psychotherapy and Counselling CIO (WPC), a registered charity dedicated to relieving psychological and emotional distress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Morrisey, former lead singer of the Smiths is not renowned for his calming lyrics. It is hardly surprising then that his first new release in three years pursues a disquieting tone. Here is a link to the official YouTube video https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1rmAi9XmlIo The staccato \u2018intro\u2019 stands in stark contrast to the rest that bed invites. The … <\/p>\n