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November Spawned a Monster

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"November Spawned a Monster"
Single by Morrissey
from the album Bona Drag (compilation)
Released23 April 1990
GenreAlternative rock
Length5:25
LabelHMV (UK)
Songwriter(s)Morrissey, Clive Langer
Producer(s)Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley
Morrissey singles chronology
"Ouija Board, Ouija Board"
(1989) 		"November Spawned a Monster"
(1990) 		"Piccadilly Palare"
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

"November Spawned a Monster" is a song by British singer Morrissey, released as a single in 1990. It was written by Morrissey and Clive Langer and features one of Morrissey's former colleagues from The Smiths, Andy Rourke. It reached number 12 in the British chart.[2] The track is one of Morrissey's personal favourites, and has been played live many times by the singer. It, along with its B-side "He Knows I'd Love to See Him", appears on the compilation album Bona Drag.

The song tackles the plight of the disabled, an unusual subject matter for a pop single. As ever with Morrissey the tone and sentiments are riddled with ambiguity. His use of words such as 'monster' and 'twisted' creates a strange mix of revulsion, sympathy and black comedy, all used to enlighten, and disturb, the audience. By forcing the ambivalent persona of tormentor and saviour, Morrissey forces the listener to confront their own prejudices head on."[3] The song is quoting Les Chants de Maldoror (Chant 2, verse 7), in which a hermaphrodite perceives himself as a monster and dreams of love.

In November 2014 Alex Broun's play November Spawned a Monster, inspired by Morrissey's song, premiered at The Old Fitzroy, in Sydney, Australia, directed by Robert Chuter and starring James Wright.[4]

Critical review

Steven Wells in NME gave the single a negative review, stating that "Morrissey repeats his one tune endlessly" and that the single showed a "drying up of the old creative gastrics".[5] In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of Allmusic called the title track "one of the most powerful of Morrissey's solo career, with a relentless, just off-kilter enough rock chug supporting an empathetic lyric about a young girl suffering from physical deformity."[1] Raggett also praised the b-sides "He Knows I'd Love to See Him" and "Girl Least Likely To", writing that the former contains "some of his clearest lyrics on gay life in the face of official disapproval" and the latter emerges as the "surprise winner, even stronger than the title track."[1]

Track listings

7" vinyl

  1. "November Spawned a Monster"
  2. "He Knows I'd Love to See Him"

12" vinyl, compact disc & cassette

  1. "November Spawned a Monster"
  2. "He Knows I'd Love to See Him" (Morrissey/Armstrong)
  3. "Girl Least Likely To" (Morrissey/Rourke)

Release details

Country Record label Format Catalogue number Notes
UK HMV 7" vinyl POP1623
UK HMV 12" vinyl 12POP1623
UK HMV Compact disc CDPOP1623
UK HMV Cassette TCPOP1623

Musicians

Live performances

The song was performed live by Morrissey on his 1991, 1992, 1999/2000, 2002, 2004, 2013, and 2016 tours.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Raggett, Ned. "November Spawned a Monster Review". Allmusic. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "Morrissey UK chart". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  3. ^ Rogan, Johnny Morrissey - The Album, p. 152
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ NME November Review
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