Boxers

A superb single blessed with a real stately assured confidence that was inexplicably left off Vauxhall and I it continues Morrisseys (occasionally) tedious fascination with pugilism. The subject would continue to intrigue him into his next album but for my money this was his finest example of marrying his new obsession to the observant writer of old, not letting his new found passion swamp his song writing guile.

"Boxers" has the tone of a short story,details teased out, characters sketched broadly but incisively, it's a world of weary wives and innocent nephews as varying examples of life outside the ring. I enjoy the spectrum shown here, that for the good of being and example to a young boy not yet jaded by life's tragedies, in other ways his love for this world is destroying his more adult relationships. The narrator is a third party, and the relationship is unclear but there is a real tenderness to the tone here, it's an omniscient eye but it is not cold and unfeeling. The idea that the singer must "dry his eyes" means he is feeling every punch and every bruise.

The idea of failure permeates the entire song, with the fighter "losing in front of your home town". Although riding high from the success of his Vauxhall era here Morrissey had had that moment many times over the course of his career, a constant struggle to prove himself from a crowd wishing him to fail. His eagerness to overcome this stigma seems to feed into the resignation conveyed in this song. There's a heavy tone here of defeat regardless of the passion one has for their choice of career.

Musically the melody rises and falls in a beautifully understated design, his voice lending just the right slight inflections to give a sense of a life spiralling further out of control. The tiniest changes in the later lines speak volumes such as "your nephew is true, he STILL thinks the world of you" and it shows a sly command of ever escalating domestic drama. An often overlooked single that might be about a very insular side to the artist, an interest we may not necessarily share, but with its gorgeous melody it is easy to become briefly enamoured of the sport and the souls it can ensnare.