The Operation

A song of three distinct parts, only the middle section bearing the usual indie constructs we associate with Morrissey, this schizophrenic offering is a tense examination of someone who has been fundamentally altered following a procedure of some sort and how others now view the "patient".

Coming from the much maligned Southpaw Grammar album which is recognised as an attempt of trying to broaden his approach to more prog rock horizons, "The Operation" should be viewed as a tour de force of progression of form if nothing else. No other Moz song has ever began with an intro that has so distanced the man from the song. A slow building 2 minute plus drum solo by Spencer Cobrin eventually gives way to the more traditional see sawing rhythms of your standard Morrissey track but it is a very compelling one, discussing how much a character has changed since undergoing a mysterious operation.

The narrative details how the person in question now says "clever things" and "pleasant things" when before this would not have been the case. This points to the fact that whatever has been done to the subject it has changed their personality and their interactions with the world at large. Physical factors are not mentioned at all really. The most common theory about this song is that it is in regards to a sex change operation but I think it could also mean a lobotomy or any sort of psychological corrective measures, like shock therapy. The brief hints we get seem to indicate that the person in question is wild, unruly and violent. The criminal as an archetype has long fascinated Morrissey and it could be after witnessing the fate which could befall such a person, Moz has pulled back and his affection has curdled into sadness and regret, "sad to say how once I was in love with you...".

The third section then explodes into a chaotic brew of guitar feedback and frantic percussion, nudging Morrissey closer to the the thrash genre than ever before. This heavy outro seems to be the catharsis the song has been saving since that first drum beat and acts as an aural metaphor for the dichotomy at the heart of the story. A persons internal makeup is rife with contradiction and shifting moods. External forces weigh heavy and this song seeks to deal with the reconciliation of such matters. To take from the song itself the music is both the right hand swinging in desperation and the left hand caressing with compassion.