Black Cloud

Morrissey's Deeply Introspective Track

Morrissey ruminates on his mortality

The third track off of 2009’s Years Of Refusal studio album, ‘Black Cloud’ is an intriguing song. The track is believed to have been recorded in late 2007 at Conway Studios in Los Angeles, California with producer Jerry Finn. The musicians on the song were Boz Boorer (guitar as well as co-writer), Jesse Tobias (guitar), Solomon Walker (bass), Matt Walker (drums) Roger Manning Jr. (piano, keyboards), and the legendary guitarist Jeff Beck¹ making a one-off guest appearance.

The voice of a young girl asking "Can you see the Black Cloud?" is heard in the intro of the song. The source of this audio snippet is not known. It is notable that the runout on the A-side of the vinyl format of the 2010 re-issue of ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’ is etched with “CAN YOU SEE THE BLACK CLOUD?”. It is reasonable to assume that this reference to a “black cloud” holds an especial significance for Morrissey.

It is the author’s opinion that the use of the words “black cloud” echoes the theme of Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel, On the Beach, which details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Australia as they await the arrival of deadly cloud of radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere (in the wake of a nuclear war). As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently.

In the song, Morrissey utilizes the words “black cloud” as a metaphor for the inevitability of death, signifying that it is always close at hand. By extension, the song examines the issue of mortality itself, albeit in an abstract manner.

Morrissey delves deeply into these inter-related themes, expressing something of a morbid fascination with death as well as grappling with the vicissitudes of mortality.

The one I love
Roosts in the mind
Can snap this spell
Or, increase hell

When Morrissey sings “there is nothing I can do to make you mine”, he is not speaking of an individual who is the object of his carnal affections, but the hopelessness of resisting what awaits - nothing he can do can alter the trajectory of life (to be master of his fate). The salient point Morrissey makes is that one can choose to live fully with this knowledge as opposed to being terrorized by it.

I can choke myself to please you
And I can sink much lower than usual
But there's nothing I can do

In a sense, ‘Black Cloud’ acts as a window deep into the singer’s inner-self, one which