I'd Love To
Morrissey's Carnal Desire Unleashed
‘I’d Love To’ appears on the B-side of The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get single (on 12-inch vinyl, which was limited to the UK, as well as on Maxi-CD in all regions). The 12-inch vinyl in the UK was a limited edition, numbered release, and contained a poster.
The single was released in the UK on February 28, 1994, and in the US on March 8, 1994. The version of "I'd Love To" on the USA release of the single has slight production differences with the version in all other regions.
‘I’d Love To’ was included on the 1997 reissue of Viva Hate (the ‘Centenary Edition’),
the 1998 My Early Burglary Years compilation album (US and Canada),
the 2001 HMV/Parlophone: The CD Singles '91 - '95 compilation album (Europe),
and finally on the 2009 The HMV/Parlophone Singles '88–'95 compilation album (Europe).
Morrissey and Boz Boorer probably wrote the song sometime in 1993, most likely during the course of the recording sessions for the Vauxhall and I album at Hook End Manor in the summer of 1993. The song was recorded with producer Steve Lillywhite and musicians Boz Boorer (guitar), Alain Whyte (guitar), Jonny Bridgwood (bass) and Woodie Taylor (drums). Backing vocals on the track were provided by Kirsty MacColl (producer Lillywhite’s wife), though she is uncredited.
Listen to ‘I’d Love To’ here:
‘I’d Love To’ is a profoundly atmospheric torch song that draws the listener in with its mellow and delicate sound while Morrissey gently sings about the object of his affection and carnal desire (“I'd love to/But only with you” followed by “There's no one in view - just you, just you/And time will never wipe you out”). The object of Morrissey’s amorous longing is someone seemingly out of his reach (“I've had more than could be my rightful share/Of nights I can't bear/How can it be fair?”), at least at the moment.
As with the lions share of Morrissey’s oeuvre involving desire, longing and love (love that is most always unrequited), we are provided a vivid glimpse of the emotive depth of his anguish and frustration. While Morrissey routinely presents us with an individual forever trapped in a cycle of dashed hope and loneliness, in the instance of ‘I’d Love To’ this element is absent.
In an understated, yet tantalizing manner, Morrissey leaves the proverbial door to possibility open, even if only very narrowly:
So again, I lay awake in a trance
Oh, I just want my chance
But only with you
Only with you
That's all...
In this regard, ‘I’d Love To’ is more a veiled testament to the unyielding nature of human desire than being a lament…more a light in the darkness than a resignation to hopelessness.
