'Journalists Who Lie'
Morrissey's Worst Track?
'Journalists Who Lie' was the B-side on Morrissey's 8th single, 'Our Frank'. It was released in February 1991, reaching number 26 on the UK singles chart. The B-side containing 'Journalists Who Lie' had "DRUNKER QUICKER"1 etched on the runouts of both the 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl versions.
According to Stephane at PassionsJustLikeMine.com, Stephen Street submitted the music for the song to Morrissey prior to the two having a falling out2 in 1989. Morrissey wrote the song’s lyrics at some point between his receipt of Street’s demo and the recording sessions for the Kill Uncle studio album at the Hook End Manor music studio in Oxfordshire, England in the autumn of 1990 as the song was originally meant to be part of the album. However, it ended up being used only as a single B-side.
'Journalists Who Lie' was produced by Messrs. Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Morrissey’s musicians on the track were Mark E Nevin (guitar), Mark 'Bedders' Bedford (bass), Andrew Paresi (drums), Nawazish Ali Khan (violin) and Steve Heart (harmonium) and Seamus Beaghen (piano).
On its face, the lyrics of 'Journalists Who Lie' are both denunciation and vilification of certain journalists, accusing them of dishonesty, sensationalism, and hypocrisy. The song suggests that some journalists exaggerate or outright fabricate stories about celebrities or public figures in order to gain fame, money, and public favor. Morrissey portrays these journalists as being malicious and willing to betray the truth for personal gain, following a predictable cycle of building people up only to tear them down. The passage of time and ever-growing media driven pillory of Morrissey has only substantiated the observations he posited so many years ago.
This writer deems the song (musically speaking) to be one of Morrissey's worst. An undulating flute plays in parts of the song followed by hop-scotch style bass, rapid-fire repetitive drum beats coupled with awkward chord progressions, all of which exudes an aggressive and almost confrontational sound. While one can reasonably assume that the music was likely meant to enhance the anger and disillusion of the lyrics, in the end it was a failed effort to reinforce the volatility of the song.
Unfortunately, ‘Journalists Who Lie' is an embarrassing, awful mess better suited to be a musical score for, say, a TV commercial. As a Morrissey product it may have the distinction of being the one that missed the mark by perhaps the widest margin.
When questioned about which of his songs he is most proud of lyrically, Morrissey tellingly answered "It's impossible to answer this because I'm proud of most of them. There are only a few that make me shudder such as ‘Get Off The Stage,’ ‘Journalists Who Lie,’ ‘'I Don't Owe You Anything’... But most of them, I think, somehow stand the test of time. Of course, some songs are better than others..."3
Indeed, some songs are better than others. And some are worse than others.
Have a listen to the song here:
Presumably a snippet from the ‘Tony the Pony’ lyrics:
You're drunker quicker
And you're sicker even quicker
For something heavy is gonna fall on you
Street argued that he should be due a greater share of profits if they continued working together [this was after the success of Morrissey’s debut album, Viva Hate] and both parties called in the lawyers. Morrissey eventually returned the torn pieces of one solicitor’s letter to Street with a note declaring simply: “Enough is too much.” Since then, there has been the odd e-mail, a friendly meeting at Claridge’s a decade ago, then another falling out about the remastering of Viva Hate in 2012. The Telegraph (December 15, 2020)
True-To-You (November 2005)