'Let Me Kiss You'
Morrissey is Human and needs to be Loved
The ninth track on the You Are The Quarry studio album (released May 17, 2004), ‘Let Me Kiss You’ was initially recorded in 2002 at Cherokee Studio in Los Angeles. The track was one of the songs Morrissey used to audition drummer Dean ‘Deano’ Butterworth1 at that time. The other musicians on the recording were guitarists Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte (the latter sharing a co-writing credit with Morrissey) along with bassist Gary Day. Listen to this early version of the song here:
According to Stephane at PassionsJustLikeMine.com, the track was not contained on a list of songs recorded during the You Are The Quarry sessions that was made public in January 2004 (four months prior to the release of the studio album). While this has led to speculation that the version heard on You Are The Quarry was possibly recorded sometime in the period between the conclusion of the album’s formal recording sessions2 and its release3, the ‘Let Me Kiss You’ singles (both Morrissey’s version as well as Nancy Sinatra’s cover) seem to dispel this.4
With respect to Morrissey’s decision to include the track on his forthcoming studio album; Nancy Sinatra was planning on releasing a cover version of the track, a circumstance that probably caused Morrissey to change his mind and not only include the song on his album but to also release it as a single. Both Morrissey and Sinatra eventually released their respective versions of ‘Let Me Kiss You’ a singles simultaneously on October 11, 2004, which lends credence to speculation that her cover of the song led to Morrissey’s decision. Both versions entered the UK Singles Chart, with Morrissey's peaking at an impressive number 8 and Sinatra's at number 465.
Sinatra’s cover of the song features all of Morrissey’s musicians, plus backing vocals from both Morrissey and Alain Whyte. It is notable that Sinatra’s single credits her as having recorded the song at The Think Tank Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey
with Morrissey and his musicians’ contribution to the song being recorded at Hook End Studios in England. As the credits on Sinatra’s single reflects that the “original track” was produced by Jerry Finn, it is apparent that Sinatra’s producers simply removed Morrissey’s vocals from the track and replaced them with Sinatra’s (with the addition of backing vocals from both Morrissey and Whyte) and then remixed it as the two versions have slightly different sounds musically.
Listen to Nancy Sinatra’s cover of ‘Let Me Kiss You’ here:
The lyrics of ‘Let Me Kiss You’ express a plaintive longing for, and pursuit of, connection and love. It is notable that the lyrics achieve this largely without being cloying or desperate. The listener witnesses a tectonic shift from the persona heard on ‘How Soon Is Now’ two decades earlier. While this iconic Smiths era cri de cœur saw Morrissey defiantly declaring that he is human and needed to be loved, this sentiment was wreathed in a sort of existential inertia, pinned down by the weight of youthful inexperience and shyness — a shyness that was “criminally vulgar” in its range and breadth.
A markedly mature persona emerges on ‘Let Me Kiss You’ — one that has grown beyond helpless longing — a longing that was previously mired in inaction. Rather, we see someone who has developed into a man of surety and action, which in clear in the intro:
There's a place in the sun
For anyone who has the will to chase one
And I think I've found mine
Yes, I do believe I have found mine
This opening verse sees the narrator finding his place or purpose (“a place in the sun”), followed by the phrase “for anyone who has the will to chase one”, suggesting that fulfilling that purpose, while hard-fought, is within his grasp. The repetition found in “I think I've found mine / Yes, I do believe I have found mine” points to an understated mixture of conviction and self-reassurance. It is manifest that these opening lines strike a refreshingly optimistic tone, with the usual self-doubt conspicuously absent.
So close your eyes
And think of someone
You physically admire
And let me kiss you
Let me kiss you
This verse subtleley reveals a shift from abstract hope to an actual opportunity for physical intimacy, which the narrator unashamedly pursues by asking the subject to “close your eyes” and think of someone that they physically admire. The repeated plea “let me kiss you” reflects the narrator’s profound desire for the consummation of physical intimacy regardless of the risk of rejection, which is an astonishing display of both boldness and vulnerability.
I've zig-zagged all over America
And I cannot find a safety haven
Say, would you let me cry
On your shoulder
I've heard that you'll try anything twice
This verse shows a sense of emotional exhaustion intermingled with restlessness. The peripatetic narrator is wandering— physically and emotionally—across the vast expanse of America in search of an emotional refuge, which brings about his plea to the subject: “Would you let me cry on your shoulder?” This is followed by “I’ve heard that you’ll try anything twice”, the sum of which hints at a mix of cynicism and hope that acts as both a confession and a question whether intimacy, even that which is casual, might be possible.
But then you open your eyes
And you see someone
That you physically despise
But my heart is open
My heart is open to you
In this final verse the narrator’s fantasy crumbles in the face of reality, his romantic illusions vanishing as he observes the subject’s reaction: “you open your eyes” and then despise what is seen. It is a jarring twist that changes the direction of the song. Notwithstanding this painful volte-face, the narrator still offers his heart—“But my heart is open / My heart is open to you”—which is a courageous act as it reveals unconditional affection, even in the face of rejection and/or disdain.
Ultimately, the lyrics of ‘Let Me Kiss You’ are a touching blend of romantic yearning and emotional vulnerability - a raw request for love from someone who doesn’t expect to be loved back.
The wistful musical arrangement on the track is a masterful bit of production on the part of Jerry Finn. The sound is relatively sparse and understated with its clean guitar melodies, steady mid-tempo drums, and subtle bass lines, all of which allow the vocals to take front and center.
The listener hears the familiar baritone delivery of lyrics with a mix of tenderness and jaded world-weariness, emphasizing the narrator’s emotional vulnerability. While the totality of the musical and vocal styles found on the track echo what flavored much of the Smiths’ oeuvre, ‘Let Me Kiss You’ presents a more polished and refined sound.
Beneath the song’s plea for intimacy and quiet melodic elegance lies the universal truth about love and intimacy; that it is invariably both a salve and a burden to us all — "the cure lies within the disease" coming to mind. Morrissey lays bare the paradox of not only human connection, but that of existence itself; we need one another, but we are all disposable as life’s cruel lesson teaches us from time to time. Yet while the stars coldly cast their murky light upon us from afar, the human spirit endures, seeking love and acceptance despite the reality that such an endeavor often fails to come to fruition.
Morrissey has performed the song live a total of 396 times to date. and is listed at number 32 of the songs from which Morrissey feels most lyrical self-fulfilment6.
Listen to Listen to ‘Let Me Kiss You’ here:
Morrissey was sufficiently impressed by Butterworth’s drumming skills as he was brought on board for the World Tour 2002, replacing Spike Smith. Butterworth was Morrissey’s drummer until 2005, when he was either let go by the latter or quit (with Butterworth moving on to become Good Charlotte’s drummer in 2005). Butterworth was replaced by Matt Walker as Morrissey’s drummer.
While all the tracks on the You Are The Quarry album are formally credited as having been recorded in Los Angeles in 2004, the recording sessions were actually split between Hook End Recording Studios in Oxfordshire in the autumn of 2003 and Conway Studios in Los Angeles in late 2003 or January 2004.
Jerry Finn produced You Are The Quarry. Morrissey’s musicians on the album tracks were Boz Boorer (guitar), Alain Whyte (guitar), Gary Day (bass), Dean Butterworth (drums) and Roger Manning (piano).
Morrissey’s single credits both Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias (who replaced an ill Alain Whyte in 2004) for guitars, yet it also reflects a standalone credit to Alain Whyte for “guitars”. As this post goes on to explain, Nancy Sinatra’s cover version of the song shows a musical credit to Alain Whyte (as well as Boz Boorer) for guitar, omitting Jesse Tobias. Tellingly, the credits on her single indicate that the music was recorded at Hook End Studios in England. One can reasonably conclude that in fact Morrissey’s version, as contained on both the Quarry studio album and the single off of same, had already been recorded in 2003 along with the other tracks contained on You Are The Quarry.
“Unthinkably, Let Me Kiss You gains no airplay, and plonks onto the UK chart at 46. In the US the situation is even worse, and it is as if the recording didn’t exist. I am Aghast, what does it take?” -Morrissey on Nancy Sinatra’s cover version. Autobiography. p. 370.
https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/lyric-pride