Ouija Board, Ouija Board

Released November 13, 1989, the song was Morrissey’s fifth single. ‘Yes, I Am Blind’ and ‘East, West’ appear on the B-side. On the UK 7 and 12-inch vinyl format, "ART, ANY ROAD" is etched on the A-side runout.

Co-written with Stephen Street, ‘Ouija Board, Ouija Board’ was recorded in September 1989 with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Morrissey’s musicians on the song were Kevin Armstrong (guitar), Matthew Seligman (bass), Andrew Paresi (drums) and Steve Hopkins¹ (piano).

Morrissey sings of using a Ouija board to contact a dead friend, whose passing has left him feeling lonely and lost. Contact is made with the decedent, who responds to Morrissey’s communication with “Steven Push Off”.

Steven and his Ouija board

A promotional music video for the song was directed by Tim Broad. The video features Morrissey being led into the woods by some children clad in bellhop uniforms. The children take Morrissey to see a spirit medium, who is played by English actress Joan Sims² (best known for her appearances in the Carry On film series). The video also features an early appearance by Kathy Burke³, who portrays an impish spirit that Morrissey has contacted. The music video was filmed on location in and around Hook End Manor recording studio where the song was also recorded.

The table is rumbling!

The single was poorly received by both the music press and some of the public, only reaching number 18 on the UK Singles Chart while Morrissey’s prior singles were all in the top 10. In fact, ‘Ouija Board, Ouija Board’ was outright controversial in some quarters amid claims that it promoted occult practices, which led to Top Of The Pops banning the music video, and BBC Radio 1 refused to play the song.

In response to all of this, Morrissey said: "I have not been in contact with the dead, although I have had unfortunate dealings with The Sun newspaper, which amounts to the same thing. If this were a slightly more primitive time I would already be burning at the stake. I expect there is still time for that."

Morrissey later stated, “[…] while I admit that ‘Ouija Board, Ouija Board’ wasn’t ‘chirpy chirpy cheep cheep’, I do think that the backlash has been slightly overdone […] But I don’t mind that ‘Ouija Board, Ouija Board’ never received an Ivor Novello award⁴. I never