He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Upon the sand, upon the bay
"There is a quick and easy way" you say
Before you illustrate
I'd rather state
I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
And sorrow's native son
He will not smile for anyone
And pretty girls make graves
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
End of the pier, end of the bay
You tug my arm, and say
"Give in to lust, give up to lust
Oh, heaven knows we'll soon be dust"
Oh, I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
And sorrow's native son
He will not rise for anyone
And pretty girls make graves
(Oh, really?)
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
I could have been wild and I could have been free
But nature played this trick on me
She wants it now
And she will not wait
But she's too rough
And I'm too delicate
Then, on the sand
Another man, he takes her hand
A smile lights up her stupid face
And well, it would
I lost my faith in womanhood
I lost my faith in womanhood
I lost my faith
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Hand in glove
The sun shines out of our behinds
Ooh-oh, ooh-oh
"There is a quick and easy way" you say
Before you illustrate
I'd rather state
I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
And sorrow's native son
He will not smile for anyone
And pretty girls make graves
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
End of the pier, end of the bay
You tug my arm, and say
"Give in to lust, give up to lust
Oh, heaven knows we'll soon be dust"
Oh, I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
And sorrow's native son
He will not rise for anyone
And pretty girls make graves
(Oh, really?)
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
I could have been wild and I could have been free
But nature played this trick on me
She wants it now
And she will not wait
But she's too rough
And I'm too delicate
Then, on the sand
Another man, he takes her hand
A smile lights up her stupid face
And well, it would
I lost my faith in womanhood
I lost my faith in womanhood
I lost my faith
Ooh-ooh-oh-ooh, ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Hand in glove
The sun shines out of our behinds
Ooh-oh, ooh-oh
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Pretty Girls Make Graves Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Chloe--right on. No doubt about it. I experienced this song in real life too many times to count. I recall having beautiful women coming on to me all the time and not being able to respond. I resented it. I hated myself for being gay (at the time). Whereas having these women hitting on me should have made me feel great, it made me feel suicidal because I felt like I was letting the whole world down.
What a f'ing revelation the Smiths were. Finally somebody was writing about my life and issues a little deeper than "Material Girl" and all the other drek of the time. The Smiths came out of nowhere and were truly original.
About a gay man being the object of desire for a woman who isn't aware of his sexuality. He is frustrated by her advances, and yet is even more confused when he finds himself becoming jealous when he sees her wth someone else, which I think is because at least before it meant that somebody wanted him.
Yes, you're right, "Pretty girls make graves" is a quote from the Dharma Bums. In the book, the philosophy behind it is that "pretty girls" lead to lust, which in turn leads to birth, which in turn leads to suffering and then, inevitably, death, or "graves".
Based on this, the character sees celibacy as the only way of breaking the cycle, if you like. Therefore, I don't think the trick that nature played is that the narrator is gay, as some people have said. I think the trick Morrissey is reffering to is actually lust, something which seems to lead to pleasure, but is actually the cause of all suffering.
I think the "trick" is impotence.
This song has nothing to do with him being a homo or anything like that. This song is about a woman who he strongly desires but who only wants him for sex. He is very cautious from past expierences and it has left him emotionally scared. "there is a quick and easy way, you say" -she's basically a slut and is so emotionally detached that the only way she can express herself is through sex. "im not the man you think i am" -he wants true love not just sex (thats the dilemma). "You tug my arm, and say : Give in to lust, Give up to lust"- again she wants sex!, it couldnt be any clearer. I could have been wild and I could have Been free, But Nature played this trick on me" -hes not going to change his ways, he is to sensitive to be so careless. "She wants it Now, And she will not wait, But she's too rough And I'm too delicate" -he is very sensitive emotionally and can just have sex and be satisfied. "Then, on the sand Another man, he takes her hand, A smile lights up her stupid face (and well, it would)" -he basically has to let her go, another man came into the picture who can satiafy her sexual desires with less emotional attachment. This is when its clear that she dosent really care about him. "I lost my faith in Womanhood" -something happened in his past which made him loose his faith when hes around women, he is verry careful. He want a true woman... but lets face it that almost impossible to find now days
This is a good interpretation. I also think "Sorrow's native son, he will not rise for anyone" is a reference to impotence....possibly.<br />
@poppi Nice work, it's so easy to assume everything he writes is from the gay perspective. It certainly can speak to that situation, and people could relate to it, but I think it's fairly obvious he likes both and it's not really enough of a subject matter for Moz to write about a gay guy saying no to a girl. I think you got it bang on.
@poppi It's a plausible interpretation. I still get a heavy sense of either the dilemma of feeling ambiguously sexual or completely non sexual (which he did claim, after all). I think it has a lot to do with being non attracted to even a pretty girl, though. Whether he's attracted to men or feels little sexuality at all. Otherwise, I don't think he's mention nature playing a trick on him (he doesn't like women! OR, he doesn't really want to have sex at all!).
@poppi Yes! It's very clear to me as well. Has nothing to do with homosexuality, lol. It's more about a man that's not necessarily asexual, but he doesn't want casual sex either.
In reference to the "asexual" comments- Morissey was/is extremely savvy, and he knew that making a blanket statement about his sexuality would negatively affect some of his listener base, to the extent that they might interpret his lyrics differently, or in a way that might taint an openminded approach to his music. It's obvious that Morissey is at least "bi" as far as his attraction is concerned (his songs indicate that). If the man was truly asexual, his music would not be injected with so much passion. His music is more about struggle than it is about being disinterested. More than likely he is like a lot of artists, who don't place societal boundaries/constructs on attitudes or behaviours. Morissey was way ahead of his time, forcing people to address his music, not his private life. Bottom line: Morrissey struggles with sex, sexuality, relationships, etc., and all of these struggles come out in his music. To define him would be to limit him.
It's a song about a guy who lacks libido. And the feelings of self-worthlessness that follow a botched conquest. He would ideally love to fornicate with this pretty girl, but can't because he's shy/inexperienced/impotent/asexual/gay etc. etc. I don't think the reason matters. It's a universal humiliation most men can relate to. Feeling sexually inferior. And he could probably perform at some later date when the two have gotten comfortable with one another. But she wants it now. And she will not wait. And you know the rest.
"I'd also gone through an entire year of celibacy based on my feeling that lust was the direct cause of birth which was the direct cause of suffering and death and i had really no lie come to a point where i regarded lust as offensive and even cruel. 'pretty girls make graves,' was my saying."
from dharma bums by jack kerouac.
I never thought that it was about being gay. I always took it to mean that he was "above" sexual impulse and found the whole situation to be dreadfully boring.
I could speculate about the lyrics all day/night and I suspect that's what Morrissey would want ;)
However, I do know that the outro to this song is the most beautiful thing ever recorded. It gets me EVERY TIME.
Johnny Marr = Underrated Guitar Genius.
@ErinElizabeth I'm glad someone else heard that too
LOL @ dethwish! Unique interpretation there but in its own way correct.
igbybigby nailed it. Morrissey, with the influence of Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums", wrote this song about his celibacy and struggles with his own sexuality. You need to first understand Morrissey to understand this song. Moz is an innately loving person, he loves music, poetry, animals etc but he also has the extremely humane desire to be close to another person, to be in a loving relationship with someone.
The problem is that he does not experience lust towards this girl like an average man. Perhaps this is because, as people have said, he is homosexual and therefore not attracted to women in general. For me it goes beyond that, it is more likely he simply sees lust towards man or woman as a primal urge, an unsophisticated emotion which controls people and causes them to think with their loins rather than their heads. I'd even go as far as to say that for him lust, the pleasures of the flesh and his own body are something to feel shameful of. It's a theme in a lot of his songs.
This is why he does not "give in to lust", why "he will not rise for ANYONE". Yet when he sees the girl go off with another man, he feels jealous, resentful but also vindicated. He wants to be with this person, he wishes he was normal but cannot satisfy her lust. His view of lust as an irrational impulse is vindicated because the girl is able to simply move on to the next man who comes along and is willing to satisfy her, hence why he loses his faith in womanhood.