8+

"The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils" by Morrissey which clocks in at 11:20

Morrissey week continues!

The dark prog-rock inspired sound of Morrissey's 1995 release Southpaw Grammar fit well with where I was in my life at the time of its release. The world of music was changing and so was I. Once this album was released I started moving away from being interested in Morrissey's solo work and towards more traditional American indie-rock sounds. Granted, this move "away" meant I was simply past the point of obsessive adulation (is that redundant?) but I digress. Southpaw Grammar as an album was a daring move by Morrissey towards something different, a move I've always respected. I'm not so sure how well it ended up working out (not so well at the time) but the album is much better than most folks give it credit for, myself included. It came very close to showing up here yesterday as Overlooked Album from the 90's #26, and that was mostly the result of two songs on the album. In the two bookends of the album Morrissey goes where no Moz had gone before - into the land of the 10+. That's right, BOTH this song (the first track on Southpaw Grammar) and the last ("Southpaw") clock in at well over eight minutes in length. I was torn between them as to which to feature here but I decided to go with "The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils" because of its power. It's a truly lovely song, so enjoy.

A few interesting facts (from this excellent resource):

• The sample of music in this song is from Shostakovich's 5th Symphony (Op. 47) 1st Movement
• The ending sample is from the 1952 film Eight O'Clock Walk

BUY Southpaw Grammar HERE.

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
British Sea Power - "Lately"
Islands - "Swans"
Isolée - "Pillowtalk"
Animal Collective - "Banshee Beat"
Wilderness - "Post Plethoric Rhetoric"
The Wedding Present - "Interstate 5"
Sleater-Kinney - "Let's Call It Love"
My Morning Jacket - "Dondante"
Wilco - "Spiders (Kidsmoke)"
Isis - "From Sinking"
Lemon Jelly - "A Tune For Jack"
Herbie Hancock - "Sly"
New Order - "Temptation"
Polvo - "El Rocio"
Pulp - "Countdown"