Watch Morrissey rail against news media with ‘Spent The Day In Bed‘ on Jools Holland
While British singer Morrissey can definitely be difficult (he doesn’t always know when a comment is inappropriate, cancels more concerts than he actually shows up to perform, is a bit of an arse sometimes if the truth were known…), there is no denying that when he does give a live performance he’s almost always brilliant.
Case in point, Morrissey’s performance of his new single ‘Spent The Day In Bed‘ on Later… with Jools Holland this week.Â
Because this performance and this song are really all that.
The song is one of those where you listen to the lyrics the first time through and think “WTF?” Morrissey is singing about staying in bed and asking people not to watch the news? Alrighty then.
But when you listen to the lyrics more closely, it is the Morrissey many of us have known and loved for decades. The songwriter who rails against all the injustices in the world, and tries to get people to sit up and take notice when they are being used and abused by the government, the media, corporations.
In ‘Spent The Day In Bed‘, Morrissey is railing against the news media. An institution put in place, not really to inform us, but to make us scared and to control us.
“And I recommend that you stop watching the news/ Because the news contrives to frighten you/ To make you feel small and alone/ To make you feel that your mind isn’t your own”.
As for Morrissey’s performance of ‘Spent The Day In Bed” on Later…with Jools Holland, it’s solid. And with vocals that are just as strong and touching as they were when Morrissey released his first ever album — the self-titled The Smiths — as the front man of the band that helped make him famous.
Since then, he’s spent over 30 years writing and singing about the injustices he sees in the world. With his performance on Jools Holland this week, he’s certainly not stopping any time soon. That’s obvious. And for that, I for one am very grateful.
Watch Morrissey perform ‘Spent The Day In Bed‘ in the Jools Holland video below. I could watch that man for hours.
‘Spent The Day In Bed‘ is from Morrissey’s upcoming 10th solo studio album Low in High-School, which is due for release on November 11th.
 Related: Watch Morrissey give a superb performance of ‘Kiss Me A Lot‘ on James Corden