Late Night, Maudlin Street
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"Late Night, Maudlin Street" | ||
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Song by Morrissey | ||
from the album Viva Hate | ||
Released | March 22, 1988 | |
Recorded | Winter 1987 | |
Genre | Rock | |
Length | 7:40 | |
Label | HMV | |
Writer(s) | Morrissey/Street | |
Producer(s) | Stephen Street | |
Viva Hate track listing | ||
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"Late Night, Maudlin Street" is a song performed by Morrissey on his album Viva Hate. It was written by Morrissey and his producer Stephen Street.
At 7:40 the track is by far the longest on Viva Hate and one of the longest songs in Morrissey's discography. As with many of the other tracks on the album, Late Night, Maudlin Street is set in the 1970s (1972 to be precise) and combines some of Morrissey's most self-pitying lyrics with some of his most humorous. The music is based on the work of Joni Mitchell.
The scene is set in 1972, where amid a background of power cuts and house moves the narrator faces a private battle of against ugliness, pill-taking, family deaths and fantasy love. Paradoxically, the greatest moments of nostalgia are reserved for a place where the narrator failed to experience a single happy hour.
The title is an amalgamation of a book of short stories by Bill Naughton called "Late Night On Watling Street" and the name of the school in Carry On Teaching, "Maudlin Street Secondary".
The song was performed live by Morrissey on his 2002 tour.