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E D A E D A E
Learn to love me assemble the ways Now today tomorrow and always
My only weakness is a listed crime My only weakness is well nevermind
nevermind CDG
CHORUS:
G C Am C D G C Am C D G
Shoplifters of the world Unite and take over
G C Am G C Am
Shoplifters of the world hand it over, hand it over, hand it over
E D A E D A E
Learn to love me assemble the ways Now today tomorrow and always
E D A E
My only weakness is a list of crimes
E C D G
but night the plans of a future war was all I saw on Channel 4
CHORUS then instrumental 1st verse then instrumental chorus then ...
CHORUS (alternate words):
G C Am
A heartless hand on my shoulder a push and it's over
G C Am
alabaster crashes down, six months is a long time
G C Am G C Am
tried living in the real world, instead of a shell but before I began
G C Am C D G
I was bored before I even began
Shoplifters of the world unite and take over (2X)
Shoplifters of the world ... hand it over.
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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brennan Average |
#1 by brennan collins at Sep 18, 1970 at 5:48 PM EST |
| adamndirtyshame, I agree with your explanation. | |
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Bobby Rhythm Player |
#2 by Bobby McCorkle at Oct 29, 1970 at 9:09 AM EST |
| no kez, you are not stupid, everyone else is for assuming that every single smiths song is about being gay I think that this song is about defending poor people who commit little petty crimes because they have to, when there are peopl doing worse things that we dont class as "criminals" | |
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Corey Average |
#3 by Corey La Plante at May 24, 1971 at 5:33 PM EST |
| reading everything morrissey writes as a metaphor for his sexuality is homophobic. its like saying that just because hes bisexual, he cant write about any other part of his identity or experience since ALL he is is a bisexual first, a human being second. im bisexual as well, but that doesnt mean that i dont have a complicated identity. i also grew up poor and thus had to shoplift a lot. there are of course connections that can be made: both shoplifting and sodomy are listed crimes, and therefore poor people and non-heterosexuals are turned into society's criminals. the old slogan used to inspire poor people to "unite and take over" was 'workers of the world unite'. since many poor people today are unemployed, they cant really be considered workers, so morrissey is uniting poor people who are shoplifters. but who are the real thieves? the only way the rich got all their wealth was by stealing it from other people, stealing their land, their labor, even their cultures and self-esteem. they have even created an economy that depends on constant war in order to maintain affluence ("last night the plans for a future war / were all i saw on channel four"). the rich's lack of caring for the rest of us is expressed by morrissey in his experience getting apprehended by a store security guard: "a heartless hand on my shoulder / a push and it's over". even though these security guards might not be rich themselves, they're used by the rich to inflict violence. ive seen kids CHOKED by security guards, and you may have seen on the news how wal-mart security guards in texas KILLED a man stealing diapers for his baby. | |
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Goat Average |
#4 by Goat Screwer at Nov 25, 1971 at 4:18 PM EST |
| Record Mirror, 1987: 'Lyrically, 'Shoplifters' is an obscure affair, and the author is typically unhappy about expanding on the song's meaning. "Well, I never really like to say, I never really like to pin it down. Do you understand that? I mean, there's someone in Huddersfield who might have a fascinating, fiery explanation, and then I go and shatter it by saying it's about greyhound racing. Their life collapses." That's putting it a bit strongly, isn't it? "Well, you never know, it happens. I mean, I could talk about nuclear weapons, but it gets quite tiresome, doesn't it? Everyone gets quite bored with it. I often wonder why shoplifting can be such a serious crime when making nuclear weapons isn't. That should really be a crime, I think, but it isn't. We live in a very twisted world, with a very twisted morality." | |
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Dan The English Wanna Be |
#5 by Dan The English at Apr 12, 1972 at 5:20 PM EST |
| another gay anthem... shoplifiting is a misdemeanor crime... so is sodomy... see the connection? perhaps a cryptic code? 'my only weakness is a listed crime... my only weakness is well... never mind never mind...' | |
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Master Shaïtan Wanna Be |
#6 by Master Shaïtan at Jun 5, 1975 at 8:02 AM EST |
| OK well rather than a gay anthem, i see what you mean. What if shoplifters of the world was a title, say to the big companies who steal the world away from the poor. Like the guys at enron and others. TO come together and just the take the world over, because they already control most of it behind the scenes. | |
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Tom Average |
#7 by Tom Gregory at Jul 27, 1977 at 2:01 PM EST |
| The shell the narrator has been forced into -- away from the real world is concocted as as departure from reality where he is hated for loving who he loves. At first he is pleading for acceptance "Learn To Love Me" but the world rejects him with their branding of him as a criminal. In the bridge it comes to a head as the heartless hand sends him over the edge and into isolation. Morrissey uses "Shoplifter"as a metaphor for "homosexual" because he is implying that if we are to be treated as criminals than perhaps we should unite and show our strengeth -- that we are your fellow citizens, not less. But in typical Morrissey fashion the dream is crushed by the Man who insist that we metaphorically "Hand It Over, Hand It Over!" The issue is so basic and appalling in the stupid way in which people are so discarded that he finds it all "boring" as it is. So he moves on and away. And to the above comments downplaying the songs homo leanings -- YOU ARE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN THIS VERY SONG!! YOUR OWN LACK OF DEEP THOUGHT INTO THIS VERY SONG MUCH LESS THE ISSUE OVER WHETHER GAY PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE, BORES MORRISSEY AND FRANKLY BORES THOSE OF US WILLING TO LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE -- HOMOSEXUAL PANIC IS SO 2 CENTURIES AGO. STOP DENYING WHAT Morrissey is trying to convey. We all have our own relationship with the songs -- they were crafted that way -- but to disregard the essence of a song's meaning and to deny it's very intentions is in total disenchantment with the artistry of The Smiths and you are being revealed as mere wannabes desperate for acceptance, but all the while denying TRUTH. | |
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ashley Wanna Be |
#8 by ashley pudding at Nov 9, 1977 at 12:49 AM EST |
| the way he says "but last night the plans for a future war, was all i saw, on channel four" makes me melt | |
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Tavo Wanna Be |
#9 by Tavo at Apr 18, 1979 at 12:39 PM EST |
| i agree with sambo28 morrissey wasnt even gay he was asexual. | |
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♥Chicken Average |
#10 by ♥Chicken On Heroine Shots♥ at Feb 20, 1980 at 1:47 AM EST |
| no it isn't about shoplifters and shirtlifters at all. I have an interview with Morrissey where he says that what he means is intellectual shoplifting, taking other peoples great art and words and using them to your own advantage. so - mhhh - quite autobiopgraphical, actually - since he "shoplifted" so many quotes from a taste of honey etc ;-) | |
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tim Lead Player |
#11 by tim sears at Aug 20, 1981 at 2:43 PM EST |
| Someone already said this, but I'm just going to back them up. This song was written in response to Section 28, a proposal that would ban homosexuality/alternative lifestyles in books, art, music, and any other medium. Its true that not every Smiths song has some sort of "gay meaning", but this one certainly has one. | |
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Peter Wanna Be |
#12 by Peter Lambden at Sep 10, 1986 at 1:34 PM EST |
| More to add to the gay interpretation..."shirtlifter" is a slang term for a homosexual in some places, and "shoplifter" sounds quite similar. | |
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Batmanuel Badass |
#13 by Batmanuel at Jun 25, 1988 at 2:22 AM EST |
| Just before this song came out, the Thatcher goverment in England enacted something called Clause 28 which forbid the "promotion of homosexuality" in various forms of media. That's what Morrissey's talking about when he says his only weakens is a "listed crime". Not all Smiths songs are about homsexuality. This one is though. | |
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brent Rhythm Player |
#14 by brent west at Jul 28, 1990 at 1:45 PM EST |
| yeh i know, all you people thinking every single smiths song is about being gay. Why the hell do you make up all these stupid insinuations? example: heaven knows im miserable now is about morrissey being miserable that he is gay. another example: asleep is about morrissey sleeping with a man coz if it was called sleep it wud be about him sleeping with a woman, yet another example: willaim it was really nothing must be about morrissey sticking his tongue down a lad called williams throat when he got drunk and he rings him up in the morning and says it was nothing. see how obvious was that? ok them examples wer not actually true but some ppl are actually stupid enough to go that far into it | |
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chris Average |
#15 by chris ovari at Jul 27, 1994 at 9:00 PM EST |
| holy crap...i had no idea....am i stupid, or is it just really hidden.. | |
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Zane Rhythm Player |
#16 by Zane Haight at Oct 6, 1994 at 9:42 PM EST |
| um... because it's a good one? :o) never got the lyrics to this one though. | |
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David Average |
#17 by David Eldridge at Nov 17, 1997 at 5:27 AM EST |
| My only weakness is... well, never mind! Love this line! Moz is amongst my major weekness' | |
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Mikel Average |
#18 by Mikel A. at Mar 11, 2000 at 9:35 AM EST |
| "My only weakness is ... well, never mind, never mind" -James Dean in "Kraft Mystery Hour : Danger !" "It's a long time, six months." -"A Taste Of Honey", by Shelagh Delaney | |
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FUCK Rhythm Player |
#19 by FUCK OFF at Oct 18, 2000 at 12:44 AM EST |
| adamndirtyshame's explanation sounds the most reasonable. That doesn't mean The Smiths don't love to slide in literary and homosexual references either though. So I think both sides are more or less correct. | |
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brock Average |
#20 by brock someone at May 2, 2001 at 4:40 AM EST |
| it's definetly about both, shoplifting and Section 28. The Sec 28 references are very definete though, Channel4 refused to promote it for example. also Moz spoke specifically against it in interviews | |
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Maggotkill Average |
#21 by Maggotkill at Jun 22, 2001 at 3:31 PM EST |
| the line starting' my only weakness... ' is from a james dean short film. | |
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paddy Average |
#22 by paddy coscoran at Apr 17, 2003 at 6:17 AM EST |
| Yeah, I noticed the smy connection. Mostly I think the sngis supposed to just a sort of pseudo-revolutionary anthem, not incredibly serious or anything. But fun to sing along with. | |
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Steven Average |
#23 by Steven Daniel at Nov 3, 2003 at 1:15 AM EST |
| c'mon damnit every single smiths song isnt about homsexuality....even the gay rights people dont want Morr as their speaker why would he continue to write about them? | |
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The Crow Rhythm Player |
#24 by The Crow at Mar 19, 2004 at 1:58 AM EST |
| Good call, sambo. Every single Smiths song has someone going "oh, well; this song is clearly about being gay". I mean, that shirtlifter thing is really reaching. | |
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Chris Average |
#25 by Chris H... at Jul 4, 2004 at 9:09 AM EST |
| this is a cover from an early James song... never quite knew why did they decided to cover this particular song. | |
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Emdizzy foshizz Lead Player |
#26 by Emdizzy foshizzy at May 3, 2005 at 8:48 AM EST |
| Shirt-lifter is actually a derogatory term for homosexuals in England. It has it's equivalents in the like of bum boy, shit-stabber etc... Why do people always look for these hidden meanings all the time. The first thing that attracted me to Morrissey/the Smiths was Mozza's bluntness and honesty - his willingness to say anything he felt. I never saw him as a person to hide behind allusion and metaphors. I think rather than apply Mozza's lyrics to their lives many fans make the mistake of trying to apply Mozza himself. | |
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austin Rhythm Player |
#27 by austin ballard at Nov 4, 2006 at 12:00 PM EST |
| I believe this one is meant to be a reply to Section 28. (Look it up.) Hence the line, "But last night the plans of a future war / were all I saw on Channel Four". | |
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