Morning Starship is a recent Morrissey track and entails a Sci-Fi love story which blends cosmic themes and introspective lyricism. Like a lot of his tunes including with The Smiths it can take a little time for my ears to adjust (or an acquired taste if you will), but once I’m in its tractor beam there’s no getting out. His voice rings true to me. Originally recorded by Jobriath, a relatively obscure artist from the 1970s, Morrissey revived this tune for his 2019 album California Son bringing his unique vocal style and persona to Jobriath’s dreamlike narrative. Morning Starship narrates a fantastical space voyage, but it’s also imbued with themes of alienation and longing, making it a fitting choice for Morrissey. You can find a short video at the end of this post about how Morrissey’s rendition was conceived and produced.
Today’s featured track is the fourth song so far to be presented here from Morrissey (Post Smiths) after his previous entry Rebels Without Applause (2022). His cover of Morning Starship was part of his California Son project, where he paid homage to the artists and songs that had influenced him. The album featured covers of ’60s and ’70s tracks from artists like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Carly Simon & Burt Bacharach. Recorded in 2018, his twelfth solo studio album was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, a frequent collaborator of Morrissey having produced his previous two studio albums. From 2 May to 11 May 2019, Morrissey performed a seven-day Broadway residency at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. The setlist included material from California Son.
The video featured below is a live recording of Morning Starship in Toronto, 2019.
[Verse 1]
Who was that sneaking up the stairs?
Taking a hairpin from her hair
A vision of the locks fallin’ down
Crossed my mind and played with the sound
Of tapping, gentle tapping at my morning starship
[Verse 2]
The crystal glint of the turning glass
The creaking sound of the rusted latch
As she slowly opened the door
The darkness told me nothing more
Except to say that she was near my morning starship
[Verse 3]
She stood within the threshold silently
A ray of moonlight caught her eyes
Without a word she said, “Could I come in?”
And I said, “Well, you’re in already
You might as well sit down and stay awhile”
[Verse 4]
She made her way across the room
Her golden hair eclipsed the moon
The perfect head framed in silver blue
Found its way to mine and then I knew
The girl, the girl, the girl had flown my morning starship
[Verse 5]
She’s gone away, what can I do?
She took the key, she’s got the clue
Mysteries unfold with the latch
What she knows I’ll never forget
The girl, the girl, the girl has flown my morning starship
Yeah, she travels with me now in my morning starship
Oh, boom, boom, boom, morning starship
References:
1. California Son – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Nice rendition. Whenever you hear of Morrissey and it’s not about singing rather bickering, it’s a relief, as far as I’m concerned.
I’ll be honest and say I have no idea what bickering you refer to. I only enjoy an artist’s musical output. Their opinions on social media or even about their own artistry which falls outside of their music product hardly interests me nor am I willing to entertain it.
I was generally referring to the public fights between Morrissey and Johnny Marr since the breakup of The Smiths. It just bugs me when super egos get the best of successful artists. But you know what? You’re right, it’s smart to focus on their music and ignore their stupid fights!