Life is a Pigsty (2006) – Morrissey

Can you stop this pain?
Even now in the final hour
Of my life
I’m falling in love again

Some Morrissey fans here regard Life Is a Pigsty as the magnum opus of his solo career, and I can understand why. Over a songwriting career spanning 40 years, to me this ‘melodramatic’ track stands among his finest. It’s self-pitying of course, but there are some harsh truths in here. I am drawn to the brooding atmosphere of this song. Indeed, it’s the type of song you should listen to on a hot summer night when a thunder storm is about to erupt. What’s particularly striking is that he wrote it relatively late in his career, defying the common trajectory of artists who burn brightly before fading away.

Speaking of burning bright, this song does the opposite – it begins as a subdued, melancholic piece, with the sound of rain before evolving into a thunderous rock finale. The first section is dark and forlorn with pulsating bass, sounds of thunder, offset by the perfectly placed piano highlights; the drum dominance and the way the song builds in the 2nd section, then crashing drums & guitar bring us the crescendo. Both in atmosphere and its strong production, Life Is a Pigsty reminds me of Njósnavélin (The Nothing Song) by Sigur Rós, one of my favourite mostly instrumental tracks.

Life is a pigsty delves into the profound sense of despair and disillusionment that can permeate life. The repeated phrase serves as a stark metaphor for the chaos, messiness, and inherent suffering that the singer perceives in the world. This bleak outlook is underscored by the recurring motif of the ‘same old S.O.S.’ It explore themes of unchanging identity and the struggle to reach out to others despite being ‘the same underneath,’. The song touches on the theme of love as a redemptive force. Even in the ‘final hour‘ of life, the singer finds himself ‘falling in love again,’. This interplay of despair and hope, suffering and love, forms a rich emotional landscape – one that is quintessentially Morrissey, marked by his signature juxtaposition and darkly poetic sensibility.

[Verse 1]
It’s the same old S.O.S
But with brand new broken fortunes
And once again I turn to you
Once again I do I turn to you

It’s the same old S.O.S
But with brand new broken fortunes
I’m the same underneath
But this you, you surely knew

[Verse 2]
Life is a pigsty
Life is a pigsty
Life is a pigsty
Life is a pigsty
Life, life is a pigsty
Life, life is a pigsty
Life, life is a pigsty
Life is a pigsty
And if you don’t know this
Then what do you know?
Every second of my life I only live for you
And you can shoot me
And you can throw me off a train
I still maintain
I still maintain
Life, life is a pigsty
Life is a pigsty
And I’ve been shifting gears all of my life
But I’m still the same underneath
This you surely knew
I can’t reach you
I can’t reach you
I can’t reach you anymore

[Verse 3]
Can you please stop time?
Can you stop the pain?
I feel too cold
And now I feel too warm again
Can you stop this pain?
Can you stop this pain?
Even now in the final hour of my life
I’m falling in love again
Again
Even now in the final hour of my life
I’m falling in love again
Again
Again
Again
I’m falling in love again
Again
Again
Again

Life is a Pigsty is the 7th song from Morrissey’s 8th studio album Ringleader of the Tormentors. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and number 27 in the US. It received positive reviews from most critics with an average review score of 75/100 on Metacritic.

References:
1. Morrissey A-Z: “Life Is a Pigsty” – Morrissey Solo
2. Ringleader of the Tormentors – Wikipedia

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“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand