November Spawned a Monster

"November Spawned a Monster" is a song by British singer Morrissey, released as a single in April 1990. It was written by Morrissey and Clive Langer and features one of Morrissey's former colleagues from the Smiths, Andy Rourke. The single reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. The track is one of Morrissey's personal favourites and has been played live many times by the singer. It, along with its B-side "He Knows I'd Love to See Him", appears on his compilation album Bona Drag.

"November Spawned a Monster"
Single by Morrissey
from the album Bona Drag
Released23 April 1990 (1990-04-23)[1]
GenreRock
Length5:25
LabelHMV
Songwriter(s)Morrissey, Clive Langer
Producer(s)Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley
Morrissey singles chronology
"Ouija Board, Ouija Board"
(1989)		 "November Spawned a Monster"
(1990)		 "Piccadilly Palare"
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

In November 2014, Alex Broun's play November Spawned a Monster, inspired by Morrissey's song, premiered at The Old Fitzroy, in Sydney, Australia, directed by Robert Chuter and starring James Wright.[3]

Lyrical content

The song tackles the plight of the disabled, an unusual subject matter for a pop single. As ever with Morrissey, the tone and sentiments are riddled with ambiguity. His use of words such as 'monster' and 'twisted' creates a strange mix of revulsion, sympathy and black comedy, all used to enlighten, and disturb, the audience. By forcing the ambivalent persona of tormentor and saviour, Morrissey forces the listener to confront their own prejudices head on."[4] The song is quoting Les Chants de Maldoror (Chant 2, verse 7), in which a hermaphrodite perceives himself as a monster and dreams of love.

Critical reception

Steven Wells in NME gave the single a negative review, stating that "Morrissey repeats his one tune endlessly" and that the single showed a "drying up of the old creative gastrics".[5] In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of Allmusic called the title track "one of the most powerful of Morrissey's solo career, with a relentless, just off-kilter enough rock chug supporting an empathetic lyric about a young girl suffering from physical deformity."[2] Raggett also praised the B-sides "He Knows I'd Love to See Him" and "Girl Least Likely To", writing that the former contains "some of his clearest lyrics on gay life in the face of official disapproval" and the latter emerges as the "surprise winner, even stronger than the title track."[2]

Live performances

Morrissey performed the song live on his 1991, 1992, 1999–2000, 2002, 2004, 2013, and 2016 tours.

Track listings

7-inch vinyl

  1. "November Spawned a Monster"
  2. "He Knows I'd Love to See Him"

12-inch vinyl, compact disc and cassette

  1. "November Spawned a Monster"
  2. "He Knows I'd Love to See Him" (Morrissey/Armstrong)
  3. "Girl Least Likely To" (Morrissey/Rourke)

Musicians

Charts
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[6] 30
Ireland (IRMA)[7] 9
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8] 40
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 12
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[10] 6

Release details
Region Record label Format Catalogue number Notes
UKHMV7-inch vinylPOP1623
UKHMV12-inch vinyl12POP1623
UKHMVCompact discCDPOP1623
UKHMVCassetteTCPOP1623

References
  1. "New Singles". Music Week. 21 April 1990. p. 39.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "November Spawned a Monster Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  3. "November Spawned a Monster – Fly-on-the-Wall Theatre". Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  4. Rogan, Johnny Morrissey - The Album, p. 152
  5. "Loading..." motorcycleaupairboy.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 19. 12 May 1990. p. V. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – November Spawned a Monster". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  8. "Morrissey – November Spawned a Monster". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  9. "Morrissey: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  10. "Morrissey Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
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