Music Video Deconstruction: Morrissey- 'November Spawned A Monster'

Artist: Morrissey
Song: November Spawned A Monster
Album: Bona Drag
Genre: Old Indie Rock
Director: N/A
Year: 1990
Audience: 18+
Country of Origin: UK

       

The first shot of the video shows Morrissey dressed in black, dancing his famous dance in front of a stunning sky. A simple mid shot, it gives the audience no clue what the music video ail be about. If they know the song, they will assume that it will reflect the lyrics. The colours of the sky are important, they appear almost ethereal, making Morrissey look like Jesus. No lyrics are yet being sung, only a jaunty, happy sounding tune plays.  This next shot shows vast landscape, with Morrissey a black dot far below. This shot provides more of an insight into the themes of the song. It suggests isolation, loneliness. Deserts (in this case, Death Valley, Nevada Desert) are typically associated with death, heat, and survival, a fitting location for the songs theme. For this shot the camera sways side to side in a rocking motion, zooming into Morrissey's location. The swaying motion plus the forward zoom causes the viewer to feel disoriented.

 Here, the camera remains still as Morrissey slowly moves down to the base of the rock, in the process of covering his face, while singing 'Poor twisted child, so ugly, so ugly' While saying 'ugly' he covers his face with his hand to emphasise the word, he himself does not want to see the ugliness. The song focuses on the treatment of the disabled, and how they can only find love in dreams, in the words of Morrissey. Throughout the video, Morrissey identifies himself as both the 'monster' and the 'viewer'. Here, he is the 'viewer,
shunning the person with the
disfigurement.  In this next shot, the lyrics are spoken from the perspective of the disabled character, 'Jesus made me so Jesus save me from pity…' The repeated motif of Jesus from the beginning is repeated here. Although his stance mirrors more that of Moses parting the sea, it still bears connotations of the religious. Furthermore, Morrissey stands in dark, as if he is hiding the disability he has 'taken on' through the song.



Perhaps my favourite part of the video. While the camera moves to the right, Morrissey moves to the left and throws a handful of dirt/sand at the camera. This could symbolise the vanity of society and how we always judge people with our eyes, we see a disabled/disfigured person and have a reaction. Perhaps if we had 'sand' in our eyes, ie. were disabled ourselves, we would be able to love others with more definition and clarity, looking past the physical. A tracking shot is repeated through the video, getting closer and closer to Morrissey. When we finally do, the viewer sees him half naked, contorted and with an apple in his mouth. Here, he is boldly identifying himself once again with the 'monster' described in the songNo words are sung, so the viewer focuses intently on this shot. The length of these tracking shots are short, making the viewer question what they just saw. Also, the black clothing was the thing that provided a  contrast to the desert, not that that is gone, it looks as though he is part of it.
                                                                                                                                                                   

No lyrics are sung over these shots, making the imagery so much more potent. Once again, Morrissey identifies himself with the monster by sporting a hearing aid (previously done at a concert in honour of an ashamed deaf fan) and a band-aid covered nipple. They are subtle references, but still important. For this shot, ethereal music plays, with Morrissey 'moving up' as if an ascent to heaven. Previous to this, shots had featured Morrissey in dramaticized death throes, perhaps suggesting that we are killing the disabled by shunning them, or that, due to a lack of love, they are killing themselves.
This final shot is possibly the strangest of all.  Crazed, gut wrenching chattering overlaid the tension building music, before reaching a peak and showing us this shot. I personally unsure of what this is meant to symbolise but I interpret as the 'perfection' we see within our non-diasabled selves. Chocolate represents happiness, goodness- perhaps Morrissey, embodying both the monster and the good, is telling us that eventually, we can find happiness.

MORRISSEY- 'NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER' OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO