Morrissey sings “I Know Its Gonna Happen Someday” (1992)

I’m not a fan of Morrissey or this song. I first heard the song when Bowie included it on his 1993 album, “Black Tie/ White Noise,” and I think the song detracts from the overall album. Bowie’s version is done tongue-in-cheek and possibly meant to be making fun of Morrissey’s song, or even Morrissey himself. Why Bowie felt compelled to include what amounts to a joke song on his first solo album since 1987’s “Never Let Me Down” is a mystery to me.

I’m posting the original song here because I’m currently reading Leah Kardos’s book, “Blackstar Theory.” I have been posting videos of her reading sections from the book, and you can hear her discuss the song and the Bowie-Morrissey relationship in the video where she discussed Bowie’s song, “You Feel So Lonely You Could Die.”

In brief, she mentions how Morrissey’s version of the song is essentially a “thinly veiled Ziggy homage” with musical references to Bowie’s glam period. I would have never arrived at that on my own, however Bowie apparently saw it right away and stripped his version of the glam elements. Morrissey apparently did not take offense and teamed up with Bowie to open for him on tour, but the two had a falling out, with Morrissey eventually making harsh public statements about his former idol. To me, Morrissey going after Bowie is awfully bold— the two are not peers.

Kardos speculates that Morrissey’s song, “You Were Good In Your Time,” was a shot at Bowie. Again, I don’t see it, at least from the lyrics, but Kardos reports, “that many fans speculated [it] was directed at Bowie.” She goes out on a limb and speculates herself that “You Feel So Lonely You Could Die” might be a retort, directed at Morrissey. Yet again, I would have never have interpreted that song to be anything about Morrissey. In any case, if there is a sequence of tit-for-tat, “I Know Its Gonna Happen Someday” started it.

A final note: While I don’t especially like Bowie’s version either, I am reminded on this one that I really am not drawn to Morrissey’s voice. Perhaps because if its glam underpinnings, I do like the music behind the vocals, but overall the song does little for me.