The Bullfighter Dies

Album: World Peace Is None of Your Business (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Morrissey celebrates the goring of a matador in a bullfight on this animal-rights anthem. The accordion gives the song a bright, cheery feel. He described the track during an interview with PETA as, "a caustic, upbeat pop tune."
  • World Peace Is None of Your Business was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, who has worked with the likes of Beck and the White Stripes. He recalled the production of this song to Radio.com: "The tracking of that was very simple, very quick," the producer said. "I think we did maybe one or two overdubs, but next to nothing. Moz insisted that we keep it bouncy and light and simple and innocent so that the message could survive without all the layers of production and all of the intensity."

    "I had mixed maybe half the album, and I kind of felt like the song almost felt trite, in contrast to what I'd done before it," Chiccarelli continued. "I'd done a mix that was much more tense and "rock," and to me sounded more like a complete pop song. He just sent me back a note saying, "No, it's way too 'rock.' You missed the original intent of the song."

    "Then I did the next version, and he said, 'Ok, you've got it now,'" he added. "Never did I see him waffle. He knows what he wants, he has a vision. He was great to work with. He would share the intention of the song with myself and the band, and then he'd let everybody go and do their thing. He'd leave everybody their own space to have their own input, to own the song, but was very, very clear about how he wanted the end result to hit you."
  • Here is some bullfighting trivia:

    A form of bullfighting was practiced on Crete as long as 6,000 years ago.

    In 1914, Juan Belmonte revolutionized bullfighting with his daring capework, practised extremely close to the bull. Most other bullfighters soon began to copy Belmonte's dangerous but exciting style.

    Pablo Picasso, like many Spaniards, was captivated by the bullfight. The artist liked to attend bullfights at Nimes and this so called spirit, was often featured in his art.

    Every bullring in Spain has a monument to Alexander Fleming whose discovery of penicillin is saving countless toreadors from dying of gangrene after being gored by bulls.

    The red capes used to taunt bulls in bullfights are the same shade of red as the bull's blood. That way the spectator can't tell it is covered with the bull's blood by the end of the fight.

    (Source The Encyclopedia of Trivia.)

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