"Irish Blood, English Heart" | ||||
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Single by Morrissey | ||||
from the album You Are the Quarry | ||||
Released | 4 May 2004 (US) 7 May 2004 (Ireland) 10 May 2004 (UK/Europe) |
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Format | 7", 12", CD | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 2:37 | |||
Label | Attack/Sanctuary | |||
Songwriter(s) | Morrissey, Alain Whyte | |||
Producer(s) | Jerry Finn | |||
Morrissey singles chronology | ||||
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"Irish Blood, English Heart" is a song written by the British singer Morrissey in 2002, from his 2004 album You Are the Quarry. It was released on 4 May 2004 in the United States and 10 May 2004 internationally.
The song had been performed live numerous times prior to release, but Morrissey was without a record deal for some time. It was Morrissey's first single in seven years, and considered a major comeback. The music was written by Alain Whyte and had already been used on a song called "Not Bitter But Bored" for a band he was a part of called Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. Morrissey wrote a whole new set of lyrics for this tune as well as changing the melody. He also did this with another Johnny Panic tune, "Paranoia", which was rewritten as "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice".
In the United Kingdom, the song was first played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1 on 29 March 2004. However, Radio 1 did not playlist the single. Only XFM, which playlisted it, provided much exposure for the single in the UK. Despite the lack of exposure on mainstream stations, "Irish Blood, English Heart" debuted at number 3 on the UK charts, making it Morrissey's highest charting single with or without The Smiths.
The single's world premiere occurred on the KROQ-FM Kevin and Bean show on 22 March 2004. The song received consistent airplay throughout April and May on such alternative rock stations as WFNX (Boston), WWCD (Columbus), CIMX (Windsor), KMBY (Monterey / Salinas), XTRA (San Diego), and of course KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), as well as CFNY (Toronto). The single's airplay increased over the next few months and upon its release it spent two weeks at number 4 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. It also reached number 36 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, Morrissey's first single to chart there since 1994.