Late Night, Maudlin Street

Song infobox
Name = Late Night, Maudlin Street


Artist = Morrissey
Album = Viva Hate
Released = March 22 1988
track_no = 6
Recorded = Winter 1987
Genre = Rock
Length = 7:40
Writer = Morrissey/Street
Label = HMV
Producer = Stephen Street
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Viva Hate
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "Alsatian Cousin"
# "Little Man, What Now?"
# "Everyday Is Like Sunday"
# "Bengali In Platforms"
# "Angel, Angel Down We Got Together"
# "Late Night, Maudlin Street";Side two
# "Suedehead"
# "Break Up the Family
# "The Ordinary Boys"
# "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me"
# "Dial A Cliche"
# "Margaret On The Guillotine"

""Late Night, Maudlin Street" is a song performed by Morrissey on his album "Viva Hate". It was written by Morrissey and his producer Stephen Street.

At 7:40, the track is by far the longest on "Viva Hate" and one of the longest songs in Morrissey's discography. As with many of the other tracks on the album, "Late Night, Maudlin Street" is set in the 1970s (1972 to be precise) and combines some of Morrissey's most self-pitying lyrics with some of his most humorous. The music is based on the work of Joni Mitchell.

The scene is set in 1972, where amid a background of power cuts and house moves the narrator faces a private battle of against ugliness, pill-taking, family deaths and fantasy love. Paradoxically, the greatest moments of nostalgia are reserved for a place where the narrator failed to experience a single happy hour.

The title is an amalgamation of a book of short stories by Bill Naughton called "Late Night on Watling Street" and the name of the school in Carry On Teacher, "Maudlin Street Secondary".

The song was performed live by Morrissey on his 2002 tour.