Maybe this song is about life's dissatisfaction in general, presenting lines describing different stories of discontent and desperation. Many typical Morrissey's themes recur here: the working class trivial expectations ("a double bed and a stalwart lover"), the character of a teenage murderer ("a tough kid") as seen in "The Queen Is Dead" and "Sweet And Tender Hooligan", the homo-sexual meetings in the shadow of a rail yard.
1 "The riches of the poor" - from Edith Sitwell's English Eccentrics. Morrissey once spoke to NME about this line: "That came from a sense I had that, trite as it may sound, when people get married and are getting their flat - not even their house, note - the most important thing was getting the double bed. It was like the prized exhibit; the cooker, the fire, everthing else came later. In the lives of many working class people the only time they feel they're the centre of attention is on their wedding day. Getting married, regrettably is still the one big event in their lives. It's the one day when they're quite special."
2 One of the albums less superb tracks features one of Morrissey's most bizarre Smiths-era lyrics, "A tough kid who sometimes swallows nails". This line is actually a reference to director Howard Sachler's description of James Dean as a "tough kid who sometimes sleeps on nails"; many think the change of line is an oral sex reference. This multi-themed song focuses on youthful crime, poverty, and anguished desire. All the lyrics tend to hint to a purposeful and almost malevolent self-belief. Another interpretation sees the protagonist being denied by a man who he feels is gay but is in the closet. Morrissey obviously believes that homosexuality is a biological state as opposed to mental. The "brain versus the body" theme is also featured and treated like in "Still Ill".
3 "Prisoner's Aid" is a society active in many countries which provides support, provisions, reintegration services and legal aid to imprisoned persons.
4 "He killed his mother when he was 13" - this was the line sung by Morrissey in the early versions.
The lyrics written by Morrissey's own hand on a page recently found on the web contains the following lines:
A tough kid who OFTEN swallowa nails
Raised on Prisones' Aid
He killed HIS MOTHER when he was 13
WHICH OBVIOUSLY REALLY IMPRESSED ME
It's written all over my face
Link:
YT Video