Margaret on the Guillotine

Album: Viva Hate (1988)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song controversially describes the beheading of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a "wonderful dream." Morrissey recalled in his 2013 autobiography that the lyrics so concerned the authorities that Special Branch brought him in for questioning to determine whether or not he was actually a threat to Thatcher. After about an hour of questions, he signed some autographs and left.
  • "Margaret On The Guillotine" can be found on Morrissey's debut solo album, Viva Hate. After his group The Smiths called it quits in 1987, he wasted no time getting going on his own, putting out Viva Hate in early 1988. The album landed two UK hits that charted higher than any by The Smiths: "Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday."
  • Margaret Thatcher wasn't the only person of power that irked Morrissey; he basted the royal family when he was with The Smiths on their 1986 song "The Queen Is Dead."

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