The Smiths: This Night Has Opened My Eyes Meaning

This Night Has Opened My Eyes Lyrics

In a river the colour of lead
Immerse a baby's head
Wrap her up in the News Of The World
Dump her on a doorstep, girl
This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again

You kicked and cried like a bullied child
A grown man of...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 13th 2021 !⃝

   I don’t think this song is about abortion, as he typically wrote metaphorically rather than being so upfront. I think the song is using abortion as a metaphor for an unhealthy relationship between a younger girl and an older man. He is saying that this younger woman could’ve had potential (poet or a fool) but will never know bc of her codependence on him, developed from the power imbalance. “Dump her on doorstep, girl” is her choosing to abandon the person she was meant to be, because she doesn’t have the strength to leave. “A shoeless child on a swing, reminds you of your own again”- she dwells on what her life should’ve/could’ve been. “Oh you did a good thing...oh you did a bad thing” is her internal conflict- she uses the “ups” in the relationship to excuse his toxic nature. This is a token of toxic relationships, using the rare good moments to justify staying. “A grown man of 25, he said he’d cure your ills, but he didn’t and he never will”- she needed someone to depend on for nurture and love, but refuses to accept that he will never be that.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   cammieluvr

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   Oct 26th 2021 !⃝

   i think its about a underage mother trying to decide what do do with her child with her 'boyfriend' who is 25. the person saying "drown the baby" or "drop the baby off at a doorstep" is the boyfriend trying to come up with ideas as to get rid of it because he cant be caught with this baby... hes trying to convince this girl that doing that is ok. "this night has opened my eyes and i will never sleep again" is the 25 y/o man talking to himself, telling himself that he wont forget this moment. perhaps this is not his first time messing around with an underage girl, and since this time he had to convince her to kill it or abandon it, it opened his eyes to what he is actually doing. "oh save your life because youve only got one" is yet again the man trying to convince this girl to get rid of it because she is so young and has so much life in front of her. "you did a good thing" is the man and "you did a bad thing" is someone other in this story. maybe the person who got the baby off the doorstep, maybe the girls parents... "im not happy and im not sad" is yet again the man explaining that this was ok and it was a natural thing to do.
   
   "a shoeless child on a swing, reminds you of your own again" the girl is now older and is regretting what she did and/or longing for the child. "she took away your troubles" this is about the man because he got off scott-free. "but she left pain" the girl is in pain over what she did and that she lost her child. "please save your life because youve only got one" is a flashback to when the man was trying to convince her to get rid of the baby.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   May 24th 2021 !⃝

   (in a river the color of lead, immerse a baby’s head) A metaphor for abortion, she’s leaving the baby in a dirty river and drowning her. (Wrap her up in the News of the World) since abortion has become acceptable in the time, the mother is convincing herself that it is ok. (Dump her on a doorstep, girl) this line i believe is referring to Jesus and how the mother is giving her baby up to him. (This night has opened my eyes and I will never sleep again) The mother is having an awakening of what she really did. (You kicked and cried like a bullied child) The mother’s regret of killing the baby (A grown man of 25) another metaphor to Jesus. (Oh he said he’d cure your ills but he didn’t and never will) The mother’s depression and expecting Jesus to heal her but he won’t because she did this upon herself and committed sin. (Oh, save your life because you’ve only got one) The mother speaking to herself. (The dream has gone but the baby is real) She is letting go of the dream she had for the child. (Oh you did a good thing She could have been a poet or she could have been a fool oh you did a bad thing) The mother is having internalized conflict and regrets it but then again feels relief. (And i’m not happy, but i’m not sad) She’s apathetic she feels guilt but does it regret it. (A shoeless child on a swing reminds you of your own again) reflects on her childhood and remembers the innocence of being a child and longs for that again. (She took away your troubles oh but then again she left pain) Talking about “her” as in the mother’s childhood. I believe the overall meaning of this song is about how the mother aborted her baby because she didn’t want her daughter to live in a world like this or have a hard life. She wanted her child to be with Jesus in heaven but then soon regrets it and faces inner conflict.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 31st 2023 !⃝

   I believe that this song is about a forced or illegal relationship between a 25 year old man and a young girl due to the lyrics "you kicked and cried like a bullied child ,a grown man of 25,he said he'd cure your ills but he didn't and he never will." That lyric could mean a type of non-consensual act. I also speculate that the forced act could of gotten the young girl into a form of "motherhood" but she got the baby aborted in fears of the man doing the same to her child.
5. anonymous

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   Jan 13th 2021 !⃝

   I believe the song is about a mother trying to decide if she should have an abortion or desert the baby on a stranger's doorstep. I also think she is thinking about what the baby could turn out as. She is also feeling regret about the whole situation.
6. anonymous

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   Jan 29th 2020 !⃝

   I feel as thought its a story about a woman who has had an abortion and its talking about the things the child could have been on lines, "she could have been a poet, she could have been a fool".
7. anonymous

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   Sep 17th 2019 !⃝

   I think its two different stories. The first one is when he says "in a river the color of lead, immerse the baby's head", it's a mother killing her baby because she can't take care of it. The second line when it states " wrap her up in the news of the world, dump her on a doorstep,girl" is another story with the same ending. Her mother told her the stuff that was happening in the world, as though her,the baby, could understand. The mother then drops the baby off at a 25 year old man's house, whom she doesn't know. "She could've been a poet or she could've been a fool" means if the baby wasn't drowned/ given away, the baby could've been either successful, or be raised by a bad parent. "Oh, you did a good thing/ oh, you did a bad thing" is both the mothers deciding if it was the right thing to do or not."And I'm not happy, and I'm not sad" portrays that the mothers don't regret what they did, but they feel bad for it.
8. RaeOfMagick

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   Jan 11th 2019 !⃝

   A metaphor for child neglect and abuse, perhaps the child passed away and that's why "she could've been a poet".
9. anonymous

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   Jun 3rd 2014 !⃝

   It is either abortion
   Or Jesus Christ...
   Knowing Morrissey, it's one of those.

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