"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" is a song written by

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

along with

Boz Boorer Martin James "Boz" Boorer (born 19 May 1962 in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is an English guitarist and producer. He founded the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats, and starting in 1991 had a 30-year collaboration with singer Morrissey as c ...

, the two being responsible for lyrics and music respectively. The song was the first single to be released from Morrissey's 2009 album ''

Years of Refusal ''Years of Refusal'' is the ninth studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey. It was released on 16 February 2009 in the UK by record label Decca and on 17 February 2009 in the US by Lost Highway. It was the last album completed ...

''. It was recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and produced by

Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alka ...

, the man behind 2004's ''

You Are the Quarry ''You Are the Quarry'' is the seventh solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Morrissey. It was released on 17 May 2004 by record label Attack, and was his first album in seven years following 1997's ''Maladjusted''. The album was a huge ...

''. The single was released on 9 February 2009 and has reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart, and is his last single to reach the UK Top 40. In Scotland the song topped the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

, becoming Morrissey's second of three number one singles on that chart, although this was because the Scottish chart at that point only counted physical sales at a time when download sales had become dominant. The song premiered on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

on 22 December 2008 but made its live debut 17 July 2007 at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

on the second leg of Morrissey's 2007/2008 'Greatest Hits Tour'. Morrissey often joked that the song was originally written to be his entry to the

2007 Eurovision song contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song " Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcast ...

Reception

Reviewing a pre-release copy of the single, ''

Filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

'' magazine said the song contained "Morrissey’s classic croon" and that they could not get enough of it. In its first week of release "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart as well as number one on the

, giving Morrissey his second number-one single in that country, after "

All You Need Is Me "All You Need Is Me" is a 2008 song by the English singer and songwriter Morrissey that is featured on his ''Greatest Hits'' album. It was released as a single on 2 June 2008 in the UK for only one week, reaching number 24 on the UK Singles Char ...

" in 2008. The song also charted in France at number 26 and Sweden at number 58. In the United States, the song received somewhat limited exposure on alternative rock and triple A stations including

WWCD WWCD may refer to: * WWCD (AM), a radio station (1070 AM) licensed to serve Solana, Florida, United States * WXZX, a radio station (105.7 FM) licensed to serve Hilliard, Ohio, United States, which held the call sign WWCD in 2024 * WXGT, a radio s ...

WEQX WEQX is an FM radio station located at 102.7 MHz and broadcasting from Manchester, Vermont, United States, with an effective radiated power of 1,250 watts at 759 meters (equivalent to 50,000 watts at 150 meters). Their tower is located on nearb ...

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, and

WXRV WXRV (92.5 FM; "The River") is an adult album alternative radio station licensed to Andover, Massachusetts, and based in Haverhill, with a signal covering most of northeast Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, and audible as far away as P ...

. The single also received some pre-release attention for its artwork; the inside sleeve features an image of Morrissey and his bandmates posing entirely

naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

except for

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, ...

s covering their genitals."Grin and bare it -- Morrissey reveals all"
''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', February 14, 2009.

Track listing

CD1 # "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" # "Because of My Poor Education" (Morrissey/ Whyte) CD2 # "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" # "Shame Is the Name" (Morrissey/Whyte) 7" # "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" # "Death of a Disco Dancer" (Live, Waukegan, 17 October 2007) (Morrissey/ Marr)

Personnel

– vocals *

– guitar *

Jesse Tobias Jesse Tobias (born April 1, 1972) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and co-writer for Morrissey since 2004. Tobias first gained fame during a brief tenure with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993, although he was replaced b ...

– guitar * Solomon Walker – bass guitar * Matt Walker – drums *

Roger Manning Roger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music. Manning, along with a small handful of other artists, composed the original New York City anti-folk scene. On February 6, 1985, Manning w ...

– keyboard *

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic music, electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of Film ...

– trumpet ("I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris") *

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she and drummer Martin Chambers are the ...

– backing vocals ("Shame Is the Name") * Michael Farrell – keyboard ("Death of a Disco Dancer")

Charts

References

{{authority control 2009 singles Morrissey songs Songs written by Morrissey Songs written by Boz Boorer Songs about Paris 2007 songs Number-one singles in Scotland