Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday
"Armageddon, come Armageddon Come, Armageddon, come."
Key words
- Lament: to express sadness and feeling sorry about something
My grandmother lamented the decline in moral standards in today's society.
- Melancholy: sadness that lasts for a long period of time, often without any obvious reason
Larry is in a very melancholy mood.
- Drudgery: hard boring work
Cleaning the oven is sheer drudgery.
- Lobby: to try to persuade a politician, the government, or an official group that a particular thing should or should not happen, or that a law should be changed
Local residents lobbied to have the factory shut down.
- Lie-in: a time when you stay in bed later than usual in the morning
I'm not working tomorrow so I can have a bit of a lie-in.
Read the article to find the answers
- When did Morrissey write Everyday Is Like Sunday?
- Where did the idea of Sunday worship come from?
- When were shops allowed to open on Sunday?
- What do people usually eat on a Sunday?
Morrissey
Sunday was silent and grey, according to Morrissey, who wrote one of his most successful songs, Everyday Is Like Sunday, in 1988, lamenting the melancholy, drudgery and boredom of life. He sang:
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Armageddon, come Armageddon
Come, Armageddon, come
Come, come, come, nuclear bomb
Of course, he didn't use the original definition of Armageddon, and since 1994 Sunday is not the same as it once was.
Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday (2004 Digital Remaster)
Sunday Laws
Sunday was a day on which the Romans worshipped their sun god. Emperor Constantine issued a decree in 321 AD making Sunday a day of rest and changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, distancing Christianity from its Jewish roots and uniting Christians and sun worshippers.
Contrary to Constantine, Jesus says in Matthew 11:28:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Jesus provides the spiritual rest and peace that the Sabbath was meant to symbolise. He emphasises his authority over the Sabbath and indicates that he is the fulfilment of its true purpose in Mark 2:27-28 by saying:
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.
Despite Jesus's words, the Church encouraged the observance of Sunday as a day of worship, and this was enforced by laws passed during the reigns of Anglo-Saxon kings prohibiting certain activities on Sundays.
Under King Henry VIII, the Sunday Observance Act was passed, prohibiting various forms of work on Sunday. Later, King Charles I issued the Book of Sports, which allowed certain activities such as dancing and archery on Sundays.
During the English Civil War, the Puritan-controlled Parliament passed stricter laws further restricting Sunday activities, until the Restoration in 1660, when many of these strict laws were relaxed. However, Sunday trading and certain leisure activities remained restricted.
The evangelical Christian movement in Victorian Britain lobbied for stricter enforcement of Sunday laws, but after their influence waned, the Sunday Entertainments Act of 1932 allowed local authorities to open cinemas on Sundays, then the Shops Act of 1950 allowed shops such as bakeries and newsagents to open on Sundays. The Sunday Trading Act of 1994 allowed larger shops to open for up to six hours on Sundays.
1957: BRITISH SUNDAYS - Should We Have More FREEDOM? | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive
Sunday Today
Many people relax on a Sunday by having a lie-in, then heading down to the village pub for a Sunday roast and a pint of real ale, often followed by a long walk in the countryside or a local park. It is also common to read the Sunday newspapers. Very few people read the Bible, but if they did they would know that Sunday worship is nowhere to be found in it.
Discussion questions
- Do you have any questions about any of the vocabulary or grammar in this article?
- How do people in your country spend their Sundays?
- What do you usually do on a Sunday?
- What do people in your country worship?
- Do you like music from the 1980s?
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