"Roy's Keen" is a song by

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally 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 1987. Since then ...

, released as a single in October 1997. It was the second single to be taken from the ''

Maladjusted ''Maladjusted'' is the sixth studio album by English singer Morrissey, released on 11 August 1997 by Island Records. On release, the album received a lukewarm reception from fans and critics alike, and was Morrissey's last studio album for ...

'' album and was the third solo Morrissey single not to feature himself in the cover picture, instead using a photograph of two boys taken by

Roger Mayne Roger Mayne (5 May 1929 – 7 June 2014) was an English photographer, best known for his documentation of the children of Southam Street, London. Life and work Born in Cambridge, Mayne studied Chemistry at Balliol College, Oxford University. Her ...

on London's Southam Street in the 1950s. The single reached number 42 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Its failure to reach the top 40 meant a performance of the song recorded for ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' did not air until it was shown on ''Top of the Pops 2'' in 2003. The title refrain is a pun on the name of former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

footballer Roy Keane – as Morrissey acknowledged during live performances of the song by changing words to "never seen a keener midfielder". The song was played over the closing credits of Keane's 2002 documentary ''As I See It''. Despite being released as a single, the song was omitted from ''

s remastered CD reissue in 2009.

Track listings

7" vinyl and cassette

# "Roy's Keen" # "Lost"

12" vinyl and CD (UK)

# "Roy's Keen" # "Lost" # "The Edges Are No Longer Parallel"

Musicians

* Morrissey: vocals * Martin Boorer: guitar * Alain Whyte: guitar * Jonny Bridgwood: bass * Spencer James Cobrin: drums

Reception

In his review for AllMusic Ned Raggett described the title track as "one of Morrissey's most curious songs; the music is okay enough, though his band can and have done better, but the lyric is about a window cleaner, of all things." Raggett preferred the B-sides, especially The Edges Are No Longer Parallel, "one of his all-time best songs."

References

{{Authority control Morrissey songs Songs written by Morrissey Songs written by Alain Whyte 1997 singles Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite