Meaning of “Little Man, What Now?” by Morrissey

Little Man, What Now? is a song by English singer and songwriter Morrissey. The theme of the song is basically about the sudden fall of a television star. In the song, Morrissey sings about the TV star being very popular in the 1960s, but becoming relatively unknown after his career suddenly declined. According to the lyrics, the singer once looked up to the now fameless TV star.

While Morrissey never mentioned the name of the TV star in the lyrics of the song, there have been many speculations that the actor Morrissey was talking about in the song is the British actor Malcolm McFee, who was best known for playing the character Peter Craven on ITV Network’s situation comedy Please Sir! In the song, Morrissey sings about the actor appearing on only 4 seasons of a nameless TV series before being “AXED”. Interestingly, McFee also appeared on only 4 seasons of Please Sir!

Other actors, whom people have suspected to be the unnamed TV star in Little Man, What Now? include Jack Wild, Roger Tonge and Jimmy Clitheroe.

It is worth noting that Morrissey has never revealed the identity of the actor whom he talked about in the song. Neither has he confirmed whether the song actually refers to a real actor or not.

Favorite Line from the Song

Here is our favorite line from the lyrics of Little Man, What Now?:

Facts about Little Man, What Now?

• The song was written by Morrissey and producer Stephen Street.
• The song derived its title from the 1932 novel Little Man, What Now? by German author Hans Fallada.
• The song was one of the 12 songs that appeared on Morrissey’s 1988 debut solo album titled Viva Hate.
• Having a length of just 1 minute 48 seconds, Little Man, What Now? is one of the shortest songs ever recorded and released by Morrissey throughout his career.
• The song is one of Morrissey’s least known songs.