The Smiths part 2

In another first, The Smiths released a compilation album, Hatful Of Hollow, just months after their debut album. It was filled with great songs.

The cover photo (above) featured the fabulous but otherwise unknown Fabrice Colette and was taken by Gilles Decroix. In it were non-album singles and B-sides, as well as songs from their first album in different versions, taken from BBC Radio 1 studio recordings. Here's the first one, of a song that we posted yesterday in its original version, What Difference Does It Make?:

I'm very attached to this album, since it was the first Smiths' album that I ever bought. In vinyl, of course. What Difference Does It Make? is the 2nd track, so let's go back to the opening track. William, It Was Really Nothing was the band's 5th single overall, peaking at #17 in the UK and #8 in Ireland. It was released in two different versions, with different sleeves and different B-Sides. Both B-sides were superb songs, in fact they were even superior to the (still great) A-side! We'll get to both these songs later, as for William, It Was Really Nothing, it's about Morrissey advising a male friend not to get trapped in marriage. Typical Morrissey advice, I would say.

Let's check out the two B-sides now: Firstly, let's talk about How Soon Is Now?. Possibly my favorite Smiths' song, as well as the favorite of many others: the reaction to it as a B-Side was such, that a few months later it was released as an A-side of a new single, that made it to #24 in the UK and #5 in Ireland. Also made #36 in the US Dance chart. Anchored by Marr's terrific guitar work, Morrissey's lyrics were never gloomier:

I am the son

And the heir

Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar

I am the son and heir

Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth

How can you say

I go about things the wrong way?

I am human and I need to be loved

Just like everybody else does

There's a club if you'd like to go

You could meet somebody who really loves you

So you go and you stand on your own

And you leave on your own

And you go home and you cry

And you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen "now"

Well when exactly do you mean?

See I've already waited too long

And all my hope is gone

The song has been called the Stairway To Heaven of the 80s. Judge for yourselves:

The other B-side was Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. An earnest plea for wish fulfillment from a guy that hasn't had much luck in his life. It's short and sweet and not as world weary as most of Morrissey's work. It has been covered by numerous respected artists and has appeared on the soundtrack of many films.

To return to the clearly homoerotic songs, You Handsome Devil is one of those. The lyrics veer towards cheesy, but in a fun way:

A boy in the bush

Is worth two in the hand

I think I can help you get through your exams

Oh, you handsome devil

Oh, let me get my hands

On your mammary glands

And let me get your head on the conjugal bed

I say, I say, I say

I crack the whip

And you skip

But you deserve it

You deserve it, deserve it, deserve it

And when we're in your scholarly room

Who will swallow whom ?

To be honest,"let me get my hands on your mammary glands" makes me wince every time. A good song though.

Their 4th single (right before William, It Was Really Nothing) was Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, #10 in the UK & #11 in Ireland. It contains the intriguing line: "What she asked of me at the end of the day Caligula would have blushed". It's one of Morrissey's best vocal efforts.

Their second studio album, Meat Is Murder (the title, as well as the title track inspired by the fact that Morrissey as well as Marr are dedicated vegans), was their only studio album to go to #1 in the UK. It contains the song That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, a ballad inspired by an 'intimate friendship' with a journalist. Also, it was a response to journalistic mockery of Morrissey's songwriting that dwelt "on the unhappy side of life".

Their third album, The Queen Is Dead, peaked at #2 in the UK. A very good song off it is Bigmouth Strikes Again, a song chronicling Morrissey's rocky relationship with the press corps.

It's There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, however, that is considered to be the best song in the album and for many the best Smiths' song ever. It's about a guy that was kicked out of his house and spends a fateful night with a guy that he's infatuated with. Here's how it goes:

Take me out tonight

Where there's music and there's people

And they're young and alive

Driving in your car

I never never want to go home

Because I haven't got one

Anymore

Take me out tonight

Because I want to see people and I

Want to see life

Driving in your car

Oh, please don't drop me home

Because it's not my home, it's their

Home, and I'm welcome no more

And if a double-decker bus

Crashes into us

To die by your side

Is such a heavenly way to die

And if a ten-ton truck

Kills the both of us

To die by your side

Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine

Take me out tonight

Take me anywhere, I don't care

I don't care, I don't care

And in the darkened underpass

I thought oh God, my chance has come at last

(But then a strange fear gripped me and I

Just couldn't ask)

Before their last studio album, the Smiths released yet another compilation called The World Won't Listen. It too peaked at #2 UK. As their previous compilation, it mostly contained non-album singles and B-sides. My favorite track from this one is the single Panic. For a band that depends on DJs to play their songs, it takes a lot of courage to put out lyrics such as:

Burn down the disco

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music that they constantly play

It says nothing to me about my life

From their last studio album, Strangeways Here We Come (which also peaked at #2 in the UK), I choose the epic ballad Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, a song that brings forth memories of solo John Lennon.

The band broke up in 1987 amid personal and musical disagreements. Although they were offered loads of money to regroup, like the Beatles, they never did.

Tomorrow we will deal with Morrissey's solo career. Till then, enjoy yourselves.