Currently listening to...

...one of the greatest songs in contemporary music history: "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths. Seriously.
I recall when their first eponymous album was released and the sound of the band and Morrissey's vocals in particular were unlike anything heard before.

This astounding 1985 song, with absolutely devastating lyrics by Morrissey and relentless "psychedelic" guitar riff by Johnny Marr, is best summed up by a review at the time in Melody Maker magazine: "The majestic ease of Morrissey's melancholic vocals are tinted with vitriol, as they move through vistas of misery with plaintive spirals around the pulse of Johnny Marr's vibrato guitar. The string's muted strains conjure wistful signs that bridge the schism between crass sentimentality and callous detachment. Each repeated phrase intensifies the hypnotic waves, with results that outflank anything since [their previous song] 'This Charming Man'. Catharsis has rarely been tinged with so much regret, and shared with so much crystalline purity."

I agree. Raw. Hypnotic. Unflinching in its unadorned view of pathos.
See if you agree too.

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of the 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

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the 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

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

It is worth noting that this video was created by their label at the time, Sire (part of Warner Bros.), without any input from the band who despised the final product. While not ideal, it is nice to see early footage of The Smiths.

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "The Queen Is Dead"

In honor of National Poetry Month, each week I am featuring poetic lyrics of rock or pop songs.

This week, let's read the work of Steven Patrick Morrissey, songwriter and vocalist for the legendary British group The Smiths. Morrissey's lyrics have always naturally had a literary bent to them since his interests lie in the literary world. Marked by references to writers and poets as much as film and pop stars, Morrissey's lyrics often feature clever turns of phrase, black humor, and a deeply psychological confessional-style narrative.

Here is "The Queen Is Dead" from the 1986 album of the same name. I am deliberately not including the actual song in this post because I want the focus to be on the words.

The Queen Is Dead
by The Smiths, written by Morrissey

Through this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with her head in a sling
I'm truly sorry - but it sounds like a wonderful thing

I say Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil ?

And so, I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendant
Of some old queen or other

Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed ?
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed ?
Some 9-year old tough who peddles drugs
I swear to God,
I swear : I never even knew what drugs were

So, I broke into the palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said : "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing"
I said : "That's nothing - you should hear me play piano"

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But when you're tied to your Mother's apron
No-one talks about castration

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty
Oh, these are the things that kill me

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But the rain that flattens my hair ...
Oh, these are the things that kill me

Past the Pub who saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Past the Pub that wrecks your body
And the church - all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb

Life is very long, when you're lonely…

https://www.facebook.com/Morrissey
There is no official website for The Smiths.

"The Queen Is Dead" Is 25

Twenty-five years ago today, The Smiths third album, "The Queen Is Dead' was released in the UK.


The Smiths released their third album in America on June 23rd, 1986, a week after the British release date and "The Queen Is Dead" carried on their genre-defying sound. Lead singer and lyricist Morrissey grew even more into the role of supremely witty story-teller, love-sick, lonely, but wry and stinging. His wonderfully literary lyrics had set The Smiths apart from a common "rock band" from the start, and the first track on this album, from which the record takes its name, is a beautiful example of story and imagery coming together in a pop song, supported by guitarist Johnny Marr's visionary song writing and playing.

It opens with a sample of British actress Cicely Courtneidge singing "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty" from the 1962 film "The L-Shaped Room" (Morrissey was--and presumably still is--obsessed with 50s and 60s screen and singing stars, hence the picture of French film star Alain Delon from the film "L'Insoumis" on the cover, above) and proceeds to tear into our ears with feral drums and savage guitars. Morrissey then eviscerates the idea of the monarchy, while contrasting the royal family with the current state of the country, and in a larger, more existential way, the world. The most poetic and potent example of this is that his invitation to talk about love and law and poverty is shown as being just as heavy, difficult and devastating as the rain that flattens his hair. Powerlessness and hopelessness can take many forms and are just as debilitating in whatever form they take.

The late filmmaker Derek Jarman created this expressionistic piece, below, to accompany the song.

"Through this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with her head in a sling
I'm truly sorry - but it sounds like a wonderful thing

I say Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil ?

And so, I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendant
Of some old queen or other

Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed ?
Oh has the world changed, or have I changed ?
Some 9-year old tough who peddles drugs
I swear to God,
I swear : I never even knew what drugs were

So, I broke into the palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said : "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing"
I said : "That's nothing - you should hear me play piano"

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But when you're tied to your Mother's apron
No-one talks about castration

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty
Oh, these are the things that kill me

We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But the rain that flattens my hair ...
Oh, these are the things that kill me

Past the Pub who saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Past the Pub that wrecks your body
And the church - all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb

Life is very long, when you're lonely…"

Every song on "The Queen Is Dead" is phenomenal. For those unfamiliar with it, or for those too young for it the first time around, do yourselves a favor and buy this ferocious, tender, funny, morose, uplifting, inspiring release...now!