Do I even need to say anything about Morrissey as a person? Anyways, TOP 5: 1. Hand in Glove 2. Pretty Girls Make Graves 3. What Difference Does It Make? 4. Reel Around The Fountain 5. Still Ill
(1) Periodically in 1983-84 Morrissey was accused of celebrating paedophilia in his lyrics - and though celebrating clearly isn't the right word (and remember what he said about his P.E teacher in his memoir...), it's easy to see why people might read that into Reel Around..., the contemporaneous b-side Handsome Devil, and especially The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. My take on the latter (having heard the one extant live recording) is that the narrator is actually a paedophile who's fathered a son of his own and is now going to kill himself, but not before harming his offspring. (2) This might be the most "overtly bisexual" album in the Moz catalog - it's one of only a few where male and female partners are clearly identified (except that local non-album cut Handsome Devil which seems to make a composite character from them) - and it's the only one where the resulting different kinds of sexual dissatisfaction are vividly described. [In the years prior to The Smiths' success, the "serial-celibate" singer is believed to have become intimate with Jim Shelley, Linda Sterling, James Maker, and Anna Jablonska [whose voice is sampled on various Smiths recordings]." (3) I Don't Owe... is often identified (not least by its writers) as over-repetitive and overly sordid - it may be significant that it was written with Sandie Shaw in mind. (4) Literary connections - Shelagh Delaney is quoted in Reel Around... and Still Ill - the latter also works in a Myra Hyndley quote. The murder ballad Suffer Little Children naturally works in quotes/paraphrases from Emlyn Williams. Hand In Glove paraphrases Leonard Cohen. You've Got Everything Now has misquotes of both Delaney and Shakespeare. (5) John Porter's musical input into this album is a mixed blessing - most people seem to prefer the radio-show/"Hatful Of Hollow" versions of You've Got..., Miserable Lie and What Difference... And also the well-known demo of Suffer... which adds a piano epilogue.
Hey , good for you for getting into the Smiths .I was probably your age when I got into them in the 80s. One of my favorite songs was 'Last night I dreamed that somebody loved me'...
Reel Around the Fountain was the first Smiths song I've ever heard so I've always liked that one. This Charming Man would probably be their most popular song. You call this jangle pop but I'd call it C86. C86 was a cassette tape released by NME magazine that was hugely influential to indie music. You might like a lot of the songs that are on it
Both Morrisey and Marr absolute legends. Marr is so talented, some of his work is Stone Roses vibes. What the Smiths created in the 80's has aged beautifully. I loved the Smiths and do 40 years on. I believe they had a hand in inspiring Indie music to happen. Another legend is Robert Smith of The Cure.
Do I even need to say anything about Morrissey as a person? Anyways, TOP 5:
1. Hand in Glove
2. Pretty Girls Make Graves
3. What Difference Does It Make?
4. Reel Around The Fountain
5. Still Ill
(1) Periodically in 1983-84 Morrissey was accused of celebrating paedophilia in his lyrics - and though celebrating clearly isn't the right word (and remember what he said about his P.E teacher in his memoir...), it's easy to see why people might read that into Reel Around..., the contemporaneous b-side Handsome Devil, and especially The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. My take on the latter (having heard the one extant live recording) is that the narrator is actually a paedophile who's fathered a son of his own and is now going to kill himself, but not before harming his offspring.
(2) This might be the most "overtly bisexual" album in the Moz catalog - it's one of only a few where male and female partners are clearly identified (except that local non-album cut Handsome Devil which seems to make a composite character from them) - and it's the only one where the resulting different kinds of sexual dissatisfaction are vividly described. [In the years prior to The Smiths' success, the "serial-celibate" singer is believed to have become intimate with Jim Shelley, Linda Sterling, James Maker, and Anna Jablonska [whose voice is sampled on various Smiths recordings]."
(3) I Don't Owe... is often identified (not least by its writers) as over-repetitive and overly sordid - it may be significant that it was written with Sandie Shaw in mind.
(4) Literary connections - Shelagh Delaney is quoted in Reel Around... and Still Ill - the latter also works in a Myra Hyndley quote. The murder ballad Suffer Little Children naturally works in quotes/paraphrases from Emlyn Williams. Hand In Glove paraphrases Leonard Cohen. You've Got Everything Now has misquotes of both Delaney and Shakespeare.
(5) John Porter's musical input into this album is a mixed blessing - most people seem to prefer the radio-show/"Hatful Of Hollow" versions of You've Got..., Miserable Lie and What Difference... And also the well-known demo of Suffer... which adds a piano epilogue.
Hey , good for you for getting into the Smiths .I was probably your age when I got into them in the 80s.
One of my favorite songs was 'Last night I dreamed that somebody loved me'...
Johnny Marr wrote all this godly tunes when he was 19/20. A real musical genius!
THAT’s impressive.
Reel Around the Fountain was the first Smiths song I've ever heard so I've always liked that one. This Charming Man would probably be their most popular song.
You call this jangle pop but I'd call it C86. C86 was a cassette tape released by NME magazine that was hugely influential to indie music. You might like a lot of the songs that are on it
Actually How Soon Is Now? is probably their most popular song because it was theme song to Charmed, I think
Both Morrisey and Marr absolute legends. Marr is so talented, some of his work is Stone Roses vibes. What the Smiths created in the 80's has aged beautifully. I loved the Smiths and do 40 years on. I believe they had a hand in inspiring Indie music to happen. Another legend is Robert Smith of The Cure.
Nice video, what were your favorite songs? ( 24:56- 25:08)
Reel Around the Fountain, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Hand In Glove, and What Difference Does It Make
@ That’s cool!