The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual (Official Audio)
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- Опубліковано 16 гру 2018
- Official Audio for The Headmaster Ritual by The Smiths
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The Headmaster Ritual was featured on the group's second studio album, Meat Is Murder, released in 1985.
Lyrics
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since nineteen sixty two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education
As a bad mistake
Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up life
As a bad mistake
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
#TheSmiths #TheHeadmasterRitual #MeatIsMurder
Imagine being a new high schooler, going over to a friend's house after school, when this album is brand new, and neither of you have heard it yet. You put the needle on the record, turn up the volume, and the first thing you hear is the beginning of THIS song. Freaking LIFE changing. Might be the best opening of a record I can ever remember.
I had that same feeling back in the day when I fried gave me a basf cassette tape of this album and I popped it on my Walkman… as a guitar player pretty much into metal at that time Johnnys guitar work blew me away…
I remember first hearing the Smiths 40 years ago. My life immediately changed as a 14 year old boy and every new record was eagerly awaited.
I was also quite a proficient bass player and would learn Andy Rourke's bass lines as soon as I could.
I'm 54 now and it's still the most important music in my life.
Same happened when I heard Ok Computer for the first time
@@Paulco67No comparison...but nice.
RIP Andy Rourke, to me, this is the greatest bass line ever
Yes, first I thought of when hearing he passed. That Bass ! Fav band of my youth
Respect 😢
I will say, yes. In addition, and structurally, the whole song is pretty f*****' E P I C af. Just saying.
The bassline in Barbarism begins at home is so clear of this one though.
@@MegaHariboboy Crrrrrackin' good observation!!!! I am in love with so many of their bass lines. LOVE GREAT BASS!!!!!!!
This song encapsulates the essence of The Smiths. The important lyrics, the yodelling in the end, the perfect bassline and the drums that hold everything together. As for the guitar, untouchable! This song is life.
One of the finest bands ever!
One of the best songs ever.
You nailed it, johnnyunited. Beautifully said!
As a guitar player myself the Bass player Andy Rourke is amazing to follow all those chord changing and Voicings , he more important to that band then most people think !
I hug Morrissey
The Smiths never get old.
👏👏👏👏
Very much true it has seen a recent reboot pretty much after the doomer meme
I super agree.
Never ever
Your mom never get old.
Johnny Marr’s guitar is unbelievable
SUBLIME
I still think he is way underrated. He creates really good music.
What makes it even more unbelievable is that he was 20 when this album was recorded
yes it is I love it
Undeniably. I am a drummer and his playing captures me more than most others. Captivating.
Morrissey’s lyrics are just brilliant, “Mid-week on the playing fields. Sir thwacks you on the knees. Knees you in the groin. Elbows in the face. Bruises bigger than dinner plates.”
Spineless bastards all.......
I wanna go home, I don't want to stay
Ja, brilliant! Simply brilliant!
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
@@concars1234 give up education as a bad mistake
Andy Rourke shines on this album. His bass playing is so integral to the Sound of the Smiths and it is ‘criminally vulgar’ how little attention is paid to his talents. That being said, Side 1 of Meat is Murder could very well be one of the finest album sides, ever.
I agree so much
bloody hell yeah! i decided to be a bassist because of this album. Nowadays i practice at least two hours per day. Rourke's fault!!!!
Disco/Secret I concur!!!
Disco/Secret and to think Moz and Marr only payed him and Joyce 10% of the profits
Someone had to say it
The production is god-like on this album. You can hear everything even on a phone.
I love this fucking song.
Why swear though how old are you?
@@wesker1079 why are you wondering though?
@mc coolarge because he is wondering
Eu tbm porra vsf
@@wesker1079 hahaha I was 17
STUCK IN GERMANY 1986-88 (USARMY) THE LOCAL IRISH PUBS ALWAYS PLAYED THE CURE AND THE SMITHS. TURNED ON SINCE.
Stuck in America! Wish I was with Moz!
Berlin? What was cold war era Germany like as an American
My 2 favourite bands The smiths and The cure who'd have thought they would go together 🙂
USAF in the UK, 85-88. Same here, and was lucky enough to see both live.
@@WilsonMackle101 The cold war was it it's end during that period. Gorbachov was leader of the soviet union and he had really good a relationship with the USA. So actually, nothing much.
Everything about this song just fucking rules. Morrissey's scathing lyrics and howling voice, Marr's guitar that sounds literally bigger than life.
OMG, LITERALLY?!!!!!!!
Correct.
I'm currently reading Morrissey's autobiography, the school system was damb abhorrent, poor kiddies. Not even that long ago really. No wonder he writes like he does, he exposes it all.
@@alukuhito Are you a fan?
And the Drum is increíble 👏🙌
The jingly-jangly guitar sound coupled with the yodeling on this song is mesmerizing.
"He does the military two-step, down the nape of my neck" - So poetic, you can almost tangibly feel those lyrics and know exactly the prickly fear he's describing. Just brilliant.
" Spineless bastards all" 👍
I've always found it quite satisfying. Something about the way he says it is so smooth.
The Smiths are terrif.
@@clintjones9848terrific or terrifying
Terrific. Is that a statement or a question? :P
It's hard to wrap my brain around how damn good this song is.
It's hard to wrap my brain around how great a band they were.
This song is like a little movie: I love the way the 45-sec intro sets the stage for the rest of the song ...
Insanely good song. The bass and guitar compliment each other so well.
RIP Andy Rourke, what a titan of bass. Thanks for so many amazing lines.
What's the bass of this song?
I love The Smiths. I think they are all fantastic: Morrissey, Johnny, Andy and Mike.
I think Morrissey and Marr wrote about growing up in a bleak situation when jobs were scarce and options were limited. The skies were grey and days were wet and cold. Morrissey's imagery puts me in the place of the narrator, and I feel the insecurity of being in a situation that is supposed to be comforting, only to be confronted with scrutiny and terror.
Morrissey said over and over that they had no idea what they were doing as a band. That might be true but their music is brilliant and has held up. Its just as odd, mysterious, and strange as ever. Genius really.
I don't believe anything he says, mostly it's pretentious bullshit. And now he's become a total Fascist, I'm even less interested. This is one of the few Smiths songs I can even stand to listen to anymore. Talk about the Emperor having no clothes. He's a total embarrassment now.
@@thiscorrosion900 yeah he doesn't conform you're right that's bad, he must be removed. we need a hive mind world.
@@metrach8901 He's a fucking outright racist, jerkoff. He's a bloody fascist, let's be plain. You can paint it anything you like. He's a total asshole in my book. I'll never buy a single Morrissey item ever again, that's for sure. I agree UK shouldn't be letting outright terrorists in, which they have, but for Morrissey to come out and side with white nationalist groups is going too far for me. I lost all respect for him at that point. And I used to be a huge fan of his decades ago.
@@thiscorrosion900 did you tear down a poster of his in your room and plan to take revenge?
@@metrach8901 Ha, no I did not. I don't think I ever had any Smiths posters up in my room years ago. I was a fan but they were not even close to being my favorite band of the era. R.E.M. would probably have won that contest at the time, anyway. I always thought he was kind of a pretentious twat, but I still like some of the Smiths' music, at least. That's about it.
Their sound is incredible, they spanned the mega music period of the 80's that dominated the world yet they don't sound like they 're from the 80's, it's a unique sound that is timeless and cannot be labeled. Just incredible.
facts
You are so spot on. Resonates today and sounds better than most alternative songs today. The Smiths were ahead of their time 👍🏾
Couldn't have said it better myself. It's incredible how unique The Smiths were
Agreed
Little or no synths at all in (not to speak of drum machines) in an era few escaped from using them extensively helps making this music not dated.
Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke create a complete soundscape...with only 2 instruments!
Well Johnny probably with at least 3 different guitar tracks in there 🙂
What are you talking about, there's at least a lead, rhythm and bass guitar in there.
There's 2 Rickenbacker riffs with an open G tuning which is the Tennessee Sound tune that Johnny Marr used for this song which he stated some years back. He was inspired by a Beatles song. The sound is very northern English like.
Andy Rourke was a true innovator. The bass melodies he wrote elevated the band’s stuff to another level. RIP
I'm so glad I'm old enough to have seen them play live.
I'm not sure that music gets any better than this...
It doesn't.
Not even some girls are bigger than others?
It doesn't. This is it
facts
this is perfection the guitar the voice the lyrics its what makes us alive
This guitar is so damn haunting
I will never tire of this song
This song never gets old. It's amazing how certain bands like The Smiths have a sound that cannot be emulated. What a combo. I've never heard a better mesh of bass and guitar.
I totally agree. Imo the mesh of guitar, vocals, bass and drums is a quartet that is un comparable
This one, among all their beautifully written songs, has the power to make you fall directly into that precise 80’s atmosphere. My favourite one.
It's always good!
I was in high school in the generic, white bread suburban hell of a major North American city from 1985-1990. I just caught the tail-end of The Smiths before they broke up in the seventh and eight grade. When I heard “Meat is Murder” and this song in particular, it felt like I found some cosmic pen pal who caught my exact feelings about high school. Like finally someone in the world understood what it was like being a vulnerable, isolated teen, in a crappy school with crappy fellow students, who all like garbage music and you had no one to talk to and no one understood you.
i feel you.. im living in that now. best of wishes to you i hope you're doing alright and well 🙏💜🌻
I hope you found peace somewhere. I love it when people from foreign climes appreciate a quintessentially England band. God they were good..
Chicago?
So many memories of being out nightclubbing in the mid 80's - at the "alternative" venues back then...as a Mod. The Smiths were a big part of that music scene then....along with many others. Love this band.
I saw this live in '85!
Lucky SOB!
this was about when we were younger but we didn’t write it
Thom did justice imho
justice served
@@extremelypositiveperson1811 who is Thom?
@@parmor125 Thom Yorke the Radiohead frontman. They did a cover on this song. 🙂
@@extremelypositiveperson1811 LoL I was just listening this surprise. I never thought this could ever happen. Thanks. Amazing cover
I'm am 80s metal shred guitar player and I love this band and Johnny Marr is killer on guitar , love his jangling tone , dude knows what he's doing !
Appreciate your open mind. It's nuts how proficient he is without really soloing.
When a great poet and a great musician meet to make music:
This happens
Johnny Marr one of the greatest guitarists ever.
100% agree. Criminally underrated
And Rourke was his best compliment.
My yearbook quote came from this song.
"Spineless swines, cemented minds."
The plural of swine is swine
love it.
@@lenafan492 he was quoting the song you fucking idiot
How can you be sure when the next word is cemented? I think it's "spineless swine, cemented minds".
@@HRHMANSOUR He's misquoted the song, dickhead
The intro of this song gives me life everytime I listen to it.
Andy Rourke, my biggest influence as a bass player since the 1980s. Him and Bruce Foxton are the reason I've been a bass player for over 35 years.
That’s a hell of a pair my friend. 👍
It's kinda hard to say, but this song is probably in my top ten of Smiths songs.
Whats first place?
Max Tough to conclude.
I understand
I think It is not hard. It is a fucking great song!!!!
For me its always 1. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, 2. This song. Always in that order. The rest changes.
When i remember school and i get really sad and angry, this song is sort of a revenge, although i didn't live in Manchester in the 60's like Morrissey did.
I always substitute Manchester for my home town when singing it.
I went to this school
These guys were such dam good musicians which is something really missing from today's music!
when the "chorus" begins, my heart falls into warm milk, every time
It’s crazy how ahead of their time The Smiths were.
I’d say timeless.
Ri...ght?
They were of their time. The music they made can never be considered dated.
It's the same all the time.
nope, they were exactly a part of that time
Music is a time machine. This track takes me back to some great times in my life, partly because I never attended Manchester schools.
Everything about this song is healing to me. I used to listen to it on the vus ride home from my terrible experiences in junior high...Johnny's guitar 🎸 ...so much love for this song..
yeah Dabney you are not alone this song hits a nerve.
Big love from UK
Same. Glad we made it....❤
Johnny Marr is my hero but my god The Smiths were nothing without Andy Rourke. The dream of seeing them reunited died today along with part of my youth 😢 RIP Andy
This song is perfection
Word
Agree
Sleep well Andy Rourke 😥😥
My heart bursts during the outro EVERY TIME. I just want it to keep going and going and going…. 🎶🎶🎶
Andy's bass sound is brilliant on this . full marks to the production team for bringing it out so well
Listening to a song from 1985 in 2022 is like listening to a song from 1948 in 1985. Crazy how so much music from the 80's has aged so well.
The most beautiful guitar in the world.
this chorus is insane
I hope the belligerent ghouls no longer run Manchester schools.
@David Ellis There are a few of us out and about.
There's belligerent ghouls everywhere you go.
"Manchester, so much to answer for."
not just in Manchester...
theres always another generation chasing the the strap of jesus' sweaty lean hand.
One of the best songs to come out of the 80s. Never gets old.
I didn't have the chance to know The Smiths when the band was formed but thank god I discovered their songs, otherwise I don't know what I would hear
For me this the best Smith's song of all, musically- it's the phenomenal guitar combination of Marr and Rourke that makes the intro and the concluding part unique, where towards the end Morrissey is almost yodelling in an echoey dreamlike 'thank ##d those days are all well past me' type of way. It's really hypnotic, a real cairn on the mountain top moment of the band's magic.
Totally agree. Sublime
@@ktmcv7118 Yep, i reckon it's the Best. Creates an atmosphere that feels like your own Dream experience.
For me his wailing is the cry of the student who wants to go home and Joyce's snare attacks suggest a series of pummelings at the hands of the barbarian. Stark portrayal of the reality at the time.
Bloody fantastic outro.
There are many moments when the Smiths are simply sublime..
Incredible Bass playing....RIP Abdy Rourke ❤
RIP Andy Rourke the bass line on this track is amazing. One of my favorites
this guitarist fills the whole song
That's a great way to put it
Lyrics
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since nineteen sixty two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education
As a bad mistake
Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up life
As a bad mistake
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
My soul is as gray as this album cover today. Good bye, dear dear Andy. Thank you for that many...
The Smith's were such a tough sounding band. Much more hard hitting than they are given credit for
It's the songs like this one that proved that The Smiths were the best band in the world, ever.
RIP Andy Rourke. We both turned 21 in the same year and your music got me through a lot.
So many people are missing the point about this song. If you grew up in England and went to a secondary school in the 1970s, and were an emotional and sensitive kid then you'd really get what this song is about! Listen to the lyrics. Pretty much my School late 1970s.
But why it was that bad in schools back in the days?
This song goes great with a whisky
The way the Marr's guitar and Morrissey's voice go together at 1:40 is one of my favorite parts in any Smiths song. Absolutely brilliant! I just love that sound on the Meat is Murder album.
Definitely one of my favorite Smiths songs! BRILLIANT! ❤
RIP Andy Rourke. Some awesome bass on this and, quite possibly, the greatest intro of all time!
My #1 Smith song.
Absolutely. Best track they ever put out, and that's saying a ton.
They make me feel so happy.
Still as awesome in 2021 as it was in 1984!!
The Very Best of The Smiths!
masterpiece
Indeed
Music doesn't get better than this
Never mind Morrissey today, this is perfect pop, nothing more, nothing less. As good as The Beatles.
TRUE
Better!
Still sounds as good as the first time I heard this in 1985👌
Yessss
Remember those school days so well. Some of the teachers were absolute bullying monsters.
I'm a kid of the 90s so didn't experience too much of that but definitely had one teacher who was a throwback of that era. An absolute bastard Mr McGuiness belittling, bullying tosser. Our other teacher gave him a black eye as picked up on his bullying antics with kids, wish I was there to witness it.
The smiths are timeless , love this song , sickening oh a massive fan
Timeless priceless ..marrs guitars rourke bass joyce drums moz vocals ..the combination will never be repeated ..Andy Rourke great loss..
This is a timeless song. The interplay between guitar and bass is extraordinary.. Also a very tricky vocal line. Great, great stuff.
We play it with my band... it is not as easy as it sounds ! I love this song
Respect. And ps: it doesn't sound easy.
@@JudgeHill im learning this on guitar and all i can play is the intro...
It’s insanely difficult. Props!
One of the most enjoyable guitar riffs
A favorite - timeless...
give up life as a bad mistake!
You again
Everyone talks about Johnny's guitar work but Andy's bassline is incredible
I have been listening to the Smiths since 1987, and I'm still listening now...
The BEST!!!👍🏾 Spineless swines, cemented minds. Same old suit since 1962!!!!
its gotta be one the greatest openings to any Smiths song..and there are many great ones..
Such a great song
@@benspicer7470 one of the best 😎🍻
Best bassline ever! Andy changed my life as a musician (and music lover) the very first time I heard this song. Rest in peace for this incredibly talented player.
Thank you Beth Funcasta, the classmate who introduced me to this song -- and by association, to the Smiths -- in the Summer of 1986, our summer, as we were both high-school grads that year.
I got introduced as a sophomore or junior...'86 or 7 by a kid named Jeff Nelson, asked me if I ever heard of them .. Lent me Louder Than Bombs...I was hooked instantly.
On this day, May 19th 2023, to the late great Andy Rourke! Gone much too soon at only 59. 🎸♥️
this song gut punches me every time, brilliant
holy fucking same
I've listened to this song an absurd amount in the past months
Abuse is never an excuse for abuse
Belligerent ghouls ran my school in Bath too. It was a brutal regime at secondary school in the late 70s
What a song writer. What a band. We are all here for the same reason cos we love the Smith's.
*This is the song that got me into The Smiths. Andy Rourke's bass playing is simply matchless.*
La mejor banda de la historia. 🤘🇲🇽
it’s nice to see someone who’s also mexican enjoying the smiths too ❤️🇲🇽
Si amigo , no hay nadie cómo Los Smiths 👍
Así es viva the smiths desde chile🇨🇱
Another one of my favorite songs when I started college at New College, Oxford. I listened, like many 1000's times over and over.