cmon! it can't just be me! xx

Who are the Smiths?

:) the band Morrissey was in. They were around in the 80'S and early 90's x

They are one of the few bands that I just can't bring myself to like. I know they write well, I know they perform well, I know, I ,know, I know.

Then a couple of months ago I found out what the problem was when I saw them play (minus Morrisey) at the Manchester -v- Cancer gig, and I really, I mean really enjoyed it.

The problem of course is Morrisey. Everyone else on stage seemed to think the same thing too :)

haha! thats suprising for me! as i love the bloke haha x

I was/am a big Smiths fan Jade_x - saw them play at Derby assembly rooms for 'The Old Grey Whistle Test on the road' - superb.
I reckon my favoutite tracks would have to be 'Reel around the fountain' and the criminally under-rated 'Jeane'.

The Smiths fitted my adolescent years perfectly, and god knows I needed them! People said they were depressing, but if your life really WAS that bad, they were a support and a lifeline and an inspiration to get out and make the life I wanted. I adored them. And their reference points were like a cultural education. They were my first gig (Meat is Murder tour, I was 13 or 14). By the time the band came to an end I'd finally made some proper friends so didn't *need* them like I did before. Perfect timing really.

But despite all that, I too found Morrissey bothersome. Johnny Marr was the coolest. :cool: And he had the good grace to marry a woman with my real name which certainly helped me through those years of torrid hormonal fantasising! :love:

I love the Smiths. So, what's yer favourite album/song, Jade?

Are you going to see Morrissey at V this year??

"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" has to be one of the top ten songs in the last 20 years IMHO.

And Johnny Marr's intro to "This Charming Man" is up there with the very best.

i love morrissey - and am off to rome tonight to see him on sunday!

:)

I had to admit defeat when they released Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and bought the single. I'd tried so hard to dislike them but during a lesson at school we watched TOTP (summer 1984) and the Smiths were on, alongside the likes of Duran Duran and FGTH.

They obviously stood out from everybody else, what with Mozza wearing his National Health spectacles and hearing aid, but also Johnny Marr with his Rickenbacker guitar and Beatle-style haircut. I mentioned some rather nasty words to my schoolmate (and fellow guitarist) and thought little else about them. But then along came HKIMN with the jangly guitars and Morrissey's deadpan voice and I caved in.

I'm glad I did.

They wrote singles like to some extent the Beatles did: good, catchy 2 or three minute songs that made good singles. They spoilt us with b-sides (again, as the Beatles used to). The singles were an insight into their forthcoming albums all of which I still play regularly today. The opener on Meat Is Murder is a magnificent piece of music - the whole resonance, the weight of the lyric, the rhythm guitarwork. I'm talking about Barbarism Begins At Home. Morrissey's lyrics I never deemed miserable; beneath the obvious weight of the subject lies a gentle humour that if indeed you did feel a bit left out, a bit not like the others or simply as I did from time to time, upset due to relationships - or lack of - you could listen to Morrissey, shed a tear (either at his problems or your own [I never quite worked out whose sadness I was crying about]) and then laugh at the whole thing.

Lyrics to songs like Girl Afraid have me in stitches. But songs like Girlfriend in a Coma are touching, discussing somewhat taboo subjects. 'Let me whisper my last goodbyes I know it's serious.' From the same album, one of my favourite tunes of all time, Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me - that was where I was at in the autumn of 1987!! That was ME!!!

What is strange is that I continued to be a fan of Morrissey (saw him at the City Hall in 1993) yet his politics are miles away from mine. Thus, I don't agree with every thing he says. But he remains genuine and I have to admit I love the guy. He is also - whether you like the sound of his voice or not - an excellent singer (try I Have Forgiven Jesus track off his recent Quarry album).

I don't care about folk who don't like the Smiths/Morrissey. IMO I just don't think they quite get it. But they helped me through the 1980s and Morrissey has done since then. And yet I love the music of the Beatles, Bee Gees, Abba - all good songwriters/melodists - and the works of Mozart, Dvorak and Grieg.

'Oh the alcoholic afternoons, when we sat in your room; they meant more to me than any living thing on earth.'

I loved The Smiths for a few years. Marrs guitar work alone should hold them up as great. Morrissey is a funny character though because on the one hand he is great, and on the other hand hes a big idiot. I find it easier to love The Smiths than i do to love Morrissey.

anyone wanna form a smiths tribute band?

'Oh the alcoholic afternoons, when we sat in your room; they meant more to me than any living thing on earth.'

Brilliant post Ousetunes - and the above quote illustrates the power of The Smiths...

I actually felt a full-on shiver down my spine when I read it

I suppose I'd almost forgotten, but they played that at the Assembly Rooms in Derby all those years ago - it struck me then, as it still does today as an incredibly poignant line, that's heavy with romance and meaning and all the intensity that can come with being a teenager. Magic.

Thank you Halibut.

As a musician myself (guitarist who has written his own stuff since 1983) I am massively influenced by the workd of Morrissey/Marr. Very often, what makes music great is what you leave out, not what you put in. Mozza's lyrics had this effect: 'A shoeless girl on a swing/reminds you of your own again' is a great example. It captures an image, a place and within it a feeling. A load of Morrissey's lyrics, especially from their eponymous album and on Hatful of Hollow I can easily picture, but they're always in black and white.

When Morrissey says 'I took you behind a disused railway line' you can't only see it but you can smell it, the rusty rails, the weeds growing between the sleepers and the brick outbuildings no doubt covered in graffiti. For me to get the same effect, I'd have to write a whole verse; Morrissey does it in one line!

When Strangeways came along I was in my own pit of despair. I wrote some beautiful songs most of which incorporated the use of the capo, inspired by Johnny Marr. Nineteen years on these songs are as good as anything I wrote, draping sparse chords over very sad words (like cobwebs hanging in the corner of an empty room in which I lay on the bare floor, sobbing my little heart out!).

Anyway, here's another little Mozza gem that always tickled me: 'And when we're in your scholarly room, who will swallow whom - you handsome devil'!!

Thank you Halibut.

As a musician myself (guitarist who has written his own stuff since 1983) I am massively influenced by the workd of Morrissey/Marr. Very often, what makes music great is what you leave out, not what you put in. Mozza's lyrics had this effect: 'A shoeless girl on a swing/reminds you of your own again' is a great example. It captures an image, a place and within it a feeling. A load of Morrissey's lyrics, especially from their eponymous album and on Hatful of Hollow I can easily picture, but they're always in black and white.

When Morrissey says 'I took you behind a disused railway line' you can't only see it but you can smell it, the rusty rails, the weeds growing between the sleepers and the brick outbuildings no doubt covered in graffiti. For me to get the same effect, I'd have to write a whole verse; Morrissey does it in one line!

When Strangeways came along I was in my own pit of despair. I wrote some beautiful songs most of which incorporated the use of the capo, inspired by Johnny Marr. Nineteen years on these songs are as good as anything I wrote, draping sparse chords over very sad words (like cobwebs hanging in the corner of an empty room in which I lay on the bare floor, sobbing my little heart out!).

Anyway, here's another little Mozza gem that always tickled me: 'And when we're in your scholarly room, who will swallow whom - you handsome devil'!!
Do you still go down to the Malin, Ousetunes? I think a pint or two might be in order. Again, I find myself agreeing. You're spot on with your point about the 'disused railway line' lyric. 'Beneath the iron bridge we kissed and although i ended up with sore lips, it just wasn't like the old days anymore, no it wasn't like those days, am I still ill?'
Bloody hell, getting goosebumps now. By the way have you ever been able to work out a decent arrangement for Still Ill? I've tried and never seem quite able to capture it. PM me if you ever fancy a trip to the Malin or a jam.

Being from Salford I was a massive fan. My friend and her sister were ginger haired geeky looking girls and I still occasionally see them in the video for "There is a light..." riding their bikes around Salford.

How Soon is Now - still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

See I've already waited too long...

Being from Salford I was a massive fan. My friend and her sister were ginger haired geeky looking girls and I still occasionally see them in the video for "There is a light..." riding their bikes around Salford.

How Soon is Now - still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

See I've already waited too long...

I think my Smiths collection will be taking some hammer later today... it says something about the power of the music that we have grown men here waxing lyrical and talking about hair standing on end and goosebumps.

' I dreamt about you last night - and I fell out of bed twice '....

Songs with superb lyrics and excellent music: yes. See Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg et al.

Morrisey singing those lyrics: no. I hate to break up the mutual strokeathon, but it can't just be me who thinks the man's voice is about as appealing as fingernails down a blackboard...

Left your tired family grieving and they think you're sad because you're leaving, but did you see the jealousy in the eyes in the ones who had to stay behind? (London)

The note I wrote as she read, she said 'Has the Perrier gone straight to my head or is life sick and cruel instead'? (I Won't Share You)

I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen every sensible child will know what this means...,
I think about life and I think about death and neither one particularly appeals to me..., (Nowhere Fast)

No! I cannot steal a pair of jeans off a clothes line for you - for you without clothes oh I could not keep a straight face; me without clothes well a nation turns its back and GAGS! (Late Night, Maudlin Street)

Songs with superb lyrics and excellent music: yes. See Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg et al.

Morrisey singing those lyrics: no. I hate to break up the mutual strokeathon, but it can't just be me who thinks the man's voice is about as appealing as fingernails down a blackboard...

Now, now :nono: you know as well as I do that there is no-one to hand out tissues at the moment :hihi:

My dad and a close friend of his used to work on the gas in Warrington, occaisionaly they would work with a slightly older bloke.
They knew that the older bloke desparied at his son; he didn't have a job, didn't want a job, just wanted to play music, and subsequently flitted from band to band.
On quiet days, they would ask after the bloke's son, knowing full well the ensuing rant would last a good few minutes and ease the boredom.
One day when they asked how his Johnny was he responded:

"The useless git still wont get himself a job, he's just joined another band. The Joneses or something, he'll never get anywhere with this music lark."

I think you can guess Johnny's surname!!

:cool:

Aw, it was marvellous to have the Smiths around in those tricky mid-to-late teenage years.

Best lyric: "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!""

Still haven't fathomed the fuss over "You Are The Quarry" though, it's got a couple of great tracks and tons of filler on it IMHO.

I would not go as far as to say "I loved The Smiths". However, no music lover can deny they are one of the most influencial bands of the twentieth century.
Morrissey and Marr had one of those special relationships that bore some of the finest pieces of music, not only of their own generation, but music that spanned (and will continue to span) future generations.

'There is a light that never goes out'... Beautiful.

When your in the mood 'Frankly, Mr Shankly' is brilliant. :)

------------

Ouch. I remember the times coming home from a night out and feeling eternally lonely, and all that could help was this.

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

Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Morrissey)

"Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head".

Classic lines from a classic band. Morrissey was cool and I loved that quiff!

i cant find a favourite song! its far too difficult
i think my favourite album is either Strangeways Here We Come or The Queen is dead but now i say that i think about all the other really good songs on the others!
its loads hard xxx

oh god Frankly Mr Shankly is well amazing

"Frankly Mr Shankly since you ask, you are a flatulent pain in the arse"

*****

"And if a double decker bus, smashes into us
To die by your side, what a heavenly way to die.

And if a ten ton truck, kills the both of us
To die by your side, well the pleasure and the privilege is mine....."

Johnny Marr was cool. had a big crush on Morrissey, shame he's gay. And I never really liked his politics - too extreme for me. But, could never bring myself to listen to the animal screams on "Meat is Murder".

They were my favourite band of all time when I was a teenager. Saw Morrissey at the City Hall in 92 I think. Bit disappointing as he never spoke, and didn't sing any Smiths songs. Main regret, never going to see them when i had the chance. Ah well. I missed that documentary about him in LA, it looked really good.

oh i didnt realise that you wrote poetry
i didnt realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry
hah!

I booked myself in at the Y WCA i said i like it here can I stay and do you have a vacncy for a back scrubber............

pure class as are The Smiths the fact that they still sound great after all this time proves it.

i have the C4 documentry - might be able to do a vcd of it

wow! that would be amazing

actually http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-rY9WowlCg&search=morrissey%20the%20importance

but if your computer is slow or your on dial up i can burn you a copy

I think my Smiths collection will be taking some hammer later today... it says something about the power of the music that we have grown men here waxing lyrical and talking about hair standing on end and goosebumps.

' I dreamt about you last night - and I fell out of bed twice '....

Strictly speaking though, they aren't Morrisey lyrics.... they were pinched straight from "A Taste of Honey"..... :)

My favourites are: "And on cold leather seats, well it suddenly stuck me, I just might die with a smile on my face after all...."

And Sweet & Tender Hooligan is one of my most favouritist songs.... but I love 'em all.

I loved the Smiths.

One of the very greatest bands ever - a band that demanded your mind, your heart and your very soul. The epitome of what a band should be like. A band to live your life with.

And Johnny Marr was something else - I remember when I first saw him, I just couldn't take my eyes off him. Rock 'n roll personified. Just EXACTLY my idea of what a rock 'n roll hero should look and be like. Cool as f***.

Still a fantastic-looking bloke today - and still as cool as they come :love:

And not a bad guitarist either..... :o :)

StarSparkle

'Oh the alcoholic afternoons, when we sat in your room; they meant more to me than any living thing on earth.'

I've just read this while looking back through the thread, and can feel the goosebumps all over me.

StarSparkle

Further to my earlier correspondence...,

I was in Rhodes in July/August 1987 when I heard they were about to split-up. I felt an enormous sense of dread wash over me, like 'what am I going to do?' That autumn they released their final album, Strangeways, Here We Come and gladly they left us in style.

A Rush And A Push is a rarity in that it is a Smiths song without any guitars. That intro, fading in, takes me back to late 1987 when I'd got back from an all night recording session in Driffield. Absolutely shattered I hit my bed mid-afternoon on a Friday as it was going dark (and cold) and drifted off to sleep. I awoke to dash off to the West End pub on Glossop Road where I got wrecked on beer and wine ('and so I drunk one it became four - and when I fell on the floor I drank more') before staggering home to fall asleep with my CD player, light and more interestingly, shoes on. (My diary states this in true clarity!!)

I was absolutely besotted on a young female around this time whom I first met back in Nethergreen in 1981. I wanted her so bad but I was so shy and frightened of being hurt (and I certainly was hurt). Again, as I stated earlier, when I heard Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me I was sure, so sure, that Morrissey wrote it for me - 'so tell me how long before the right one?' and best of all 'no hope, no harm, just another false alarm.' Gosh, Mozza's voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - he really meant it; I really felt it.

Deflated and sadenned by another set back in my quest to get this girl (I later realised she was giving me the 'come on' all along, but I was naive indeed) I'd go home drunk and listen to Strangeways. It was almost akin to putting the fire on in a cold, damp room.

I would drift off to sleep, probably - if I could last that long - whispering 'I won't share you' to myself. 'I'll see you some time, I'll see you some place', the 'oh' of resignation joined by Marr's harmonica blues creating some kind of cold soundscape (very northern too) as I lay there hoping and waiting (yet secretly knowing I would never get what I so desperately wanted).

No other group or lyricist could have this affect on me.

To lighten the mood a little, and whilst we're on this album, howabout this lyric to close with: 'I crashed down on the cross bar and the pain was enough to make a shy boy Buddhist reflect and plan a mass murder - who said I'd lie to her?'

ohhhhhhhhh!I just feel so emotional reading all this.Brings it all back.My mum had just died when i really got into the Smiths.{i was just 17].Morrissey's lyrics combined with Marr's guitar just made it all so bearable,in a strange kinda way.
I'm a teacher now and tho I realise kids these days still get comfort from the music they play,I sincerely beieve that the Smiths would be even bigger these days if they reformed.I live in hope....

I wasn't madly keen on The Smiths but I think Morrisey is a fasinating person.

[QUOTE=marshy
I'm a teacher now and tho I realise kids these days still get comfort from the music they play,I sincerely beieve that the Smiths would be even bigger these days if they reformed.I live in Hope....[/QUOTE]

You live in Hope? What, near Ye Derwent Arms? Ha!!

I jest of course. But you have a point with the 'music' kids listen to today. All this rap and r & b about blowing each other up, drugs and laydeeez. No wonder our kids are so aggressive!!

Get some Mozza on in the classroom and you'll have kids wearing gladioli in their back trouser pockets, reading 'Keats and Yates and Wilde' and pining about being a 'back scrubber' at the YWCA.

Teach them the lyrics to Miserable Lie - 'I look at yours, you laugh at mine'; that'll break down the barriers in the shower-room.

On the other hand they might throw some lyrics from The Headmaster Ritual at you. 'Sir leads the troops, jealous of youth same old joke since 1902 / He does the military two-step down the nape of my neck...I wanna go home!'

Go on, show 'em what they're missing (or should that be missin'?).

I feel like I've grown up with Morrissey with all his angst and self-hatred in the 80s and his.....er....angst and self hatred in the noughties.....Didn't like all of the Smiths stuff (it became a bit samey after a while) but now love Morrissey's recent stuff including latest CD

Watched DVD of live show last week and was amazed that loads of young men still literally throw themselves on stage to cop a feel of Mozzer. He has affected so many with his music.

The only person who coes close in my book is The Boss, Bruce Springsteen another one I feel I've grown up with.

TF

they actually were the songs that saved your life