The Smiths

[Oz]

Oooh, I love that band. And I only just really got to know them this year. All this time I wasted! Anymore fans out here?

It's funny, I was listening to 'Unloveable' this morning and I thought that The Smiths should be the band that all those depressed goth-kids should listen to, instead of that Linkin'Park crap. :)

I know I'm unloveable
You don't have to tell me
I don't have much in my life
But take it - it's yours

I wear black on the outside
'cause black is how I feel on the inside

And if I seem a little strange
Well, that's because I am

[Oz]

The interesting thing is also that you never really know if Morrisey is serious here, or if he's just making fun of people who are like that. Probably both. :)

That band could learn those Marilyn Manson fans to laugh about themselves. Wouldn't that make the world just a little better?

[EC]

Oh, I think Morrissey's pretty serious.  :)

I love The Smiths.  I think the depressed goth kids from the 90s used to listen to them, and now, weirdly, he's really big among Spanish crowds.  (Oi! Esteban!)

Let's see, their albums in order of favourites (just The Smiths here, not him solo, right?) would have to beeeeee.....

Louder Than Bombs
The Queen is Dead
Strangeways Here We Come
The Smiths
RANK
Hatful of Hollow
Meat is Murder

Favourite songs...  I can't.  I couldn't.  Just about every song of theirs has a specific reaction from me.  Instead, how about favourite lines:

"Do you have a vacancy for a backscrubber"
"And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."
"Sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to mash every tooth in your head."
"I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday, because you're evil and you lie, and if you should die I may feel slightly sad, but I won't cry."
"Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it's serious."
"Reel around the fountain, slap me on the patio, I'll take it now"
"and the rocks below say throw your skinny body down, son"

Oh, I could go on forever.  

[MMJ_fanatic]

I have always loved "How soon is now?"

[EC]

Me, too.  If for nothing else than the hominyms (that is totally not the right way to spell it) of sun/son and air/heir.

And the entire rest of it.

[Oz]

Louder Than Bombs

I have 'The world won't listen', wich is the USA-version of that album and I prefer that one, because why the hell would they release 'Hand in glove' for the third time on an album?  :-/
So their releases were always a bit of a mess, but I totally agree way that Morrisey writes the best one-liners in the world. And the best song titles!

"Some girls are bigger than others"
"William, it was really nothing"
"Heaven knows I'm miserable now"
"Please, please, please let me get what I want"
"How soon is now?"
"Oscilate Wildly"
"That joke isn't funny anymore"
"Girlfriend in a coma"
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"

...yes, the list is endless.

 And fuck, ain't you just a true genius when you write a 2-minute song with a 1-minute chorus of kids singing 'Hang the DJ, hang the DJ...'?

[wordawg]

Lets not forget the talent that Johnny Marr brought to the party.  He is an incredible guitarist.  He was the hand in Morriseys glove.

[EC]

Very good pun.  Tremendous, in fact.

I love Johnny Marr.  I never got into his other stuff, though, and have heard it is excellent.  One of his bands (WAIT a minute, wasn't he playing for YES for a while?) came over here, and I really wanted to go, but couldn't.  

However, I also like Boz.  Not the same.  

(Here's a Morrissey story.  A friend of mine was dating an Irish guy for a while, and he grew up on Morrissey's street, and they hung out as kids.  They used to jam in his garage, this is early teens, and his Mom used to bring them out hot chocolate.  heh.  Why do I love hearing stuff like that?  Who doesn't like their Mom to bring them hot chocolate in the gold garage when they're jamming?  And yet, because it's Morrissey, I feel it's magical.  Maybe it's just because I have a little vision of him outside of the context of The Smiths.  He wasn't called Morrissey then.  Just Stephen.  Or is it Steven?  Anyhow...)

O, you've made me put on Louder Than Bombs again (which is my favourite), and you can't even believe the things I'm suddenly remembering.  The Smiths were a REALLY big part of my Univeristy life (yes, yes, it involved a boy), and we used to hang out in the living room, moody 70s lamps with red/orange shades, candles, red wine, spooning on the couch and just listening, and feeling generally quite angsty and melancholy, but in a good way.  

[Oz]

Yeah, I'm also curious to find out about Johnny Marr's later work. What has he done since? His songs are genius.

[dogandponyshow]

Didn't Marr put out an album within the last year ot two....O.K. quickly I checked and he put out a solo disc called Boomslang in February 2003.  Don't know a thing about it.

D.

[Coltrane]

Shoplifters of the world unite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dogandponyshow]

the old five finger discount....

D.

[EC]

Okay, woah.  Ha ha ha.  When I said "Yes", I meant "The The".  Whoops!

Anyhow, you can get 2 mp3s from www.johnnymarr.com.  You have to give them an email address, though...

Wow.  He's played with a LOT of people.  I didn't know he played on PSB's Behaviour.  Wow.  Neat-o.  And he played on Midnight Vultures, too.

[Zmog1974]

Its great that the yanks on this site love music so typically English...we gave you the Smiths and you gave us MMJ..pretty good swap

[EC]

I'm not a Yank.

(But thank you for The Smiths.)

We gave you Arcade Fire...  So we all share well.

[sweatboard]

I'm not a Yank.

(But thank you for The Smiths.)

We gave you Arcade Fire...  So we all share well.

yeah but you also gave us Shania Twain and Bryan Adams.  So................................................

[EC]

Don't forget Celine.  We mustn't forget her.

Also, um, RUSH.  And, ah, The Tragically Hip?  And The Guess Who!  And Ian and Sylvia!  and (did we beget Gordon Lightfoot?)  

Oh, well, and Buffie St. Marie.  I mean, come ON.

[SmoothOprtr]

How soon is now is a kick ass song...