Music and British Identity: The Smiths

Primary members: Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce
Band Biography
Albums of focus: The Smiths (1983), Hatful of Hollow (1984), Meat Is Murder (1984), Louder Than Bombs (1987); Morrissey's Viva Hate* (1987) and Your Arsenal** (1992)

Songs for study:

"You've Got Everything Now" (Live, at The Hacienda, Manchester, July 1983)


From Meat Is Murder (1984):
  1. "The Headmaster Ritual"
  2. "Rusholme Ruffians"
  3. "I Want the One I Can't Have"
  4. "What She Said"
  5. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"
  6. "Nowhere Fast"
  7. "Well I Wonder"
  8. "Barbarism Begins at Home"
  9. "Meat Is Murder"

Additional songs:

 

"You've Got Everything Now" (Live, at The Hacienda, Manchester, July 1983)


"Still Ill" - from The Smiths (1983)

I decree today that life
Is simply taking and not giving
England is mine - it owes me a living
But ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
Oh, ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
But we cannot cling to the old dreams anymore
No, we cannot cling to those dreams

Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body ?
I dunno...

Under 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 ?
Oh ...
Am I still ill ?
Oh ...

Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body ?
I dunno...

Ask me why, and I'll die
Oh, ask me why, and I'll die
And if you must go to work tomorrow
Well, if I were you I really wouldn't bother
For there are brighter sides to life
And I should know, because I've seen them
But not very often ...
Under 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 ?
Oh ...
Oh, am I still ill ?
Oh ...

 

"Suffer Little Children" - from The Smiths (1983)

Key: Myra Hindley and lover Ian Brady abducted and murdered several small children in and around Manchester during the 1960s (see class website link to "Moors Murders"). They buried several bodies on Saddleworth Moor, north of Manchester. Morrissey was the same age as several of the victims, like Lesley Anne Downey and John Kilbride, alluded to in the song.

"I happened to live on the streets where, close by, some of the victims had been picked up. Within that community, news of the crimes totally dominated all attempts at conversation for quite a few years. It was like the worst thing that had ever happened, and I was very, very aware of everything that occurred. Aware as a child who could have been a victim. All the details... You see it was all so evil; it was, if you can understand this, ungraspably evil. When something reaches that level it becomes almost... almost absurd really. I remember it at times like I was living in a soap opera..."

- Morrissey discussing the Moors Murders, The Face, 1985

Over the moor, take me to the moor
Dig a shallow grave
And I'll lay me down

Over the moor, take me to the moor
Dig a shallow grave
And I'll lay me down

Lesley-Anne, with your pretty white beads
Oh John, you'll never be a man
And you'll never see your home again
Oh Manchester, so much to answer for

Edward, see those alluring lights ?
Tonight will be your very last night

A woman said: "I know my son is dead
I'll never rest my hands on his sacred head"

Hindley wakes and Hindley says:
Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, and says :
"Oh, wherever he has gone, I have gone"

But fresh lilaced moorland fields
Cannot hide the stolid stench of death
Fresh lilaced moorland fields
Cannot hide the stolid stench of death

Hindley wakes and says:
Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, and says:
"Oh, whatever he has done, I have done"

But this is no easy ride
For a child cries:

"Oh, find me ... find me, nothing more
We are on a sullen misty moor
We may be dead and we may be gone
But we will be, we will be, we will be, right by your side
Until the day you die
This is no easy ride
We will haunt you when you laugh
Yes, you could say we're a team
You might sleep
You might sleep
You might sleep
But you will never dream!
Oh, you might sleep
But you will never dream!
You might sleep
But you will never dream!

Oh Manchester, so much to answer for
Oh Manchester, so much to answer for

Oh, find me, find me!
Find me!
I'll haunt you when you laugh
Oh, I'll haunt you when you laugh
You might sleep
But you will never dream!
Oh ...
Over the moors, I'm on the moor
Oh, over the moor
Oh, the child is on the moor

"Heavens Knows I'm Miserable Now" - from Hatful of Hollow (1984)

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die?

Two lovers entwined pass me by
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

In my life
Oh, why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die?

What she asked of me at the end of the day
Caligula would have blushed

"You've been in the house too long," she said
And I naturally fled

In my life
Why do I smile
At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

"You've been in the house too long," she said
And I naturally fled

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die?

 

"Accept Yourself" - from Hatful of Hollow (1984)

Every day you must say
So, how do I feel about my life?
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself?

I am sick and I am dull
And I am plain
How dearly I'd love to get carried away
Oh, but dreams have a knack of just not coming true
And time is against me now...oh

Oh, who and what to blame?
Oh, anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself, for heaven's sake?
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Every day you must say
Oh, how do I feel about the past?

Others conquered love - but I ran
I sat in my room and I drew up a plan
Oh, but plans can fall through (as so often they do)
And time is against me now...

And there's no one left to blame
Oh, tell me when will you ...
When will you accept your life?
(The one that you hate)
For anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Every day you must say
Oh, how do I feel about my shoes?

They make me awkward and plain
How dearly I would love to kick with the fray ...
But I once had a dream
(and it never came true)
And time is against me now...
Time is against me now...

And there's no one but yourself to blame
Oh, anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
Anything is hard to find; for heaven's sake!
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
When will you accept yourself?
When?
When?
When?
When?

 

"Panic" - from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

Note: Morrissey wrote this song as a response to DJ Steve Wright's insensitive placing of Wham's vacuous "I'm Your Man" directly after a news report of the horrible Chernobyl disaster. Done live, Morrissey often twirled a noose around, wearing a T-shirt with the "zany" Steve Wright's face stamped, like a passport, with "HANG THE DJ." This song often prompted Morrissey to discourse on his hatred of "puerile" dance music, which he refers to in this song. (source: It May All End Tomorrow web)

Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again ?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself
Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But Honey Pie, you're not safe here
So you run down
To the safety of the town
But there's Panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myself

Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ

Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ!

 

"Stretch Out and Wait" - from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

On the high-rise estates
What's at the back of your mind?
Oh, the three-day debate on a high-rise estates
What's at the back of your mind?

Two icy-cold hands conducting the way
It's the Eskimo blood in my veins
Amid concrete and clay
And general decay
Nature must still find a way
So ignore all the codes of the day
Let your juvenile impulses sway
This way and that way
This way, that way
God, how sex implores you
To let yourself lose yourself

Stretch out and wait
Stretch out and wait
Let your puny body lie down, lie down
As we lie, you say
As we lie, you say
Stretch out and ...
Stretch out and wait
Stretch out and wait
Let your puny body lie down, lie down

 

As we lie, you say :
Will the world end in the night time?
(I really don't know)
Or will the world end in the day time?
(I really don't know)
And is there any point ever having children?
(Oh, I don't know)
All I do know is we're Here and it's Now

So ... stretch out and wait
Stretch out and wait
There is no debate, no debate, no debate
How can you conciously contemplate
When there's no debate, no debate?
Stretch out and wait
Stretch out and wait
Stretch out and wait
Wait
Wait
Wait
Wait...

 

"Sheila Take a Bow" - from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

Is it wrong to want to live on your own?
No, it's not wrong--but I must know
How can someone so young
Sing words so sad?

Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow
Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear
And don't go home tonight
Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you

Is it wrong not to always be glad?
No, it's not wrong--but I must add
How can someone so young
Sing words so sad?

Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow
Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear
And don't go home tonight
Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you

Take my hand and off we stride
Oh, la la la la-la la la
You're a girl and I'm a boy
Oh, la la la la-la la la
Take my hand and off we stride
Oh, la la la la-la la la
I'm a girl and you're a boy

Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow
Oh, la la la la-la la la
Throw your homework into the fire
Come out and find the one you love
Come out and find the one that you love

 

"Ask" - from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to

Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to

So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me, I won't say, "no"
How could I?

Coyness is nice, and
Coyness can stop you
From saying all the things in
Life you'd like to

So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me, I won't say, "no"
How could I?

Spending warm, Summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg

Because if it's not Love
Then it's the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together

Nature is a language - can't you read ?
Nature is a language - can't you read ?

So, ask me, ask me, ask me!
Ask me, ask me, ask me!

Because if it's not Love
Then it's the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together

If it's not Love
Then it's the Bomb
Then it's the Bomb
That will bring us together

So, ask me, ask me, ask me!
Ask me, ask me, ask me!
Oh, la la la la la da la...

 

"Work Is a Four-Letter Word" - from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

Note: This song is a cover of a Cilla Black song, and it is one of many songs that shows the strong influence that 1960s women singers had on Morrissey.

Loving you is driving me crazy
People say that you were born lazy
'Cause you say that
Work Is A Four-Letter Word

So change your life
There is so much I know
That you can do
Come and see ...

Wide-awake
And take all of this love
That is waiting for you

If you stay
I'll stay right beside you
And my love
May help to remind you
To forget that
Work Is A Four-Letter Word

I don't need
A house that's a showplace
I just feel
That we're going no place
While you say that
Work Is A Four-Letter Word

So change your life
There is so much I know
You can do
Come and see ...

Wide-awake
And take all of this love
That is waiting for you

If you stay
I'll stay right beside you
And my love
Might help to remind you
To forget that
Work Is A Four-Letter Word
Oh ...

I don't need
A house that's a showplace
I just feel
That we're going no place
While you say that
Work Is A Four-Letter Word

So change your life
There is so much I know
That you can do
Please come and see ...

Wide-awake
And take all of this love
That is waiting for you

 

"Headmaster Ritual" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

Belligerent ghouls
run Manchester schools
spineless swines
cemented minds

Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old suit since 1962
He does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck

I wanna 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 wanna go home
I don't want to wanna stay

Belligerent ghouls
run Manchester schools
spineless bastards all

Sir leads the troops
jealous of youth
same old jokes since 1902
He does the military two-step
down the nape of my neck

I wanna 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

 

"Rusholme Ruffians" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

The last night of the fair
by the big wheel generator
a boy is stabbed
and his money is grabbed
and the air hangs heavy like a dulling wine
she is Famous
she is Funny
an engagement ring
doesn't mean a thing
to a mind consumed by brass (money)

and though I walk home alone
tough I walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout

the last night of the fair
from a seat on a whirling waltzer
her skirt ascends for a watching eye
it's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)
from a seat on a whirling waltzer
her skirt ascends for a watching eye
it's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)

and though I walk home alone
tough I walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout

then someone falls in love
and someone's beaten up
someone's beaten up
and the senses being dulled are mine
and someone falls in love
and someone's beaten up
and the senses being dulled are mine

and though I walk home alone
tough I walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout

this is the last night of the fair
and the grease in the hair
of a speedway operator
is all a tremulous heart requires
a schoolgirl is denied
she said: "How quickly would I die
if I jumped from the top of the parachutes?"

this is the last night of the fair
and the grease in the hair
of a speedway operator
is all a tremulous heart requires
a schoolgirl is denied
she said: "How quickly would I die
if I jumped from the top of the parachutes?"

so scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen
(this means you really love me)
scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen
(this means you really love me)

and though I walk home alone
I just might walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout
I might walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout
And I walk home alone
but my faith in love is still devout

 

"I Want the One I Can't Have" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

NME Interviewer: "One memorable couplet from your new record: 'A double bed, a stalwart lover for sure/These are the riches of the poor.'"

Morrissey: "That came from a sense I had that, trite as it may sound, when people get married and are getting their flat—not even their house, note—the most important thing was getting the double bed. It was like the prized exhibit; the cooker, the fire, everything else came later. In the lives of many working class people the only time they feel they're the centre of attention is on their wedding day. Getting married, regrettably is still the one big event in their lives. It's the one day when they're quite special..."

- Morrissey on "I Want The One I Can't Have", NME, 22/29 December 1984

On the day that your mentality
decides to try to
catch up with your biology
come 'round

Cause I want the one I can't have
and it's driving me mad
it's written all over, all over, all over my face

On the day that your mentality
catches up with your biology

I want the one I can't have
and it's driving me mad
it's all over all over all over my face

A double-bed
and a stalwart lover, for sure
these are the riches of the poor

A double-bed
and a stalwart lover, for sure
these are the riches of the poor

And I want the one I can't have
and it's driving me mad
it's all over all over my face

A tough kid who sometimes swallows nails
raised on Prisoner's Aid
He killed a policeman when he was thirteen
and somehow that really impressed me
it's written all over my face

these are the riches of the poor
these are the riches of the poor

I want the one I can't have
and it's driving me mad
it's written all over my face

On the day that your mentality
catches up with your biology

And if you ever need self-validation
just meet me in the alley by the railway-station
it's written all over my face

 

"What She Said" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

What she said:
"How come someone hasn't noticed
that I'm dead
and decided to bury me
God knows, I'm ready..."
La-di-da-di-da

What she said was sad
but then, all the rejection she's had
to pretend to be happy
could only be idiocy
La-di-da-di-da

What she said was not for the job or
lover that she never had

What she read
all heady books
she'd sit and prophesise
(it took a tattoed boy from Birkenhead
to really really open her eyes)

What she read
all heady books
she'd sit and prophesise
(it took a tattoed boy from Birkenhead
to really really open her eyes)

What she said:
"I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an
early death,
and I need to cling to something!"
What she said:
"I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an
early death,
and I need to cling to something!"

 

"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

"When I wrote the words for that, I was just so completely tired of all the same old journalistic questions and people trying, you know, this contest of wit, trying to drag me down and prove that I was a complete fake. And I was tired of that because it just seemed that, like, even the people within popular music, even the people within the music industry, didn't have that much faith in it as an art form. And they wanted to really get rid of all these people who are trying to make some sense out of the whole thing. And I found that really distressing."

- Morrissey on "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore," Melody Maker, 16 March 1985

Park the car at the side of the road
you should know
time's tide will smother you
and I will too

when you laugh about people who feel so
very lonely
their only desire is to die
well I'm afraid
it doesn't make me smile
I wish I could laugh

but that joke isn't funny anymore
it's too close to home
and it's too near the bone
it's too close to home
and it's too near the bone
more than you'll ever know

kick them when they fall down
kick them when they fall down
Why must you
kick them when they fall down,
kick them when they fall down?

Why must you
kick them when they fall down,
kick them when they fall down?
Why must you
kick them when they fall down,
kick them when they fall down?

It was dark as I drove the point home
and on cold leather seats
well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my
face after all

I've seen this happen in other people's lives
and now it's happening in mine
(repeat last two lines to fade)

 

"Nowhere Fast" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

I'd like to drop my trousers to the world
I am a man of means (of slender means)
each household appliance
is like a new science in my town

and if the day came when I felt a
natural emotion
I'd get such a shock I'd probably jump
in the ocean
and when a train goes by
it's such a sad sound
it's such a sad thing

I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen
every sensible child will know what this means
the poor and the needy
are selfish and greedy on her terms

and if the day came when I felt a
natural emotion
I'd get such a shock I'd probably jump
in the ocean
and when a train goes by
it's such a sad sound
it's such a sad thing

And when I'm lying in my bed
I think about life
and I think about death
and neither one particularly appeals to me

and if the day came when I felt a
natural emotion
I'd get such a shock I'd probably lie
in the middle of the street and die
I'd lie down and die

 

"Well I Wonder" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

Well I wonder
do you hear me when you sleep?
I hoarsely cry

Well I wonder
do you see me when we pass?
I half-die

Please keep me in mind
please keep me in mind

Gasping—but somehow still alive
this is the fierce last stand of all I am

 

Gasping—dying—but somehow still alive
this is the final stand of all I am

Please keep me in mind

Well I wonder
Well I wonder
Please keep me in mind
keep me in mind
keep me in mind

 

"Barbarism Begins at Home" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

Morrissey, March 1985: "From the time you get hit when you're a child, as covered in a song called 'Barbarism Begins At Home', violence is the only answer. Conversation is pointless." 

Unruly boys
who will not grow up
must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
who will not settle down
they must be taken in hand
A crack on the head
is what you get for not asking
and a crack on the head
is what you get for asking

(repeat above 2 verses, then 2nd only)

A crack on the head
is just what you get
why because of who you are
and a crack on the head
is just what you get
why because of what you are

A crack on the head
because of
the things you said, or didn't say
the things you do

Unruly boys
who will not grow up
must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
who will not grow up
they must be taken in hand

 

"Meat Is Murder" - from Meat Is Murder (1984)

"It is a direct statement. Of all the political topics to be scrutinised people are still disturbingly vague about the treatment of animals. People still seem to believe that meat is a particular substance not at all connected to animals playing in the field over there. People don't realise how gruesomely and frighteningly the animal gets to the plate..."
- Morrissey, NME, 22/29 December 1984

Heifer whines could be human cries
closer comes the screaming knife

this beautiful creature must die
this beautiful creature must die
a death for no reason
and death for reason is murder
and the flesh you so fancifully fry
is not succulent, tasty or nice kind
it's death for no reason
and death for no reason is murder

and the calf that you carve with a smile
is murder
and the turkey you festively slice
is murder

do you know how animals die?

kitchen aromas aren't very homely

it's not "comforting," "cheery," or "kind"
it's sizzling blood and the unholy stench
of murder
it's not "natural," "normal," or "kind"
the flesh you so fancifully fry
the meat in your mouth
as you savour the flavour
of murder

NO, NO, NO, IT'S MURDER
NO, NO, NO, IT'S MURDER

and who hears when animals cry?

 

"Margaret on the Guillotine" - from Viva Hate (1987)

Note: This song is an obvious pointed attack on then British PM Margaret Thatcher. As a result of the song, Morrissey's flat was searched by the police. He documented this moment in a later song, "He Knows I'd Love to See Him":

Oh, my name still conjures up deadly deeds
And a bad taste in the mouth
And the police - they actually know me
They said :

"You're just another person in the world
You're just another fool with radical views
You're just another who has maddening views ...

The kind people
Have a wonderful dream
Margaret On The Guillotine
Cause people like you
Make me feel so tired
When will you die ?
When will you die ?
When will you die ?
When will you die ?
When will you die ?

And people like you
Make me feel so old inside
Please die

And kind people
Do not shelter this dream
Make it real
Make the dream real
Make the dream real
Make it real
Make the dream real
Make it real

 

"The National Front Disco" - from Your Arsenal (1992)

David, the wind blows
The wind blows ...
Bits of your life away
Your friends all say ...
"Where is our boy ? Oh, we've lost our boy"
But they should know
Where you've gone
Because again and again you've explained that
You're going to ...

Oh, you're going to ...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
England for the English !
England for the English !

David, the winds blow
The winds blow ...
All of my dreams away
And I still say :
"Where is our boy ? Ah, we've lost our boy"
But I should know
Why you've gone
Because again and again you've explained
You've gone to the ...

National, ah ...
To the National ..
There's a country; you don't live there
But one day you would like to
And if you show them what you're made of
Oh, then you might do ...

But David, we wonder
We wonder if the thunder
Is ever really gonna begin
Begin, begin
Your mom says :
"I've lost my boy"
But she should know
Why you've gone
Because again and again you've explained
You've gone to the :

National
To the National
To the National Front Disco
Because you want the day to come sooner
You want the day to come sooner
You want the day to come sooner
When you've settled the score

Oh, the National
Oh, the National
Oh, the National
Oh, the National
Oh, the National