SOUNDTRACK: THE SMITHS-The Queen Is Dead (1986).
Years ago, when I was a young metal head, my friend Garry expanded my musical palette by introducing me to a lot of college rock (or whatever it was called back then). The album that had the most impact on me back then was this one, The Queen Is Dead.
Unlike most listeners and fans of The Smiths, I was first drawn to them because I found this album to be very funny. Now, true, Morrissey is a funny, literate writer, but the general consensus is that the Smiths are mopey, sad, depressive, you know, goth. I guess I was more interested in the words than the music at the time?
And of course, it was “Bigmouth Strikes Again” that really sold the deal for me, as “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt…when the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt,” is pretty twisted and funny. [To the sticklers: all these lyrics are paraphrased somewhat]. And “Vicar in a Tutu” is weird and wonderful, with a rollicking skiffle beat that propels the song at a mighty pace as the vicar “comes sliding down the banister.”
Even “There is Light that Never Goes Out” is a depressing sing about dying together, and yet the phrasing is pretty darn funny: “If a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” And lest we forget the peculiar disc ender, “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others.” Certainly a true statement regardless of whatever he’s talking about.
My introduction to this disc was in the days of cassettes, and we listened to side 2 a lot, but side 1 is also fantastic. The title track is a great opener: fabulous melody, rocking drums and a great verse about Morrissey breaking into the palace and being told by the Queen that he cannot sing. Next, “Frankly Mr Shankly” is a 2 minute poppy song, also twisted, with lines about “making Christmas cards with the mentally ill.” And “Cemetery Gates” is a twisted little fun piece which namechecks Keats, Yates and Oscar Wilde.
And lest we forget the rest of the band, the music on this disc is varied and wonderful. The music of “The Queen is Dead” is funky bass, smashing drums and the gorgeous guitars of Johnny Marr. Since The Smiths broke up, Morrissey has been in the spotlight far more than Johnny Marr. Morrissey’s solo career is flying pretty well these days, while Marr has been a sideman in a lot of different bands (currently Modest Mouse).
Johnny Marr’s guitar playing has always been a fascinating mix of textures and effects. No one would say that he was a show offy guitarist–I don’t think there are any solos in his career at all–but the sounds he creates are weird and more than appropriate to the songs. I’ve been playing guitar for years and I’m not even sure how he makes some of those sounds.
The Smiths were a great band, and this is one of my favorite albums.
[READ: April 10, 2009] Daylight Runner
My friends Louise and Ailish told me that they met this author in their hiking group. I imagine all kinds of interesting Irish folks climbing the coastline of Ireland talking literature…. Anyhow, when they told me about this author I pictured a fledgling writer who was trying to get his book published…and they read it and thought it was really good. I was intrigued, and Louise said she’d send me a copy. And she did.
What I didn’t realize is that she was able to order it from Amazon, and that McGann is a rather prolific author in Ireland. He is primarily known for his kids and YA books. So they know a widely respected and published author. That is almost as cool as my friend Christopher being taught by Roddy Doyle before he wrote The Commitments. (more…)
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Just as I had seen Neil Young less than a year ago, so I had seen Modest Mouse less than a year ago. The last show I saw with them was a sort of preview of the then unreleased new album. Now the album is out and there’s a single from it and everything. This show was announced very quickly and it was in the Levitt Pavillion at Steelstacks, a venue I didn’t know, but which I will certainly return to.
I Just Read About That... 