The Smiths remain one of the most influential and beloved bands to emerge from the 1980s. Their songs, characterized by Morrissey’s distinctive vocals and introspective lyrics alongside Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar riffs, resonated deeply with a generation seeking something beyond the synth-pop mainstream. More than just music, The Smiths Songs became anthems of outsiderdom, blending poignant melancholy with sharp wit and a distinctly English sensibility. This article delves into the world of the smiths songs, exploring their key themes, lyrical genius, and enduring appeal.
Deconstructing The Smiths’ Unique Sound and Lyrical Themes
The Smiths songs carved out a unique space in the musical landscape. Emerging from Manchester, they rejected the prevailing trends of synth-heavy pop, opting instead for a guitar-driven sound reminiscent of 60s jangle-pop but infused with a modern, introspective edge. Johnny Marr’s intricate guitar work provided the melodic backbone, while Morrissey’s lyrics explored themes of alienation, unrequited love, social awkwardness, and everyday English life, often peppered with literary references and dark humor.
Melancholy and Teenage Angst: The Heart of The Smiths Songs
A defining characteristic of the smiths songs is their exploration of melancholy and teenage angst. Songs like “How Soon Is Now?” perfectly encapsulate this feeling. The tremolo-laden guitar riff creates an atmosphere of unease and introspection, while Morrissey’s lyrics, “I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar,” speak directly to feelings of inadequacy and social anxiety.
The line, famously borrowed from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, showcases Morrissey’s literary influences and his ability to elevate personal feelings to a more universal, almost literary level of expression. This blend of high and low culture is a hallmark of the smiths songs.
Wit and Humor: Finding Lightness in the Dark
Despite the often-melancholic tone, the smiths songs are also infused with a sharp wit and dark humor. This is evident in tracks like “Frankly, Mr. Shankly,” with the self-deprecating line, “I want to live and I want to love / I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of.” This lyric encapsulates the band’s ability to find humor in bleak situations, embracing the absurdity of life and relationships.
“Half a Person” further exemplifies this comedic element with its opening line, “Call me morbid, call me pale.” It’s a line that could easily be lifted from Oscar Wilde, highlighting Morrissey’s penchant for witty self-deprecation and literary camp. The song’s narrative, about a young person’s dramatic life story, delivered with a hint of irony, showcases the band’s ability to blend grandiosity with bathos.
Englishness and Identity: Rooted in Manchester
The Smiths songs are deeply rooted in a specific sense of Englishness, particularly Mancunian identity. Morrissey’s lyrics often reference British culture, places, and social realities. This is evident in “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” where the video features iconic Manchester locations like Strangeways Prison and Salford Lads Club.
The song’s references to “NHS glasses,” “flowers,” and “standing up for the dork,” as described by Johnny Marr, encapsulate the band’s self-created world, one that championed the ordinary and celebrated a particular type of Englishness that resonated with many. This wasn’t a jingoistic nationalism, but rather an exploration of everyday British life, with its quirks, anxieties, and social nuances.
Literary Influences and Lyrical Depth
The Smiths songs are rich with literary references, showcasing Morrissey’s wide-ranging reading and intellectual depth. From Oscar Wilde to George Eliot, the lyrics are peppered with allusions that add layers of meaning and sophistication. This literary quality set them apart from many of their contemporaries and contributed to their enduring appeal among intellectually curious listeners.
The band’s vocabulary was also notably extensive. Reportedly, Morrissey employed a wider range of vocabulary than any other band from Manchester, using around 1,100 unique words in his lyrics. This linguistic richness, combined with the literary allusions, elevated the smiths songs beyond typical pop lyrics, making them closer to poetry set to music.
Analyzing Key Tracks: A Deeper Dive into The Smiths’ Songbook
To further understand the brilliance of the smiths songs, let’s analyze a few key tracks in more detail:
“Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”: Irony and Identity
“Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” is a prime example of The Smiths’ ironic and complex approach to identity and relationships. The song navigates themes of heartbreak and confusion with lines like, “I still love you, only slightly, only slightly less than I used to.” This lyric is both humorous and cutting, capturing the bittersweet nature of fading love.
The song also touches upon themes of violence and social alienation, with the lines: “I was detained, I was restrained / and broke my spleen and broke my knee / And then he really lays into me.” This hints at a darker undercurrent in the smiths songs, reflecting societal anxieties and personal vulnerabilities.
“Half a Person”: Self-deprecation and Dramatic Flair
“Half a Person” is a masterclass in self-deprecation and dramatic flair. The opening line, “Call me morbid, call me pale,” immediately establishes a persona of theatrical melancholy. The song’s narrative, about a young person recounting their life story, is both humorous and poignant.
The lyric, “If you have five seconds to spare, let me tell you the story of my life,” is particularly witty, especially when considering Morrissey’s later autobiographical endeavors. The song’s blend of self-awareness and melodrama is quintessentially Smiths.
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”: Romanticism and Absurdity
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” is perhaps one of the smiths songs most beloved for its romanticism, yet it’s also tinged with a characteristic Smiths-esque absurdity. The opening lines, “Take me out tonight / Where there’s music and there’s people / And they’re young and alive,” are immediately inviting, yet the song quickly veers into darker territory.
The famous lines, “And if a double-decker bus / Crashes into us / To die by your side / Is such a heavenly way to die,” blend romantic longing with a darkly humorous acceptance of mortality. This juxtaposition of poignancy and absurdity is central to the song’s appeal and to the broader ethos of the smiths songs.
“How Soon Is Now?”: Anxiety and Yearning
“How Soon Is Now?” is an iconic smiths song that perfectly captures feelings of social anxiety and yearning for connection. The song’s swirling, tremolo-drenched guitar riff is instantly recognizable and creates an atmosphere of both unease and longing.
Morrissey’s lyrics, “I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar,” express a profound sense of social awkwardness and self-consciousness. The song’s repetitive structure and building intensity mirror the cyclical nature of anxiety and the desperate desire for change.
“Suffer Little Children”: Confronting Dark Realities
“Suffer Little Children” is a more controversial and less widely known smiths song, but it is a powerful example of their willingness to confront difficult and disturbing subject matter. The song directly addresses the Moors Murders, a series of child killings that haunted Manchester.
Morrissey’s lyrics are unflinching in their depiction of the tragedy, aiming to confront the horror rather than shy away from it. While controversial, the song is a testament to The Smiths’ artistic courage and their willingness to engage with complex and painful aspects of reality.
The Enduring Legacy of The Smiths Songs
The Smiths songs continue to resonate with listeners decades after their release. Their unique blend of melancholy, wit, literary depth, and English sensibility created a distinctive and enduring sound. Morrissey and Marr’s songwriting partnership produced a body of work that is both deeply personal and universally relatable, capturing the complexities of adolescence, identity, and modern life. For fans around the world, the smiths songs remain more than just music; they are a soundtrack to introspection, a source of comfort in alienation, and a testament to the power of intelligent and emotionally resonant songwriting.
By exploring the themes, lyrical brilliance, and key tracks of the smiths songs, we can appreciate their lasting impact on music and culture, and understand why they continue to be discovered and cherished by new generations of listeners.
