The Smiths: Girlfriend In A Coma

Album: Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
Produced by Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street
Label: Rough Trade Records

Track 4: Girlfriend In A Coma
Words by Morrissey
Music by Johnny Marr




Video: The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma


Lyrics: The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma

Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know - it's serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know-it's really serious
there were times when I could
have "murdered" her
(But, you know, I would hate
anything to happen to her)
NO, I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER
Do you really think
she'll pull through?
Do you really think
she'll pull through?
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know - it's serious
there were times when I could
have "strangled" her
(but, you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her)
WOULD YOU PLEASE
LET ME SEE HER !
Do you really think
she'll pull through?
Do you really think
she'll pull through?
Let me whisper my last goodbyes

I know - IT'S SERIOUS

"Girlfriend in a Coma" is a song by The Smiths. It was released as a single in August 1987, reaching #13 in the UK Singles Chart.

It was the first of three singles from the band's last studio album Strangeways, Here We Come. As such, it was the last single to include newly recorded material on the b-side. It holds the distinction of containing the last recorded Smiths song, "I Keep Mine Hidden". Also included — and recorded at the same session — is a cover version of a Cilla Black song, "Work Is a Four-Letter Word". Morrissey's insistence on recording this song incurred the wrath of Johnny Marr who left the band not long afterwards.

The single itself is a tongue-in-cheek, music hall inflected song that clocks in at a mere two minutes and two seconds. Though seemingly "lightweight" and catchy, the song features acidic, ambiguous lyrics. The song also contains peak guitar work by Johnny Marr.

The video, which featured clips from the film "The Leather Boys" (starring Rita Tushingham), was directed by Tim Broad.

The cover features playwright Shelagh Delaney from a 1961 edition of "A Taste of Honey". The photo was tinted grey for 7"s in all countries except in Australia where it was tinted green as for the 12"s. This was the second time Delaney appeared on a Smiths cover; she appeared as the cover star on the recently released Louder Than Bombs album.

Source: Wikipedia

The Smiths: I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

Album: Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
Produced by Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street
Label: Rough Trade Records

Track 2: I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
Words by Morrissey
Music by Johnny Marr



Video: The Smiths - I Started Something I Couldn't Finish


Lyrics: The Smiths - I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

The lanes were silent
with nothing or no one around for miles
I doused our friendly venture
with a hard-faced
three-word gesture
I started something
I forced you into a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
... and now I'm not too sure
I grabbed you by the guilded beams
that's what Tradition means
and I doused another venture
with a gesture
that was... absolutely vile
I started something
forced you to a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
typical me
I started something
... and now I'm not too sure
I grabbed you by the guilded beams
that's what Tradition means
and now eighteen months' hard-labour
seems... fair enough
I started something
forced you to a zone
and you were clearly
never meant to go
hair brushed and parted
typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
and now I'm not too sure

"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" is a song by The Smiths. It was released as a single in November 1987, reaching #23 in the UK Singles Chart.

It was the second of three UK singles from the band's last studio album Strangeways, Here We Come, and was released after the band had announced their split. The record company had originally intended to release "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" as a single in the UK but felt this would be inappropriate following the Hungerford massacre (the lyrics contain a reference to "mass murder").

"Stop Me..." was still released as a single in other countries, but its promotional video - which featured Morrissey plus a large number of Morrissey lookalikes - was used in the UK to promote "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish".

The cover of the single features actress Avril Angers in a film still from the 1966 film The Family Way.

Source: Wikipedia

The Smiths: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

Album: The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Produced by Morrissey and Johnny Marr
Label: Rough Trade Records

Track 7: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Words by Morrissey
Music by Johnny Marr



Video: The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side


Lyrics: The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

The boy with the thorn in his side
behind the hatred there lies
a murderous desire for love
how can they look into my eyes
and still they dont believe me?
how can they hear me say those words
and still they dont believe me?
and if they dont believe me now
will they ever believe me?
and if they dont believe me now
will they ever believe me?

The boy with the thorn in his side
behind the hatred there lies
a plundering desire for love
how can they see the Love in our eyes
and still they dont believe us?
and after all this time
they dont want to believe us
and if they dont believe us now
will they ever believe us?
and when you want to Live
how do you start?
where do you go?
who do you need to know?

"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song by The Smiths. It appears on their third album The Queen Is Dead but was released as a single (albeit in a different mix) several months before the album, reaching #23 in the UK Singles Chart in Autumn 1985.

This was the first Smiths single to be accompanied by a promotional video, something the band had previously resisted. Some of the Smiths' more purist fans at the time derided this as a sell-out.

The following year, the New Musical Express greeted the news that the band had signed a contract with EMI with the headline "The Boy With The Thorn-EMI On His Side".

The jumping man on the cover of the single release is a young Truman Capote.

The song was covered by Scottish band Bis on the tribute album The Smiths is dead. Music reviewer, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, trashed the cover, stating: "In particular, the Bis utterly disembowel 'The Boy with the Thorn in His Side' with a single-minded stupidity that is just bewildering."

The song has also been covered by Jeff Buckley, Belle & Sebastian and Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis in live performances. This song also shares its name with a book written by Pete Wentz, bassist of the band Fall Out Boy.

The song was featured in the third episode of the British drama musical series Blackpool.

Margi Clarke asked Morrissey if this song was inspired by Oscar Wilde and Morrissey replied: "No that's not true. The thorn is the music industry and all those people who never believed anything I said, tried to get rid of me and wouldn't play the records. So I think we've reached a stage where we feel: if they don't believe me now, will they ever believe me? What more can a poor boy do?

Source: Wikipedia

The Smiths: How Soon is Now?

Single: How Soon is Now? (1984/1985)

"How Soon Is Now?" is a 1984 song written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr and first released by their band The Smiths. Sire Records chief Seymour Stein called it "the 'Stairway to Heaven' of the Eighties", while co-writer Johnny Marr described it as "possibly our most enduring record. It's most people's favourite, I think.". Despite its prominent place in The Smiths' repertoire, however, it is not generally considered to be representative of the band's style.

Originally a B-side with "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" on the 12" single version of "William, It Was Really Nothing" in 1984, the song was subsequently featured on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow and on US, Australian and Warner UK editions of Meat Is Murder. It was belatedly released as an A-side in the UK in 1985, reaching #24 on the singles chart.

Although a club favourite, "How Soon Is Now" did not chart as well as writers Morrissey and Marr had expected. Most commentators put this down to the fact that the song had been out on vinyl in a number of forms before being released as a single in its own right. The original track ran for nearly 7 minutes; however, the 7" single edit cut the length down to under four minutes. The complete version is generally used on compilations.

Source: Wikipedia

Video: The Smiths - How Soon is Now?


Lyrics: The Smiths - How Soon is Now?

I am the son
and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

I am the son
and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

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

When you say it's gonna happen now,
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone

I am Human And I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

Source: www.sing365.com

The Smiths: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Single: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (1984)

Label: Rough Trade


Words by Morrissey
Music by Johnny Marr

Video: The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now


Lyrics: The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

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

"oh, 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

"oh, you've been in the house too long" she said
And i (naturally) fled

In my life
Oh, why do i give valuable time

Source: www.lyricsfreak.com

The Smiths: This Charming Man

Single: This Charming Man (1983)
Produced by John Porter
Label: Rough Trade


Words by Morrissey
Music by Johnny Marr

Video: The Smiths - This Charming Man


Lyrics: The Smiths - This Charming Man

Punctured bicycle
On a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet ?
When in this charming car
This charming man

Why pamper life's complexities
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger seat ?

I would go out tonight
But i haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "it's gruesome
That someone so handsome should care"

A jumped-up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the rings"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things

I would go out tonight
But i haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "it's gruesome
That someone so handsome should care"
Oh, la-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man ...
Oh, da-da, da-da, da-da, this charming man ...

A jumped-up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the ring"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things

Source: www.lyricsfreak.com