Why The Smiths Count

I’m going to begin this piece with a very subjective remark. Few musicians are as cool or as intelligent as Stephen Patrick Morrissey. His unique vocal styling, his hair, his flamboyance, his lyrical genius, stage-presence, and intelligence all make for one of the most spectacular musicians in popular culture today. Indeed, I am PROUD to call myself a fan. But despite Morrissey’s brilliance, I would argue that he is not as good now as he was when front man to the band called the Smiths. With guitarist Johnny Marr, Morrissey formed the key component of a musical team that was one of pop culture’s most potent, enduring and AWESOME groups. This short article will outline just who exactly the Smiths were and why I believe them to be important not just myself, but to so many fans around the world.

The Smiths burst onto the music scene in 1983 and soon became the embodiment of a back-to-basics English rock-and-roll that disappeared as punk-influenced ‘Indie’ music branched out and become more complex. Their euphonious debut album featured jangling guitars, a live rhythm-section (at a time when synthesizers and drum-machines were the new normal) and Morrissey’s clever, thoughtful and sometimes haunting lyrics. Even their name was also an attempt to get back-to-basics and steer away from long and pretentious sounding bands such as A Flock of Seagulls, Haircut 100, or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark who had become a staple of the early and mid 1980s. Like their punk forebears from the 1970s, The Smiths addressed controversial issues such as the gruesome Moors Murders of the 1960s (Suffer Little Children); youth rivalry turned to adult hatred (You’ve Got Everything Now); and both corrupted and unrequited love (Miserable Lie and Pretty Girls Make Graves).

Building on the success of their first studio album came both Meat is Murder and a compilation album Hatful of Hallow in 1984. Meat is Murder featured hunting samples from a slaughterhouse (Meat is Murder) and again addressed mature themes such as domestic abuse and adolescent rivalry. However, likely the bands most lasting contribution to popular music is a track originally intended to be a B-Side called How Soon is Now? This song’s lyrical genius is matched only by the distinctive and mesmerizing guitars and its overall unique and uncompromising sound.

The next studio album was released in 1985 and is my personal favourite. Titled The Queen is Dead, it is considered by critics to be the band’s piece de resistance. Tracks like Frankly, Mr. Shankly level severe criticism at the hypocrisy of the music industry, while the title track addresses Morrissey’s long-time contempt for established hierarchical figures such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. The album contains one of my favourite songs titled There is a Light that Never Goes Out. The title is a nod to James Dean and the lyrics follow a similar plot to the Dean film Rebel Without a Cause. Of course, for me, it means something entirely different!

The Smiths final studio album was fittingly named Strangeways, Here We Come. It was named after a prison in Manchester and has, what I feel, are the Smiths most jaded and melancholy lyrics. Not considered their greatest work by critics, both Morrissey and Marr disagree with this assessment. My favourite track is Paint a Vulgar Picture which like past songs attacks sleazy record executives looking to capitalise off the misfortunes of a young artist. Of course, whenever I hear this, I immediately think of the great Ian Curtis of Joy Division, but also think that new listeners to the Smiths will think of more contemporary yet tragically similar artists. Numerous compilation albums followed and Morrissey has produced a number of quality solo records well into the 21st century.

So why did I write this piece? Why write about a band that only released four studio albums and will probably never be remembered in the same way as those great English and American bands synonymous with Rock and Roll? Well, I wrote this because the Smiths ARE important. The Smiths gave a voice to those who in their youth didn't have one. They were the voice of the quiet, intelligent and thoughtful kids who valued their introspective nature and saw the worth in serious and intelligent consideration of the world around them. Certainly their music was catchy, fun and even boisterous at times, but it also spoke to issues that others in pop culture avoided entirely. The Smiths were the band that when you listened in the car with your folks, you wondered if they understood the seriousness and complexity of the lyrics. They were your band to tell the world that you were starting to understand it. That is why the Smiths count.