THE SMITHS – THE QUEEN
IS DEAD (ROUGH TRADE)
The Queen Is Dead is a
fascinating record. It is multilayered
and speaks with as many personalities.
It holds in its hands the power to be devastating tapping direct into
underdog emotions, describing and harnessing in a manner that brings purpose to
bleak situations. It is a record about
drawing strength in the face of desperation and so much more.
As an experiment today
I will listen, analyse and attempt to review this record just after a break up
has occurred and my moments are raw.
The third Smiths
studio album is a bleak and damning excursion coupled with emotionally absurd
humour. As with so much of their
material there are a lot of laughs if you look for them. Sure there is loneliness and melancholy but Morrissey
makes it a shared experience offering opportunity to at least lighten a load a
little. And coupled with that is an
amazing base layer provided by Marr running ragged and wayward in a most
efficient fashion. It is expansive in
its pessimism
The original name of
the album was to be “Margaret On The Guillotine” tapping into the anti-Maggie
sentiments of the era. Of course such a
title would be perceived as treason in certain sections. As if “The Queen Is Dead” sounds any less
aggressive. Even in the eighties
Morrissey was already pining for better times.
“Take me back to dear
old blighty.”
It is actually the
voice of Cicely Courtneidge that is heard first singing as an excerpt of a 1916
song about four soldiers longing to return home from the trenches of war-torn France
Intuition was the key.
This work is broad and
scatological. For every scathing moment
there is a sympathetic one. For every
downbeat gesture of solace there is an upbeat execution.
And upbeat didn’t
necessarily always work with the near country cheese of “Vicar In A Tutu”
bounding along and the lumbering “Frankly, Mr Shankly” only being saved by the
snarling sentiments in Morrissey’s words.
At the time he appeared to hate Geoff Travis as much as normal people
hate Simon Cowell now. Then again these
two songs have been described as “legs-in-the-air comedy”. The other happy sounding track arrived in
“Cemetry Gates” and its carefree skip around graves both physical and
metaphorical. With Oscar Wilde on your
side, why not?
The other side winding
track was the single “The
Boy With The Thorn In His Side” which coupled with “Bigmouth
Strikes Again” served as Morrissey addressing the industry in which he
operated and the art he feared misappropriated.
On defensive mode it is something of a confused struggle and dare I say
a root of ones bitterness.
When asked by Tony Wilson
why he wanted to be a pop star Morrissey answered “many reasons, it doesn’t
make life worse”. Damn, this was
actually pop music.
“Why are you alone
tonight?”
Back to my broken
heart and allowing me to wallow this evening is “I Know It’s Over” and the
sensation of being suffocated by the pain of separation. As Morrissey sings “I can feel the soil
falling over my head” the ending of this relationship does indeed feel like
being buried alive. This could kill me. We all wallow.
“If a double decker bus…”
And now in the
aftermath I can only hold onto the memories, hold onto a torch. For that I have “There Is A Light That Will
Never Go Out”. A lesser man might send a
departed love a link to this song. Of
course it’s a gesture that only ever works in the movies but Morrissey being
Morrissey he actually pulls it off in this track making it seem almost
acceptable to pine in requited fashion.
Quite frankly (Mr Shankly), what else is there a Smiths fan could/can
do?
“I have just
discovered.”
The album closes with
“Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” which too feels something of an ode to my
exiting love with her being big boned and all.
Let’s just say that this is a record that explicitly speaks to me and
for me.
In 1986 when the
record came out I was just discovering football via Liverpool FC, Jan Molby and
Mexico
Rough Trade released
the record with full knowledge that the band was leaving the label. It reached number 2 in the album charts,
second only to “So” by Peter Gabriel.
Morrissey was quoted
as saying writing was an “absolute physical necessity”.
I live in a bed-sit.
Thesaurus moment:
witch.
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