Sophia is really going for the jugular with her second Smiths selection, a track from the band’s 1985 sophomore album Meat is Murder. ‘Well I Wonder’ is a tear-soaked lament about unrequited love sung by a narrator who is “gasping, dying, but somehow still alive.”
This is the sort of song — and The Smiths have many — that makes longing and despair achingly beautiful. It turns sadness into something sacred.
Fiona’s next Smiths selection is the 1984 single ‘William, It Was Really Nothing,’ one of the band’s signature tunes and one of nine top 20 hits they had in the UK.
This is a quick, jaunty track, and a real contrast from the melancholy songs Fiona has chosen so far. The young woman contains multitudes.
The subject of ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ has been debated, with some claiming it is directed at Billy Mackenzie, lead singer of the Scottish band The Associates and others suggesting it’s about the 1959 Keith Waterhouse novel Billy Liar, a favorite book of Morrissey’s and one that inspired at least two other songs.
The first Smiths selection from my oldest daughter, Sophia, is ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’ from the band’s 1984 self-titled debut album.
This song finds the narrator unable to reciprocate the sexual advances of an aggressive woman because he’s either gay, asexual, impotent, or simply afraid. Morrissey has always been cagey about his sexuality, but many of his lyrics suggest he is gay. Just as many suggest he isn’t interested in men or women. This song supports both readings.
My next featured song by The Smiths again comes courtesy of my younger daughter, Fiona. ‘This Night Has Opened My Eyes’ was recorded in September of 1983 for a BBC Radio program hosted by John Peel. Several songs from that appearance were released on compilation albums.
This is a good example of my daughters’ interest in The Smiths leading to a better appreciation and understanding of the band by me.
Way back in July of 2009, before this Song of the Day blog was even a year old, I posted a week’s worth of songs by The Smiths.
The reaction was swift and ugly: “Ugh!” “I can’t stand it!” “Grating!” “I can’t believe you are doing a whole theme week on the Smiths.”
Even my wife, largely a stranger to the blog’s comment section, chimed in to register her disgust.
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