In the five and a bit years that CCM has been on the go I have never posted anything by The Smiths.
A couple of covers here and there but nothing by the band.
It may well be because up until Saturday when I picked up The Queen is Dead I didn't have anything by them.
A statement which could well get me drummed out the Brownies.
So not a huge fan as you can probably gather although the album is not bad at all.
From 1986 when Morrissey was slightly less of a right wing reactionary twat than he is now.
Time for a quote from the great man. No, not Morrissey but Bill Shankly
That's how you do it Moz
The Smiths - Frankly, Mr Shankly
The Smiths - There is a Light That Never Goes Out
What a great, great man. Shankly, not Moz. Of course, one of his most famous quotes was "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. It's not. It's more important than that." I love that one.
ReplyDeleteI do have to take you to task on one thing you said though. "[The Queen Is Dead] is not bad at all." That, my friend, is what I call an understatement... ;-)
Yes, understatement of the year award...
ReplyDeleteWise words from Bill re socialism.
There is a Light That Never Goes Out is one of my favourites, despite me not being much of a Smiths fan.
ReplyDeleteIf you get the chance, check out "Shankly: Nature's Fire" a documentary on Liverpool's legendary Scottish manager. Emotional stuff about a man who wore his red heart on his sleeve. And wasn't ashamed to call himself a Socialist - unlike many in the Labour Party.
You and me both CC.
ReplyDeleteSwc.
Was never one of the fanboys either CC. I like a few things but all that Oscar Wilde and celibacy got on my tits.
ReplyDeleteHave been tempted by the re-issue. But no so tempted as to buy it. yet.
ReplyDeleteGram Lynch's comment appears to have disappeared into the ether.
ReplyDeleteHere it is
There is a Light That Never Goes Out is one of my favourites, despite me not being much of a Smiths fan.
If you get the chance, check out "Shankly: Nature's Fire" a documentary on Liverpool's legendary Scottish manager. Emotional stuff about a man who wore his red heart on his sleeve. And wasn't ashamed to call himself a Socialist - unlike many in the Labour Party.
Thanks CC - that seems to be happening a lot these days. I was beginning to wonder if the Lords of The Interweb had it in for me.
ReplyDeleteWell, I refuse to be drawn into an argument like this... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI loved The Smiths, they carried all before them, but fandom blinds us. Love 'em for their first few ouputs, love what you hear and then strike out for something fresh/new. Our 'heroes' unerringly disappoint us. F8ck off Morrissey, you were great once but you're spent now.
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ReplyDeleteBill Shankly came from Glenbuck in East Ayrshire. Drive from Muirkirk to Glespin and take a wrong turn before Parish Holm where the road starts to wind round Glenbuck Loch. There is a monument to Mr Shankly at the roadside just up from the loch.
ReplyDeletehttps://goo.gl/maps/DoSPqjZWicA2
Glenbuck is no more. Bill's first team The Glenbuck Cherrypickers are no more. The last bits of Glenbuck were like a suburb of Beirut the last time I visited in the mid-1970's. Those places were really poor, a level of real hardship and deprivation almost unimaginable today. Shankly's socialism was born out of the desperation and realisation that The Powers That Be in 20th Century Britain would quite happily watch children starve while their parents slaved for a pittance.
The difficulty which Morrissey had with Mr Shankly was not with Shankly's political beliefs. They shared many of the same concerns although Morrissey had the added difficulty of the "21st Century breathing down my neck" (which Shankly by this tinme didn't). Morrissey's real difficulty with Shankly was that Shankly wrote such bloody awful poetry.
There is also a school of thought which points out that "Shankly" is just a useful rhyme for "Frankly" and that the song is about Geoff Davis of Rough Trade which makes perfect sense when listened to in that light.
The song had nowt to do with Bill Shankly.
ReplyDeleteSid is spot on that it is all about Geoff Travis of Rough Trade with whom the band's relationship had badly deteriorated to the extent they were trying to get out of their contract. Travis had, for years, tried to get Morrissey interested in some of the poems he had penned _ i think he was wanting an endorsement so that he could chase a publishing deal. The song is aimed purely and squarely at the record label boss.