Classic Album of The Month : The Smiths

'The Queen Is Dead'

Released: June 1986

This months “Classic album of the month” is The Smiths 3rd and debatably best album – The Queen is Dead. No doubt all The Smiths releases were classics, it’s just a question of which one was “The” classic.

Released in June of 1986, The Smiths had already made a name for themselves with their previous two releases, and thus it wasn’t much of a surprise that it reached number 2 in the UK charts, providing a much needed break from the tide of New Wave bands.

The Queen is Dead was critically acclaimed by fans and press alike, getting no less than 5 stars from Rolling Stone, and making it to 216th place on Rolling Stone’s “500 greatest albums of all time”. The championing of the album didn’t stop there, Pitchfork Media ranked it 6th best album of the 80’s, and NME named it the greatest British album of all time. 

The album opens with “Bigmouth strikes again”, which surpassed “There is a light that never goes out” to make it as the first single off the album. "Bigmouth strikes again" is very acoustic guitar dominated, backed with a simple drum beat, with Morrissey’s vocals leading over the music. The lyrics aren’t serious, and this is a classic example of Morrissey’s wit and sense of humour.

Skip forward a bit to “Cemetery Gates” and we reach Morrissey’s direct response to critics who had cried out at him for using texts written by some of his favourite authors within the bands music, which lead to the quote “Talent borrows, genius steals” being etched onto the first single off the album.

5 songs in and we reach my personal favourite “I know its over” and possibly one of the saddest Smith’s love songs, with my interpretation being that the protagonist has been left by his lover, and he is regretting it. The ex lover is now marrying, but she needs the groom more than she loves him - “although she needs you more than she loves you” - but in the end, the protagonist wants her to be happy, but finds it difficult to remain gentle and kind towards the married couple - “It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind”

“There is a light that never goes out” is quite possibly one of the greatest songs ever written, and arguably the best Smiths song ever written. It can be interpreted in many ways, but in my opinion, it is about someone who is so totally in love that if they were to die right there and then, they would be happy with it and it would be perfect - “And if a double-decker bus crashes in to us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die”.  However, the narrator is unsure whether the other person feels the same, is lacking in self confidence but cant bring themselves to find out - “and in the darkened underpass I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last, but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask”

The Queen is Dead is a masterpiece, and written by one of the best duo’s in the history of music, Morrissey and Marr. Morrissey writes poetic, beautiful lyrics, which are often layered with humorous undertones, and Marr brings them to life with his breath-taking guitar work. The Smiths arguably brought guitar driven rock back to Britain, and they defined the sound with The Queen is Dead.

Words: Mike Glastonbury

James
Posts: 1

tracks
Reply #1 on : Fri June 19, 2009, 12:51:54

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The album opens with the title track...

Bigmouth... is track six.

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