The Smiths/Morrissey - song-by-song discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Turk Thrust, Mar 8, 2019.

  1. Luisboa

    Luisboa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coimbra, Portugal
    I let Jeanne pass by.
    I love Jeanne and should have made into the album. Simple and catchy as hell. an easy 4/5.

    As for Wonderful woman for me is problably the worst Smiths song and maybe the only one (maybe meat is murder too) i rate below 3.
    2/5
     
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  2. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Agreed 100%. There are many Smiths songs that immediately hit me with their beauty on my first listen, but this was one of the most intense, and it still hits me in exactly the same way.
     
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  3. blaken123

    blaken123 Your Greater Tri-County CD Superstore

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    "Jeane" is a favorite of mine. 5/5
     
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  4. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    I like Jeane, don't understand some of the comments here. Really good song imo. It has a quality that is unique amongst the early Smiths tracks. They were trying something different.

    Anyway, also like this great cover version:

     
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  5. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Jeane is another personal favourite early Smiths b-side of mine; & to think that both were released on their second single & then ignored from any future releases, shows just how quickly their songwriting was advancing.

    Again, this song features some great lyrics:

    “Jeane,
    I'm not sure what happiness means
    But I look in your eyes and I know...
    That it isn't there”

    “Oh Jeane...
    There's ice on the sink where we bathe
    So how can you call this a home
    When you know its a grave”
     
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  6. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Wonderful Woman:

    1-0
    2-1
    3-5
    4-1
    5-3
     
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  7. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today's song is Accept Yourself.



    At its best, 4/5. An intelligent lyric from Morrissey and a strong Tamla Motown inspired tune from Johnny.

    In contrast with the previous song, I would say that the John Porter produced b-side is the weakest version of this track. In his hands, and with the drum arrangement altered, it becomes fairly limp and lifeless despite the fine guitar work.

    This was unfortunate as the song had been attempted twice with Troy Tate, and the version featuring piano is one of his better productions. It would have been a very decent album track had those sessions been released.

    The David Jensen session (also produced by John Porter) is also more powerful than the studio recording and it was a wise choice to include it on Hatful of Hollow.
     
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  8. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    The next three songs on the list are three of the absolute cornerstones of Hatful of Hollow, three of the most compelling reasons why it had to exist. Once-in-a-lifetime performances that utterly capture the essence of the song in a way that could not be repeated.

    "Accept Yourself"

    The lyrics struck a chord with me as a 19-year old student and they still do. I love the contrast between the stabbing, stuttering rhythm of the chorus and the simple melancholy of the verses. Lyrically, vocally and musically it's brilliant. Grabs hold of me from the outset and doesn't let up throughout. And what is that final chord?? Yes, there are other versions which try to tart the song up a bit, particularly the twangy guitar bits between the verse and chorus, but none of them hold a candle to the original BBC session take.

    This song is well up in my top 10 favourite Smiths songs and is an easy 5/5.
     
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  9. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    "Accept Yourself" is a sublime rush of exuberant energy, infectious pop hooks, and melodic genius. It's perhaps a testament to Marr's brilliance that his busy, complex, melodic guitar part that darts all over the place never distracts from or muddies the song. Every note and chord matters, and every part of the song can boast its own super catchy hook. His part is wonderfully moody, eliciting bright blasts of sunlight and pensive shades of gray, all in a single track.

    Great lyrics and delivery from Morrissey too.

    I agree that the BBC/Hatful version is definitive. The band sounds totally in synch and on fire on this version - it's a perfect performance. The version on the "This Charming Man" single has that same recorded-in-a-toilet sound that marred the other London sessions tracks to varying degrees, and it comes off as weaker and a bit strange sounding overall.

    Again, like "This Night Has Opened My Eyes," it's kind of crazy that such a magnificent song never made it onto a studio album, but its inclusion on Hatful of Hollow only serves to make that compilation all the more vital and essential.

    4/5
     
  10. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Accept Yourself – I guess I get to play the contrarian here. I’m not big on the lyrics in the chorus as they come off a bit cheesy to me. There are a few parts I really like but overall, this one is a bit of a throwaway. B-side quality, in my opinion, and likely one of my bottom 5 Smiths songs. 2.5 ranking out of 5
     
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  11. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I've always liked Accept Yourself, be it the HOH version or the Porter version. I'm sort of surprised to see some positive thoughts on it here, as most reviews/comments on HOH that I've come across (in the online sphere, at least) tend to single it out as the weak link of the album. In any case, it's a testament to Johnny's gift of melody and Moz's vocal abilities that the hokey lyrics don't drag the song down in the slightest.
     
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  12. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    This one is home to a pretty nice lyric and the driving guitars give it some balls, with some good playing in the slower sections to make it feel complete, my only issue is the song feels way too long. This usually isn't an issue for The Smiths but it kind of repeats itself for a good minute without doing anything. I'll give it a 4/5 because it's still only 4 minutes. If it were like another Smiths album we'd be docking more points for being too long...
     
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  13. Gavaxeman

    Gavaxeman Take me back to dear old Blighty...

    Location:
    West Midlands U.K.
    “I’ve seen you smile but I’ve never really heard you laugh..”

    Another great lyric but I’ve grown less fond of accept yourself over the years musically. It just seem a bit clunky in parts , something that Johnny Marr left behind early on as he grew in skill .. so 3/5 for me
     
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  14. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?!

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    Annd this ... ^^^^^^^

    4/5
     
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  15. Luisboa

    Luisboa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coimbra, Portugal
    Accept yourself is where hatful of hollow turns incredible. Maybe my prefered smtihs sequence of songs from accept yourself to please, please...
    4/5
     
  16. octophone

    octophone immaterial girl

    Location:
    Scotland
    "Accept Yourself" is another song that meant so much to me as an awkward, isolated 11 year old. Like many, I absolutely favour the "HoH" BBC take partly because it captures the "stomp" of the rhythm better and partly because its the BBC version that first reached my ears, after I borrowed "Hatful..." from the library on the main street down from where I grew up so the memory of that first listen and the feeling those words gave me is deep within every one of Marr's beautifully picked notes. "I am sick and I am dull and I am plain" - the guts to stand on a stage and sing that, especially in the faux-opulence of the 80's while most bands were posing on yachts and on beaches. I'm giving it a 4 however because we've established what's needed for a 5 is one high, high bar.
     
  17. Paul Rymer

    Paul Rymer Forum Resident

    "Accept Yourself" is the best of the first album era b-sides. The Smiths were first and foremost music fans, and this was demonstrated by the rewards gained for collecting every format - some of their best songs like this one were hard to find early on. The fact that they used BBC versions on Hatful rather than the previously released b-sides in some cases shows that they cared.
     
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  18. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Accept Yourself:

    1-0
    2-1
    3-1
    4-6
    5-1
     
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  19. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today's song is Back to the Old House.



    Of all of the group's songs, I would say this represents the biggest disparity in quality and approach between the BBC session and the studio version.

    The John Peel recording is superb in every way - great lyrics, great vocal and great guitar work. One of the most beautiful and moving songs that the group made and obviously 5/5. Morrissey and Johnny should have recorded more songs like this.

    The studio version is still an excellent b-side by normal standards, but pales in comparison.
     
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  20. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    This one is more proof that Marr's influences were actually what he said they were, and this one is absolutely gorgeous in execution.

    The acoustic rendition is by far the better one and what I'm alluding to above. 5/5 no hesitation
     
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  21. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    One of my all-time favourite Smiths songs. First heard when a friend played it to me on the guitar, quickly followed by playing me the version on Hatful of Hollow so that I could learn the lyrics to sing along with him.

    I instantly fell in love with the song & the whole album; I was 15 years old & I played the album over & over again for about 6 months. It’s still my favourite Smiths record, showing the blossoming of this incredibly original songwriting partnership & group.

    It was years later that I finally heard the full band recording of the song & I almost wished that it didn’t exist. The bbc session is a slice of perfection & the b-side recording just sounds lumpy & uninspired in comparison.
     
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  22. Luisboa

    Luisboa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coimbra, Portugal
    Didnt you skip Girl Afraid?

    For back to the old house: 5/5. Not much to say, the BBC version is one of Smiths most beautiful moments. The studio version is also great but maybe only 4/5.
     
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  23. candyflip69

    candyflip69 What's good?!

    Location:
    Melb, AUSTRALIA
    Yup ^^^^*

    The perfect 3 minute acoustic ballad, where Marr’s finger movements on chord changes (the screech of the strings) are an art all to themselves, and a second instrument from him.

    5/5
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2019
  24. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Back To The Old House"

    Just utterly beautiful in its acoustic version on Hatful. Johnny's guitar conjures up a summer's day in a country lane, where the object of Morrissey's desire cycles by wistfully in the second verse. A genuine lump-in-the-throat moment. Difficult to conjure up words that do justice to this song. I was just learning to play the guitar when I first heard this, and spent hours listening to it, trying to pick out how to play it. I think I got a pretty good rendition going in the end!

    Yes, there is another version, but I hardly ever bother listening to it. It's competent enough, but brings to mind The Pretenders "2000 Miles", which it shouldn't do. If you had only heard this version, you might think it was a pleasant enough, mildly diverting song rather than the masterpiece it actually is in its original version. Probably in my top 5 Smiths songs, and of course 5/5.
     
  25. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC


    I feel the need to defend the Louder Than Bombs version of Back To the Old House. Not to say it is better, just different. This song is one of my favorite Smiths songs. I give it 5/5.
     

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