J M S Harrison
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
My first thought with this song is that when it comes to writing lyrics to music, they don’t always need to match very well. Apparently Johnny Marr had written one of his proudest guitar progressions only to be handed back some of the most sarcastic lyrics ever by Morrissey. Made me think differently about how I approach putting words to melody.
Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me
The Smiths have songs for every kind of mood you’re in. But I tend to gravitate to their most over the top dramatic songs (Never Had No One Ever and Asleep are other examples). It almost amuses me, the delivery of Morrissey’s vocal lines and lyrics makes it even sound insincere sometimes.
Claws and Organs
We’ll be playing Bigmouth Strikes Again, which we chose because the music is pretty bright and catchy, while the subject matter is quite dark, which I think is a trait we’ve taken inspiration from in our own songwriting.
The Naysayers
This Charming Man has a deceptively simple riff then the crash of cymbals, a walking bass then silence before Morrissey sings “Punctured bicycle…” in his inimitable style. This song started my lifelong love of The Smiths, eminently danceable and structured – like most of their songs – to sound conventional, but is actually odd for a pop/rock song.
