Imagine being a new high schooler, going over to a friend's house after school, when this album is brand new, and neither of you have heard it yet. You put the needle on the record, turn up the volume, and the first thing you hear is the beginning of THIS song. Freaking LIFE changing. Might be the best opening of a record I can ever remember.
I had that same feeling back in the day when I fried gave me a basf cassette tape of this album and I popped it on my Walkman… as a guitar player pretty much into metal at that time Johnnys guitar work blew me away…
I remember first hearing the Smiths 40 years ago. My life immediately changed as a 14 year old boy and every new record was eagerly awaited. I was also quite a proficient bass player and would learn Andy Rourke's bass lines as soon as I could. I'm 54 now and it's still the most important music in my life.
Andy Rourke shines on this album. His bass playing is so integral to the Sound of the Smiths and it is ‘criminally vulgar’ how little attention is paid to his talents. That being said, Side 1 of Meat is Murder could very well be one of the finest album sides, ever.
This song encapsulates the essence of The Smiths. The important lyrics, the yodelling in the end, the perfect bassline and the drums that hold everything together. As for the guitar, untouchable! This song is life.
As a guitar player myself the Bass player Andy Rourke is amazing to follow all those chord changing and Voicings , he more important to that band then most people think !
"He does the military two-step, down the nape of my neck" - So poetic, you can almost tangibly feel those lyrics and know exactly the prickly fear he's describing. Just brilliant.
@@WilsonMackle101 The cold war was it it's end during that period. Gorbachov was leader of the soviet union and he had really good a relationship with the USA. So actually, nothing much.
Morrissey’s lyrics are just brilliant, “Mid-week on the playing fields. Sir thwacks you on the knees. Knees you in the groin. Elbows in the face. Bruises bigger than dinner plates.”
Please excuse me from gym I've got this terrible cold coming on He grabs and devours He kicks me in the showers Kicks me in the showers And he grabs and devours
The production is such a huge part of their music, Andy's bass is always so punchy and full of character, and Johnny's guitar is bright and shimmering.
@@justinhunt1714 Nailed it! One of a handful of best shows I have seen in my life was this tour. By the end, the whole stage was filled with dancing people, Andy and Johnny standing on the drum riser, with just Morrisey in the middle of the throng waving his hand around high up in the air and caterwauling.
Their sound is incredible, they spanned the mega music period of the 80's that dominated the world yet they don't sound like they 're from the 80's, it's a unique sound that is timeless and cannot be labeled. Just incredible.
Morrissey said over and over that they had no idea what they were doing as a band. That might be true but their music is brilliant and has held up. Its just as odd, mysterious, and strange as ever. Genius really.
I don't believe anything he says, mostly it's pretentious bullshit. And now he's become a total Fascist, I'm even less interested. This is one of the few Smiths songs I can even stand to listen to anymore. Talk about the Emperor having no clothes. He's a total embarrassment now.
@@metrab8901 He's a fucking outright racist, jerkoff. He's a bloody fascist, let's be plain. You can paint it anything you like. He's a total asshole in my book. I'll never buy a single Morrissey item ever again, that's for sure. I agree UK shouldn't be letting outright terrorists in, which they have, but for Morrissey to come out and side with white nationalist groups is going too far for me. I lost all respect for him at that point. And I used to be a huge fan of his decades ago.
@@metrab8901 Ha, no I did not. I don't think I ever had any Smiths posters up in my room years ago. I was a fan but they were not even close to being my favorite band of the era. R.E.M. would probably have won that contest at the time, anyway. I always thought he was kind of a pretentious twat, but I still like some of the Smiths' music, at least. That's about it.
Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless swines Cemented minds Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old suit since 1962 He does the military two-step Down the nape of my neck I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up education as a bad mistake Mid-week on the playing fields Sir thwacks you on the knees Knees you in the groin Elbow in the face Bruises bigger than dinner plates I want to go home I don't want to stay Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless bastards, all Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old jokes since nineteen-two He does the military two-step Down the nape of my neck I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up life as a bad mistake Please excuse me from gym I've got this terrible cold coming on He grabs and devours He kicks me in the showers Kicks me in the showers And he grabs and devours I want to go home I don't want to stay
Lyrics Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless swines Cemented minds Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old suit since nineteen sixty two He does the military two-step down The nape of my neck I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up education As a bad mistake Mid-week on the playing fields Sir thwacks you on the knees Knees you in the groin Elbow in the face Bruises bigger than dinner plates I want to go home I don't want to stay Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless bastards all Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two He does the military two-step down The nape of my neck I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up life As a bad mistake Please excuse me from gym I've got this terrible cold coming on He grabs and devours He kicks me in the showers Kicks me in the showers And he grabs and devours I want to go home I don't want to stay Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da
There's 2 Rickenbacker riffs with an open G tuning which is the Tennessee Sound tune that Johnny Marr used for this song which he stated some years back. He was inspired by a Beatles song. The sound is very northern English like.
Johnny Marr is my hero but my god The Smiths were nothing without Andy Rourke. The dream of seeing them reunited died today along with part of my youth 😢 RIP Andy
I love The Smiths. I think they are all fantastic: Morrissey, Johnny, Andy and Mike. I think Morrissey and Marr wrote about growing up in a bleak situation when jobs were scarce and options were limited. The skies were grey and days were wet and cold. Morrissey's imagery puts me in the place of the narrator, and I feel the insecurity of being in a situation that is supposed to be comforting, only to be confronted with scrutiny and terror.
The sound of Lancashire and it's atmosphere (Manchester/Liverpool and the other local cities and towns around here). If there's another small local region somewhere in the world that produces music of the same quality and quantity then I'd really love to know, so I could look into it.
This song never gets old. It's amazing how certain bands like The Smiths have a sound that cannot be emulated. What a combo. I've never heard a better mesh of bass and guitar.
I was in high school in the generic, white bread suburban hell of a major North American city from 1985-1990. I just caught the tail-end of The Smiths before they broke up when I was in the seventh and eight grade. When I heard “Meat is Murder” and this song in particular, it felt like I found some cosmic pen pal who caught my exact feelings about high school. Like finally someone in the world understood what it was like being a vulnerable, isolated adolescent, in a crappy school with crappy fellow students, who all like garbage music and you had no one to talk to and no one understood you at all.
So many memories of being out nightclubbing in the mid 80's - at the "alternative" venues back then...as a Mod. The Smiths were a big part of that music scene then....along with many others. Love this band.
I'm reading his autobiography right now and it's everything you could hope for, I would imagine especially for a guitar player. I am not one, but the guitar is what sucked me into this band.
Everything about this song is healing to me. I used to listen to it on the vus ride home from my terrible experiences in junior high...Johnny's guitar 🎸 ...so much love for this song..
For me this the best Smith's song of all, musically- it's the phenomenal guitar combination of Marr and Rourke that makes the intro and the concluding part unique, where towards the end Morrissey is almost yodelling in an echoey dreamlike 'thank ##d those days are all well past me' type of way. It's really hypnotic, a real cairn on the mountain top moment of the band's magic.
For me his wailing is the cry of the student who wants to go home and Joyce's snare attacks suggest a series of pummelings at the hands of the barbarian. Stark portrayal of the reality at the time. Bloody fantastic outro.
When i remember school and i get really sad and angry, this song is sort of a revenge, although i didn't live in Manchester in the 60's like Morrissey did.
[Verse 1]Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless swines Cemented minds Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old suit since ninteteen-sixty-two He does the military two-step Down the nape of my neck [Chorus 1]I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up education as a bad mistake [Verse 2]Mid-week on the playing fields Sir thwacks you on the knees Knees you in the groin Elbow in the face Bruises bigger than dinner plates [Verse 3]Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless bastards, all Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old jokes since nineteen-two He does the military two-step Down the nape of my neck [Chorus]I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up life as a bad mistake [Verse 4]Please excuse me from gym I've got this terrible cold coming on He grabs and devours He kicks me in the showers Kicks me in the showers And he grabs and devours
The way the Marr's guitar and Morrissey's voice go together at 1:40 is one of my favorite parts in any Smiths song. Absolutely brilliant! I just love that sound on the Meat is Murder album.
Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless swines Cemented minds Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old suit since nineteen sixty two He does the military two-step down The nape of my neck I want to go home I don't want to stay Give up education As a bad mistake Mid-week on the playing fields Sir thwacks you on the knees Knees you in the groin Elbow in the face Bruises bigger than dinner plates I want to go home I don't want to stay Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Belligerent ghouls Run Manchester schools Spineless bastards all Sir leads the troops Jealous of youth Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two He does…
Magnificent pop gem from The Smiths in which guitar, bass, drums and Morrissey's voice are amazingly intertwined. As a common thread, Johnny Marr's sublime sequence of chords and arpeggios. Wonderful!!
That guitar/drums intro biffed me round the face good and proper when I first put it on in my room at York University in 1985. I go straight back there each time I hear it. I and a couple of friends were fast fans of two years standing. Already the standout band of our lives, how could they improve on the brilliance they’d already released? Answer: this. The extra dimension of abstraction and dissonance, a rushing whirlwind of chords, bass stabs and brutal accusatory lyrics. I still say this is their best album with this song, ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Any More’, ‘Well I Wonder’ and the title track which changed my diet ever since and I’ve probably got them to thank for my general wellbeing for the subsequent 40 years
Best bassline ever! Andy changed my life as a musician (and music lover) the very first time I heard this song. Rest in peace for this incredibly talented player.
So many people are missing the point about this song. If you grew up in England and went to a secondary school in the 1970s, and were an emotional and sensitive kid then you'd really get what this song is about! Listen to the lyrics. Pretty much my School late 1970s.
Thank you Beth Funcasta, the classmate who introduced me to this song -- and by association, to the Smiths -- in the Summer of 1986, our summer, as we were both high-school grads that year.
I got introduced as a sophomore or junior...'86 or 7 by a kid named Jeff Nelson, asked me if I ever heard of them .. Lent me Louder Than Bombs...I was hooked instantly.
Het eerste nummer van mijn eerste (toen nog) Smiths-lp. Onvergetelijk! Nog steeds muziek waar ik op teruggrijp als het even niet zo wil als ik wil...eigenlijk altijd dus! Het is als met Joy Division: deze muziek grijpt (voor mij) zoveel DIEPER...
RIP Andy Rourke, to me, this is the greatest bass line ever
Yes, first I thought of when hearing he passed. That Bass ! Fav band of my youth
Respect 😢
I will say, yes. In addition, and structurally, the whole song is pretty f*****' E P I C af. Just saying.
The bassline in Barbarism begins at home is so clear of this one though.
@@MegaHariboboy Crrrrrackin' good observation!!!! I am in love with so many of their bass lines. LOVE GREAT BASS!!!!!!!
Imagine being a new high schooler, going over to a friend's house after school, when this album is brand new, and neither of you have heard it yet. You put the needle on the record, turn up the volume, and the first thing you hear is the beginning of THIS song. Freaking LIFE changing. Might be the best opening of a record I can ever remember.
I had that same feeling back in the day when I fried gave me a basf cassette tape of this album and I popped it on my Walkman… as a guitar player pretty much into metal at that time Johnnys guitar work blew me away…
I remember first hearing the Smiths 40 years ago. My life immediately changed as a 14 year old boy and every new record was eagerly awaited.
I was also quite a proficient bass player and would learn Andy Rourke's bass lines as soon as I could.
I'm 54 now and it's still the most important music in my life.
Same happened when I heard Ok Computer for the first time
@@Paulco67No comparison...but nice.
@@Paulco67 yeah, the impact music can make on us, really incredible.
Andy Rourke shines on this album. His bass playing is so integral to the Sound of the Smiths and it is ‘criminally vulgar’ how little attention is paid to his talents. That being said, Side 1 of Meat is Murder could very well be one of the finest album sides, ever.
I agree so much
bloody hell yeah! i decided to be a bassist because of this album. Nowadays i practice at least two hours per day. Rourke's fault!!!!
Disco/Secret I concur!!!
Disco/Secret and to think Moz and Marr only payed him and Joyce 10% of the profits
Someone had to say it
This song encapsulates the essence of The Smiths. The important lyrics, the yodelling in the end, the perfect bassline and the drums that hold everything together. As for the guitar, untouchable! This song is life.
One of the finest bands ever!
One of the best songs ever.
You nailed it, johnnyunited. Beautifully said!
As a guitar player myself the Bass player Andy Rourke is amazing to follow all those chord changing and Voicings , he more important to that band then most people think !
I hug Morrissey
Johnny Marr’s guitar is unbelievable
SUBLIME
I still think he is way underrated. He creates really good music.
What makes it even more unbelievable is that he was 20 when this album was recorded
yes it is I love it
Undeniably. I am a drummer and his playing captures me more than most others. Captivating.
The Smiths never get old.
👏👏👏👏
Very much true it has seen a recent reboot pretty much after the doomer meme
I super agree.
Never ever
Your mom never get old.
These guys were such dam good musicians which is something really missing from today's music!
There are great bands out there - we won't hear them. Record companies market an image and background music.
"He does the military two-step, down the nape of my neck" - So poetic, you can almost tangibly feel those lyrics and know exactly the prickly fear he's describing. Just brilliant.
" Spineless bastards all" 👍
I've always found it quite satisfying. Something about the way he says it is so smooth.
The Smiths are terrif.
@@clintjones9848terrific or terrifying
Terrific. Is that a statement or a question? :P
I love this fucking song.
Why swear though how old are you?
@@wesker1079 why are you wondering though?
@mc coolarge because he is wondering
Eu tbm porra vsf
@@wesker1079 hahaha I was 17
A Masterpiece of many dissonant chords that sound sooooooooobeautiful. Andy anchored the whole song on his Bass.
Totally agree! At this time now it comes to me as one of the best songs ever
STUCK IN GERMANY 1986-88 (USARMY) THE LOCAL IRISH PUBS ALWAYS PLAYED THE CURE AND THE SMITHS. TURNED ON SINCE.
Stuck in America! Wish I was with Moz!
Berlin? What was cold war era Germany like as an American
My 2 favourite bands The smiths and The cure who'd have thought they would go together 🙂
USAF in the UK, 85-88. Same here, and was lucky enough to see both live.
@@WilsonMackle101 The cold war was it it's end during that period. Gorbachov was leader of the soviet union and he had really good a relationship with the USA. So actually, nothing much.
Johnny Marr is outstanding. Different class!!
RIP Andy Rourke, what a titan of bass. Thanks for so many amazing lines.
What's the bass of this song?
Morrissey’s lyrics are just brilliant, “Mid-week on the playing fields. Sir thwacks you on the knees. Knees you in the groin. Elbows in the face. Bruises bigger than dinner plates.”
Spineless bastards all.......
I wanna go home, I don't want to stay
Ja, brilliant! Simply brilliant!
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
@@concars1234 give up education as a bad mistake
Andy Rourke was a true innovator. The bass melodies he wrote elevated the band’s stuff to another level. RIP
The production is god-like on this album. You can hear everything even on a phone.
The production is such a huge part of their music, Andy's bass is always so punchy and full of character, and Johnny's guitar is bright and shimmering.
@@justinhunt1714 Nailed it! One of a handful of best shows I have seen in my life was this tour. By the end, the whole stage was filled with dancing people, Andy and Johnny standing on the drum riser, with just Morrisey in the middle of the throng waving his hand around high up in the air and caterwauling.
The most beautiful guitar in the world.
Johnny Marr one of the greatest guitarists ever.
100% agree. Criminally underrated
And Rourke was his best compliment.
The jingly-jangly guitar sound coupled with the yodeling on this song is mesmerizing.
Their sound is incredible, they spanned the mega music period of the 80's that dominated the world yet they don't sound like they 're from the 80's, it's a unique sound that is timeless and cannot be labeled. Just incredible.
facts
You are so spot on. Resonates today and sounds better than most alternative songs today. The Smiths were ahead of their time 👍🏾
Couldn't have said it better myself. It's incredible how unique The Smiths were
Agreed
Little or no synths at all in (not to speak of drum machines) in an era few escaped from using them extensively helps making this music not dated.
My soul is as gray as this album cover today. Good bye, dear dear Andy. Thank you for that many...
Morrissey said over and over that they had no idea what they were doing as a band. That might be true but their music is brilliant and has held up. Its just as odd, mysterious, and strange as ever. Genius really.
I don't believe anything he says, mostly it's pretentious bullshit. And now he's become a total Fascist, I'm even less interested. This is one of the few Smiths songs I can even stand to listen to anymore. Talk about the Emperor having no clothes. He's a total embarrassment now.
@@thiscorrosion900 yeah he doesn't conform you're right that's bad, he must be removed. we need a hive mind world.
@@metrab8901 He's a fucking outright racist, jerkoff. He's a bloody fascist, let's be plain. You can paint it anything you like. He's a total asshole in my book. I'll never buy a single Morrissey item ever again, that's for sure. I agree UK shouldn't be letting outright terrorists in, which they have, but for Morrissey to come out and side with white nationalist groups is going too far for me. I lost all respect for him at that point. And I used to be a huge fan of his decades ago.
@@thiscorrosion900 did you tear down a poster of his in your room and plan to take revenge?
@@metrab8901 Ha, no I did not. I don't think I ever had any Smiths posters up in my room years ago. I was a fan but they were not even close to being my favorite band of the era. R.E.M. would probably have won that contest at the time, anyway. I always thought he was kind of a pretentious twat, but I still like some of the Smiths' music, at least. That's about it.
I'm so glad I'm old enough to have seen them play live.
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since 1962
He does the military two-step
Down the nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education as a bad mistake
Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards, all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen-two
He does the military two-step
Down the nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up life as a bad mistake
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Lyrics
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since nineteen sixty two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education
As a bad mistake
Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up life
As a bad mistake
Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke create a complete soundscape...with only 2 instruments!
Well Johnny probably with at least 3 different guitar tracks in there 🙂
What are you talking about, there's at least a lead, rhythm and bass guitar in there.
There's 2 Rickenbacker riffs with an open G tuning which is the Tennessee Sound tune that Johnny Marr used for this song which he stated some years back. He was inspired by a Beatles song. The sound is very northern English like.
Well, if you count a 7-piece drumset as one instrument, sure.
Johnny Marr is my hero but my god The Smiths were nothing without Andy Rourke. The dream of seeing them reunited died today along with part of my youth 😢 RIP Andy
It's hard to wrap my brain around how damn good this song is.
It's hard to wrap my brain around how great a band they were.
I love The Smiths. I think they are all fantastic: Morrissey, Johnny, Andy and Mike.
I think Morrissey and Marr wrote about growing up in a bleak situation when jobs were scarce and options were limited. The skies were grey and days were wet and cold. Morrissey's imagery puts me in the place of the narrator, and I feel the insecurity of being in a situation that is supposed to be comforting, only to be confronted with scrutiny and terror.
The sound of Lancashire and it's atmosphere (Manchester/Liverpool and the other local cities and towns around here). If there's another small local region somewhere in the world that produces music of the same quality and quantity then I'd really love to know, so I could look into it.
This song never gets old. It's amazing how certain bands like The Smiths have a sound that cannot be emulated. What a combo. I've never heard a better mesh of bass and guitar.
I totally agree. Imo the mesh of guitar, vocals, bass and drums is a quartet that is un comparable
This song is like a little movie: I love the way the 45-sec intro sets the stage for the rest of the song ...
I'm not sure that music gets any better than this...
It doesn't.
Not even some girls are bigger than others?
It doesn't. This is it
facts
this is perfection the guitar the voice the lyrics its what makes us alive
I was in high school in the generic, white bread suburban hell of a major North American city from 1985-1990. I just caught the tail-end of The Smiths before they broke up when I was in the seventh and eight grade. When I heard “Meat is Murder” and this song in particular, it felt like I found some cosmic pen pal who caught my exact feelings about high school. Like finally someone in the world understood what it was like being a vulnerable, isolated adolescent, in a crappy school with crappy fellow students, who all like garbage music and you had no one to talk to and no one understood you at all.
i feel you.. im living in that now. best of wishes to you i hope you're doing alright and well 🙏💜🌻
I hope you found peace somewhere. I love it when people from foreign climes appreciate a quintessentially England band. God they were good..
Chicago?
So many memories of being out nightclubbing in the mid 80's - at the "alternative" venues back then...as a Mod. The Smiths were a big part of that music scene then....along with many others. Love this band.
The Smith's were such a tough sounding band. Much more hard hitting than they are given credit for
One of my favourite smiths songs
This one, among all their beautifully written songs, has the power to make you fall directly into that precise 80’s atmosphere. My favourite one.
It's always good!
Andy Rourke, my biggest influence as a bass player since the 1980s. Him and Bruce Foxton are the reason I've been a bass player for over 35 years.
That’s a hell of a pair my friend. 👍
I'm am 80s metal shred guitar player and I love this band and Johnny Marr is killer on guitar , love his jangling tone , dude knows what he's doing !
I'm reading his autobiography right now and it's everything you could hope for, I would imagine especially for a guitar player. I am not one, but the guitar is what sucked me into this band.
Timeless song this. I love em so much.
This guitar is so damn haunting
I will never tire of this song
Insanely good song. The bass and guitar compliment each other so well.
Boring song 😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉
Everything about this song is healing to me. I used to listen to it on the vus ride home from my terrible experiences in junior high...Johnny's guitar 🎸 ...so much love for this song..
yeah Dabney you are not alone this song hits a nerve.
Big love from UK
Same. Glad we made it....❤
On this day, May 19th 2023, to the late great Andy Rourke! Gone much too soon at only 59. 🎸♥️
My heart bursts during the outro EVERY TIME. I just want it to keep going and going and going…. 🎶🎶🎶
Johnny Marr's guitar work at its peak, and Andy Rourke's bass line is sick.
I saw this live in '85!
Lucky SOB!
Me too. Brixton Academy Theater. One of the best life concerts ever.
Music is a time machine. This track takes me back to some great times in my life, partly because I never attended Manchester schools.
Andy's bass sound is brilliant on this . full marks to the production team for bringing it out so well
It's kinda hard to say, but this song is probably in my top ten of Smiths songs.
Whats first place?
Max Tough to conclude.
I understand
I think It is not hard. It is a fucking great song!!!!
For me its always 1. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, 2. This song. Always in that order. The rest changes.
The intro of this song gives me life everytime I listen to it.
RIP Andy Rourke the bass line on this track is amazing. One of my favorites
Incredible Bass playing....RIP Abdy Rourke ❤
For me this the best Smith's song of all, musically- it's the phenomenal guitar combination of Marr and Rourke that makes the intro and the concluding part unique, where towards the end Morrissey is almost yodelling in an echoey dreamlike 'thank ##d those days are all well past me' type of way. It's really hypnotic, a real cairn on the mountain top moment of the band's magic.
Totally agree. Sublime
@@ktmcv7118 Yep, i reckon it's the Best. Creates an atmosphere that feels like your own Dream experience.
For me his wailing is the cry of the student who wants to go home and Joyce's snare attacks suggest a series of pummelings at the hands of the barbarian. Stark portrayal of the reality at the time.
Bloody fantastic outro.
When i remember school and i get really sad and angry, this song is sort of a revenge, although i didn't live in Manchester in the 60's like Morrissey did.
I always substitute Manchester for my home town when singing it.
I went to this school
[Verse 1]Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since ninteteen-sixty-two
He does the military two-step
Down the nape of my neck
[Chorus 1]I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education as a bad mistake
[Verse 2]Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
[Verse 3]Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards, all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen-two
He does the military two-step
Down the nape of my neck
[Chorus]I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up life as a bad mistake
[Verse 4]Please excuse me from gym
I've got this terrible cold coming on
He grabs and devours
He kicks me in the showers
Kicks me in the showers
And he grabs and devours
One of the best songs to come out of the 80s. Never gets old.
Timeless priceless ..marrs guitars rourke bass joyce drums moz vocals ..the combination will never be repeated ..Andy Rourke great loss..
The way the Marr's guitar and Morrissey's voice go together at 1:40 is one of my favorite parts in any Smiths song. Absolutely brilliant! I just love that sound on the Meat is Murder album.
Listening to a song from 1985 in 2022 is like listening to a song from 1948 in 1985. Crazy how so much music from the 80's has aged so well.
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old suit since nineteen sixty two
He does the military two-step down
The nape of my neck
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Give up education
As a bad mistake
Mid-week on the playing fields
Sir thwacks you on the knees
Knees you in the groin
Elbow in the face
Bruises bigger than dinner plates
I want to go home
I don't want to stay
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da
Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless bastards all
Sir leads the troops
Jealous of youth
Same old jokes since nineteen- oh- two
He does…
@@andrewdavy9921 salam from Indonesia.
Love your pfp. That movie is awesome.
thank you❤️
Op
@@lordjoan7280 salam dari pamulang
this was about when we were younger but we didn’t write it
Thom did justice imho
justice served
@@extremelypositiveperson1811 who is Thom?
@@parmor125 Thom Yorke the Radiohead frontman. They did a cover on this song. 🙂
@@extremelypositiveperson1811 LoL I was just listening this surprise. I never thought this could ever happen. Thanks. Amazing cover
RIP Andy Rourke. We both turned 21 in the same year and your music got me through a lot.
This song is perfection
Word
Agree
Magnificent pop gem from The Smiths in which guitar, bass, drums and Morrissey's voice are amazingly intertwined. As a common thread, Johnny Marr's sublime sequence of chords and arpeggios.
Wonderful!!
Johnny Wrote some incredible songs but they wouldn’t be what they became without Andy Rourke. No Doubt brothers and sisters.
Yes ,Andy Rourke is a brilliant bass player 👍
Timeless......Just absolutely timeless!!
Definitely one of my favorite Smiths songs! BRILLIANT! ❤
Never mind Morrissey today, this is perfect pop, nothing more, nothing less. As good as The Beatles.
TRUE
Better!
give up life as a bad mistake!
You again
There are many moments when the Smiths are simply sublime..
It’s crazy how ahead of their time The Smiths were.
I’d say timeless.
Ri...ght?
They were of their time. The music they made can never be considered dated.
It's the same all the time.
nope, they were exactly a part of that time
The BEST!!!👍🏾 Spineless swines, cemented minds. Same old suit since 1962!!!!
RIP Andy Rourke. Some awesome bass on this and, quite possibly, the greatest intro of all time!
This is a timeless song. The interplay between guitar and bass is extraordinary.. Also a very tricky vocal line. Great, great stuff.
I didn't have the chance to know The Smiths when the band was formed but thank god I discovered their songs, otherwise I don't know what I would hear
That guitar/drums intro biffed me round the face good and proper when I first put it on in my room at York University in 1985. I go straight back there each time I hear it. I and a couple of friends were fast fans of two years standing. Already the standout band of our lives, how could they improve on the brilliance they’d already released? Answer: this. The extra dimension of abstraction and dissonance, a rushing whirlwind of chords, bass stabs and brutal accusatory lyrics. I still say this is their best album with this song, ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Any More’, ‘Well I Wonder’ and the title track which changed my diet ever since and I’ve probably got them to thank for my general wellbeing for the subsequent 40 years
Best bassline ever! Andy changed my life as a musician (and music lover) the very first time I heard this song. Rest in peace for this incredibly talented player.
It's the songs like this one that proved that The Smiths were the best band in the world, ever.
I hope the belligerent ghouls no longer run Manchester schools.
@David Ellis There are a few of us out and about.
There's belligerent ghouls everywhere you go.
"Manchester, so much to answer for."
not just in Manchester...
theres always another generation chasing the the strap of jesus' sweaty lean hand.
Melhor banda desse mundo todo.
this chorus is insane
Pra mim o melhor álbum..as melhores músicas da época.
The Very Best of The Smiths!
One of the most enjoyable guitar riffs
Still as awesome in 2021 as it was in 1984!!
when the "chorus" begins, my heart falls into warm milk, every time
So many people are missing the point about this song. If you grew up in England and went to a secondary school in the 1970s, and were an emotional and sensitive kid then you'd really get what this song is about! Listen to the lyrics. Pretty much my School late 1970s.
But why it was that bad in schools back in the days?
I love that "sparkly" guitar tone on this album and the debut. The Queen is Dead didn't really have it though, other than like one song.
Morrissey if so poetic but just so hilarious at the same time.
First 5 words of this album
‘Belligerent Ghouls run Manchester schools’.
LOL
Sleep well Andy Rourke 😥😥
The smiths are timeless , love this song , sickening oh a massive fan
Thank you Beth Funcasta, the classmate who introduced me to this song -- and by association, to the Smiths -- in the Summer of 1986, our summer, as we were both high-school grads that year.
I got introduced as a sophomore or junior...'86 or 7 by a kid named Jeff Nelson, asked me if I ever heard of them .. Lent me Louder Than Bombs...I was hooked instantly.
this guitarist fills the whole song
That's a great way to put it
Johnny`s work on here is fantastic, love a bit of rhythm!
its gotta be one the greatest openings to any Smiths song..and there are many great ones..
Such a great song
@@benspicer7470 one of the best 😎🍻
Het eerste nummer van mijn eerste (toen nog) Smiths-lp. Onvergetelijk! Nog steeds muziek waar ik op teruggrijp als het even niet zo wil als ik wil...eigenlijk altijd dus! Het is als met Joy Division: deze muziek grijpt (voor mij) zoveel DIEPER...
Another one of my favorite songs when I started college at New College, Oxford. I listened, like many 1000's times over and over.
A favorite - timeless...
Love Morrissey, but the guitar and the rythem in the background were genius. Rip Andy.Youre music makes me happy again,just turned 70.