 Genius Meanings
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The Smiths – Still Ill
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“Still Ill” is a 1984 track by The Smiths, composed by lead singer Morrissey and guitarist Marr. The track premiered on the eponymous debut album The Smiths.
The song is primarily
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The Smiths – Still Ill (John Peel Session 14/09/83)
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[Verse 1] / I decree today that life / Is simply taking and not giving / England is mine, and it owes me a living / Ask me why and I'll spit in your eye / Oh ask me why and I'll
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The Smiths – This Night Has Opened My Eyes
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“This Night Has Opened My Eyes” is inspired by and retells the events of the play A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney, as Morrissey told interviewers at NME in the 7 June 1986
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The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make?
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“What Difference Does It Make?” is the Smiths' third single in the UK, released on the 16th of January, 1984. The song peaked at #12 on the UK Singles Chart, being relevant in the
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The Smiths – Girl Afraid
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On “Girl Afraid” Morrisey plays with the word girlfriend as “girl afraid” and boyfriend as “boy afraid”. The song deals with mistaken assumptions in the relationship of said girl
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The Smiths – Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
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Perhaps the Smiths at their most delicate, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is a minimal, yet lush two minutes of almost otherworldly beauty.
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The Smiths – Frankly, Mr. Shankly
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“Frankly, Mr. Shankly” is a lark, an ambitious gofer’s resignation set to a light melody reminiscent of the Kinks. While referencing a real-life disagreement, this also calls back
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The Smiths – Still Ill (Live in London, 1986)
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[Intro] / (Oh) / [Verse 1] / I decree today that life / Is simply taking and not giving / England is mine and it owes me a living / But ask me why and I'll spit in your eye, oh
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The Smiths – These Things Take Time
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“These Things Take Time” is another upbeat Smiths' song with an homoerotic sexual undertone. It was originally released as a B-side to the maxi single version of “What Difference
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The Smiths – This Charming Man
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“This Charming Man” is The Smiths' second single of 1983, depicting the story of a poor boy coming in contact with an upper class man and feeling unwelcome due to his lack of
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The Smiths – Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
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This is a typical Morrissey song about a person who is upset or depressed, and doesn’t want to waste any more time on thoughtless people. It was released as a single backed with “
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The Smiths – Hand in Glove
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“Hand in Glove” was released in May 1983 as The Smiths' first single.
The song was later featured on the band’s first album, The Smiths, and also on their two compilation albums
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The Smiths – You've Got Everything Now
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Morrissey expresses his bitterness towards a person whom he implies is only faking his happiness, because Morrissey believes that having a casual life isn’t enough.
Morrissey
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The Smiths – I Know It's Over
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“I Know It’s Over” is a ballad for the desperate and lonely. It uses basic allusions to the idea of loneliness producing despair, but the attention to the speaker’s ego, and how it
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The Smiths – William, It Was Really Nothing
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This song is about a love triangle between 2 men and a woman. Many believe it’s addressed to William Mackenzie, lead singer of the Associates. In 1993 Mackenzie wrote the song “
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The Smiths – Back to the Old House
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[Verse 1] / I would rather not go / Back to the old house / I would rather not go / Back to the old house / There's too many bad memories / Too many memories there / [Refrain] / Oh
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The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?
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Sire Records chief Seymour Stein called it “the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ of the Eighties”, while co-writer Johnny Marr described it as “possibly our most enduring record. It’s most
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The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
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Right after one of the bleakest songs in Smiths' history, we get this jangly, up-beat contradiction of a song that takes a frolicing tone through the cemetery.
This song recounts
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The Smiths – The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
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Please don't cry / For the ghost and the storm outside / Will not invade this sacred shrine / Nor infiltrate your mind / My life down I shall lie / If the bogey-man should try / To
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The Smiths – The Draize Train
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[Instrumental]
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The Smiths – You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
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[Verse 1] / If you're wondering why / All the love that you long for eludes you / And people are rude and cruel to you / I'll tell you why / I'll tell you why / I'll tell you why
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The Smiths – Handsome Devil (John Peel Session 18/05/83)
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“Handsome Devil” appears on the November 1984 compilation album Hatful Of Hollow, having been recorded originally during the John Peel session at the BBC, May 31, 1983.
The lyrics
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The Smiths – I Don't Owe You Anything
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“I Don’t Owe You Anything” tells the story of a person trying to charm someone over Johnny Marr’s smooth groove.
As stated in the book Mozipedia – The Encyclopedia of Morrissey
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The Smiths – Miserable Lie
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“Miserable Lie” tells the story of a naive country boy corrupted by the lustful ways of a prostitute. A quintessential Smiths track.
It is especially notable for its odd song
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The Smiths – Nowhere Fast
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“Nowhere Fast” shows Meat Is Murder from its funny side as Morrissey croons:
I’d like to drop my trousers to the Queen
It’s hard to hear the song without wondering if Morrissey
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Radiohead – Karma Police
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One of several stunning singles from Radiohead’s heavily influential masterpiece, OK Computer, “Karma Police” is a haunting and atmospheric track. Thom Yorke’s strained
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The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make? (John Peel Session 18/05/83)
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[Verse 1] / All men have secrets and here is mine / So let it be known / We have been through hell and high tide / I can surely rely on you / And yet you start to recoil / Heavy
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The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
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“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” is a sacred Smiths classic by now, one that makes fans across the globe join hands and mope together. To some it is a depressive anthem, to
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