As well as producing some of the finest indie-rock of the 1980s, did you know Moz and co were a font of knowledge, too?
Amongst the forefathers of the Madchester music scene, singing about comatose girlfriends, panic on the streets of Carlisle and just what a lovely thing death might be, The Smiths weren't exactly the cheeriest bunch. But, with their music every bit as loved now as it was three decades ago, a peek into their songbook doesn't just show doom and gloom but also great wisdom. Here, we look at the top 30 nuggets of knowledge from Manchester's finest.
(Images: Rex/AllStar)
Ask
“Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you, from doing all the things in life that you like to.”
Miserable Lie
“Love is just a miserable lie.”
I Know It's Over
“Love is natural and real, but not for you my love, not tonight, my love.”
Unloveable
“If I seem a little strange, that’s because I am.”
A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
“And people who are uglier than you and I, they take what they need, and just leave.”
Accept Yourself
“Anything is hard to find, when you will not open your eyes.”
Cemetery Gates
“If you must write prose and poems, the words you use should be your own. Don't plagiarise or take on loan, 'cause there's always someone, somewhere, with a big nose, who knows.”
Death Of A Disco Dancer
“And if you think peace is a common goal, that goes to show how little you know.”
Girl Afraid
“Boy afraid, prudence never pays.”
Hand In Glove
“Hand in glove, the sun shines out of our behinds. Yes, we may be hidden by rags, but we've something they'll never have.”
Handsome Devil
“A boy in the bush is worth two in the hand.”
How Soon Is Now?
“I am Human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does.”
I Keep Mine Hidden
“Hate, love and war, force emotions to the fore.”
I Know It’s Over
“If you're so funny, then why are you on your own tonight? And if you're so clever, then why are you on your own tonight? If you're so very entertaining, then why are you on your own tonight? If you're so very good-looking, why do you sleep alone tonight?”
How Soon is Now
“There's a club, if you'd like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you.”
I Won’t Share You
“Life tends to come and go. That's OK, as long as you know.”
Jeane
“There's ice on the sink where we bathe, so how can you call this a home, when you know it's a grave?”
Meat is Murder
“Heifer whines could be human cries, closer comes the screaming knife. This beautiful creature must die, this beautiful creature must die. A death for no reason, and death for no reason is murder.”
I Know It’s Over
“It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind.”
Paint A Vulgar Picture
“But you could have said no, if you'd wanted to. You could have walked away, couldn't you ?”
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
“Some girls are bigger than others, some girls are bigger than others, some girl's mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers.”
Still Ill
“Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind rule the body? I don't know...”
Stretch Out And Wait
“So ignore all the codes of the day, let your juvenile impulses sway, this way and that way, this way, that way. God, how sex implores you, to let yourself lose yourself.”
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
“Park the car at the side of the road, you should know, time's tide will smother you, and I will too.”
The Queen is Dead
“Life is very long, when you're lonely.”
This Charming Man
“Why pamper life's complexity, when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?”
Vicar in a Tutu
“The vicar in a tutu, he's not strange, he just wants to live his life this way.”
What Difference Does It Make?
“The devil will find work for idle hands to do.”
Work is a Four Letter Word
“So change your life. There is so much I know, that you can do, come and see.”
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby
“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 ... You just haven't earned it yet, baby.”
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