ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS (Part 30)

A quite amazing song in many ways:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Pretty Girls Make Graves

When so many songs written and sung by men boast of sexual conquests, here was Morrissey admitting that he's had disasters....

It's a tale of a nightmare of a rendez-vous on the beach with a female desperate to have her wicked way with our poor hero who is so lacking in confidence and experience that he cannot consummate the relationship.

As a tune, it is rather typical of the early band with the jaunty jingly-jangly guitar to the fore. It really could have been a great single - and seemingly it was Morrissey's wish that it be the follow-up to This Charming Man instead of What Difference Does It Make?.

And if anyone wants proof of how good a job producer John Porter did with the early material, compare and contrast the version that would have come out if the Troy Tate sessions had been unleashed on the world:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Pretty Girls Make Graves (Troy Tate version)
It has a totally different feel, and while I admit the cello at the back of the vocal during what could loosely be called the chorus is a bit of class, it is all just a bit too disjointed and strange for my overall liking. But I'm sure there will be some out there who prefer it. (It was released as the b-side on the 7" and 12" versions of second-to-last single I Started Something I Couldn't Finish in October 1987.

And here's a live version captured at the band's debut Scottish show in Glasgow in 1984:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Pretty Girls Make Graves (live)
Quite faithful to the LP version dontcha think??