ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS...A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS (Part 36)

Possibly the least lauded track on The Queen Is Dead:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Never Had No One Ever

It is a bit of a strange one. It's been described as the defining, as opposed to definitive, song by The Smiths and "a stark expression of the inner sadness which bonded Morrissey and Marr to begin with" It's certainly far from the jauntiest tune that Johnny ever composed and it's up there with some of the most melancholic lyrics Moz have ever wrote. Seemingly, although it is hard to imagine given the final mix, the track was slated for having a jazz-style trumpet solo courtesy of a session musician who played with one of the BBC orchestras. But no sooner had the part been recorded when all concerned realised it just didn't sound right.

Where James Kirk just a few years previously had penned the line 'This is The Sound of Happiness' as the closer to Felicity, Moz could just have easily penned 'This Is The Sound of Loneliness' as the closer to Never Had No One Ever.

Heartbreaking stuff indeed.

Here's a live version recorded in August 1986:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Never Had No One Ever (live, Laguna Hills)

And as with last week's song in this series, the Bard of Barking has had a stab at this:-

mp3 : Billy Bragg - Never Had No One Ever

I promise that I will post something a wee bit chirpier next week.