A solo Morrissey performance of a song by The Smiths was better than the original. That the original was this makes that last sentence all the more astounding:-
mp3 : The Smiths - I Know It's Over
Most fans say There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is THE highlight of the LP The Queen Is Dead, but I'll always argue that I Know It's Over is way superior. Not only do I think it's the best ballad The Smiths ever recorded, I think it's the best ballad any band has ever recorded. There can be no disputing that it is one of Morrissey's greatest ever vocal deliveries (if not the greatest). And the arrangement is perfect.
It had been some 25 years since I last heard it performed live before the other night. It wasn't just the high point of that particular gig but the most spine-tingling and moving few minutes of any of the 13 solo gigs I've seen over the years. As the saying goes....he nailed it.
It was stunning. And with his band playing so quietly and gently that you hardly noticed them it hit me that Moz should stick to the ballads when re-visiting the songs of his old band nowadays. It also was a sharp reminder that his voice is far better than his many critics give him credit for.
I Know It's Over - a song for which the word epic was invented.....
7 comments:
There aren't many Smith's songs - in fact there aren't many pop songs - that have 'Movements' in the way that this song does. It has the sense of desolation from 'How Soon Is Now' but rather than matching that desolation with such a sparse format, this song explores it, examines it, pokes at it and runs off, gets inside it - and it does it with what feels, from the first lines, like mature understanding, which develops into a little self-deprecation, and some humour, before bursting into anger and pain and loss a the end. Absolutely right - brilliant brilliant song.
Saw him at Glastonbury and thought his band sounded better than it has in years. Liked the new material too.
Yes, I saw him sing it in Dunoon and it was very, very special.
Such an excellent song.
Sadly, it is one of those that I developed a deep emotional attachment to during a very rough period in life, that it makes it hard to listen to these days.
Morrissey remains the only artist to ever affect my life that deeply- somehow they are more than just songs.
I don't believe what i just read about "I know it's over" : Better than "There is a light" ? Matching "How soon is now" ?
Of course everybody got favourite songs but "I know it's over" is just a cheesy song, sterotypical words AND music as the worst of the 60's so-called lovesongs.
"There is a light" or "How soon" are different and better in a lot of areas ( music, lyrics, arrangement ) and that's what shall stay on musical history books.
I could not agree more about "I Know It's Over". Don't get me wrong, I love "There Is A Light" but the ache that is conveyed in IKIO is quite possibly a pinnacle moment in The Smiths catalogue. It is so dark, so amazingly sad. One of the best lines written ever may be "Mother I can feel the soil falling over my head". Epic...I agree that the perfect word is epic.
Dark lyrics can't save a cheesy tune.
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