Song: "How Soon is Now?"
Artist: The Smiths
Album: Meat is Murder
Year: 1985
Length: 6:46
Label: Rough Trade
This song actually first appeared on singles collection Hatful of Hollow in the UK, but received its first US release as part of the classic Meat is Murder, which would go on to occupy status as my favorite album of all-time. This song was the first by The Smiths that I'd heard, and would stay to this day one of my favorite records of all-time (obviously). It's a little dated, and admittedly, the emotions displayed worked better on me when I was in high school, but there's a reason people of a certain age remember it so fondly.
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 people's favourite, I think."
Here's a review from the days of its release:
"Morrissey and co have once again delved into their Sixties treasure-trove, and produced a visceral power capable of blowing the dust off Eighties inertia. The majestic ease of Morrissey's melancholic vocals are tinted with vitriol, as they move through vistas of misery with plaintive spirals around the pulse of Johnny Marr's vibrato guitar. The string's muted strains conjure wistful signs that bridge the schism between crass sentimentality and callous detachment. Each repeated phrase intensifies the hypnotic waves, with results that outflank anything since 'This Charming Man'. Catharsis has rarely been tinged with so much regret, and shared with so much crystalline purity." - Melody Maker, 2 February 1985
In May 2007, NME magazine placed "How Soon Is Now?" at # 7 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.
#13 Favorite Song of All-Time
I am the son
and the heir
of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
I am the son
and the heir
of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
There's a club if you'd like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die
When you say it's gonna happen "now"
well, when exactly do you mean?
see I've already waited too long
and all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
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