It’s counter-intuitive to include The Smiths‘ most iconic song in a b-side series, but it was first released as the flip side of a single. Recorded in a four day burst of creativity that also yielded ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ and ‘Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’, ‘How Soon is Now?’ was relegated to a b-side, because it was considered too out of character for the group.
Johnny Marr’s guitar usually jangles; here it pulses with a tremolo effect. While Marr usually wrote fast moving chord sequences, most of ‘How Soon is Now’ is centred on the F# chord, and the song’s working title of ‘Swamp’ is fitting. The layered guitar parts also include a dramatic, delayed slide guitar line that adds tension to the song.
While the music’s not what you expect from Johnny Marr, the lyrics are unmistakably Morrissey, almost the quintessential representation of his lovelorn, awkward persona. Sometimes there’s a tongue-in-cheek humour behind his tirades, but here’s he just a sad sack. If you haven’t seen it before, the Tumblr account This Charming Charlie juxtaposes Charles Schultz’s Peanuts cartoons with Morrissey’s lyrics: here’s a line from ‘How Soon Is Now?”
Even though it started as a b-side, ‘How Soon Is Now?’ didn’t languish in obscurity forever – it was eventually released as a single, although it wasn’t a top 20 hit, probably because it was already previously released. It was also included on the compilation Hatful of Hollow (a collection of the group’s early singles and BBC sessions) and on some editions of The Smiths’ 1985 album Meat Is Murder.
But it its original form, ‘How Soon is Now?’ is part of one of the greatest a-side and b-side pairs ever – ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ is more conventional musically for The Smiths, with its jangly guitars, but for me it’s vying with ‘How Soon Is Now?’ for the title of their best song.
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 doesI am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir of nothing in particularYou 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 doesThere’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 dieWhen you say “it’s gonna happen now”
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
15 Comments
Leave a Reply
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
Subscribe
Subscribe to receive new posts from Aphoristic Album Reviews.
Was lucky enough to see The Smiths back in the mid -80’s- a memorable concert. My sister wanted to go so I took her- was glad I went. They were a near perfect band!
A lot of great rock bands happen when you get a very talented guitarist and a very talented singer in the same band. Morrissey and Marr aren’t really a natural fit for each other in some ways – kind of a miracle that they ended up in the same band.
Like the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane combo, an impossibly good 2 sides!
I adore William’s song structure – and I had forgotten they’d recorded Please Please during that period too, not bad for a few days work!
Yes, it’s basically at the stratospheric level where it’s vying with double a-sides as the best single ever.
One of THE great seven inch pieces of plastic the rock world ever created. This song is a masterpiece
It is different than their normal sound – wonder if they ever tried anything else similar.
It’s one group I really need to look into further. Both of these songs are excellent.
Those are my two absolute favourite Smiths songs. Their discography is a little messy, as a lot of their best stuff is on non-album singles – of their four studio albums, 1986’s The Queen is Dead is my favourite, and generally the consensus pick.
I’ll have to check out The Queen is Dead then. Thank you very much!
Love the Tremolo effect in How Soon Is Now…gives it a lot of power. William, It Was Really Nothing has a good pop feel.
Have you heard them before? They were pretty big in the UK (and reasonably big in New Zealand) but I’m not sure they hit the big time in the states?
How Soon Is Now I have…but not William, It Was Really Nothing
Like both these tunes
Are you a Smiths fan?
Yes I am. I pull them periodically. I have these on record but couldn’t tell you which ones off the top of my head. Like their sound. Sometimes those off beat combos work. It did in The Smiths case.