I’m pretty sure the Smiths weren’t the first band to deal with the issues you mention but they may as well have been to me! I remember becoming quite dispirited with music a few years ago, trying hard to find something that said something to me or was vaguely intellectual and I came to the conclusion I never actually would, being a child of the nineties too there was just the domination of terrible pop music it seemed. So to find the Smiths was like a door being burst open, a real revelation to me.
I think they were very much a product of the eighties, I’ve read several comments like that from critics- that they belonged to that era and couldn’t have happened any other time. So it’s interesting to me how relevant the lyrics still are and how they are obviously attracting whole new generations of admirers twenty years on. I wonder if it’s because we are living in the world that’s the product of that time and things maybe haven’t changed an awful lot in some ways, or if it’s just feelings that can be associated with in a non-specific way. I think the songs are so easy to connect to because they seem to speak so directly, they aren’t cryptic and just sum up so wonderfully so many experiences we all go through, maybe that’s the guarantee of an enduring appeal.
As for other bands, I also have limited knowledge, but I have been listening to Joy Division a bit lately and they seem to have covered such things as living in desolate urban environments, unsatisfactory relationships and things just not generally going according to plan in life. I love the songs but they don’t speak to me as directly as the Smiths still though. Ok, ramble over…
!!). So what was it for all of you that made the Smith's music speak to you like no else's? Would their music have meant the same to you (if it was sung and the music was played in the exact same way) by, say, The Stranglers??!? To what extent do the people who make the music affect how you hear or relate to the music, or in this case, how much did Morrissey's (I would include the other members, but this is a Morrissey site!) persona or the person that he was influence your liking of the Smiths' music? Is it ever really just about the music?
