I'm not suggesting that this is the way to read Hand in Glove, but it struck me the other day while listening to it that it actually makes a lot of sense if you take it not just as a declaration of defiant love, but as a sort of manifesto of musical and artistic intent - a program declaration for the Smiths and the establishment of a sense of rapport with their (presumed) audience.
Hand in glove
the sun shines out of our behinds
No, it's NOT like any other love
this one is different
because it's us!
Confidence, certitude of being different and better, a unique band collective or the assertion of a unique connection to fans (that is still not at this time reality)
Confidence that they can go far, and that the closeness of the working relationship with Marr is the key - or an invocation and underlining of the intent to make music that is deeply personal and demands a willingness of the listener to enter deeply into it?
Defiance, defiance, defiance - pride in being different.
This was actually the line that sparked off the whole reflection, because it works so well so literally - the notoriously underdressed Smiths with their whole anti-80s-glamour attitude and indeed with something they'll never have...Also, again swaggering confidence in their music and their whole artistic project
Isn't "I stake my claim" a pretty good summation of HIG as a release, a first single? Morrissey's one big chance at escaping a life of desperate drudgery, with all the desperate determination that entails.
This is where it starts to get a bit strained, of course. Unless you want to rationalise it as a declaration of firm internal band loyalty, or an invitation to listeners to come along and approach their art and music with the same furious passion, and an assurance that that furious passion is also in some sense directed at the well-being of those who partake of the music, standing up for them and leading them on to better things.
Which you would have to see as the inevitable Morrisseyesque destabiliser that seemingly overturns what went before, a slip into desperation. That much goes for any general interpretation of the song, really.
Kinda works, doesn't it? I thought listening to it in that way rather added to its potency. Whether it tries to or not, it does seem to sum up the key elements of the Smiths at their most combative and ambitious.
cheers
Hand in glove
the sun shines out of our behinds
No, it's NOT like any other love
this one is different
because it's us!
Confidence, certitude of being different and better, a unique band collective or the assertion of a unique connection to fans (that is still not at this time reality)
Hand in glove
we can go wherever we please
and everything depends upon
how near you stand to me
Confidence that they can go far, and that the closeness of the working relationship with Marr is the key - or an invocation and underlining of the intent to make music that is deeply personal and demands a willingness of the listener to enter deeply into it?
And if the people stare
then, the people stare
I really don't know
and I really don't care
Kiss my shades...
Hand in glove
the Good People laugh
Defiance, defiance, defiance - pride in being different.
Yes, we may be hidden by "rags"
but we have something they'll never have
This was actually the line that sparked off the whole reflection, because it works so well so literally - the notoriously underdressed Smiths with their whole anti-80s-glamour attitude and indeed with something they'll never have...Also, again swaggering confidence in their music and their whole artistic project
So hand in glove I stake my claim
I'll fight to the last breath
Isn't "I stake my claim" a pretty good summation of HIG as a release, a first single? Morrissey's one big chance at escaping a life of desperate drudgery, with all the desperate determination that entails.
If they dare touch a hair on your head
I'll fight to the last breath
For The Good Life is out there, somewhere
So stay on my arm, you little charmer
This is where it starts to get a bit strained, of course. Unless you want to rationalise it as a declaration of firm internal band loyalty, or an invitation to listeners to come along and approach their art and music with the same furious passion, and an assurance that that furious passion is also in some sense directed at the well-being of those who partake of the music, standing up for them and leading them on to better things.
But I know my luck too well
yes, I know my luck too well
and I'll probably never see you again
I'll probably never see you again
I'll probably never see you again
Which you would have to see as the inevitable Morrisseyesque destabiliser that seemingly overturns what went before, a slip into desperation. That much goes for any general interpretation of the song, really.
Kinda works, doesn't it? I thought listening to it in that way rather added to its potency. Whether it tries to or not, it does seem to sum up the key elements of the Smiths at their most combative and ambitious.
cheers