The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (song)

"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
Single by The Smiths
from the album The Queen Is Dead
Released 16 September 1985
Format 7", 12"
Recorded August 1985
Genre Alternative rock
Length 3:18 (album version)
3:16 (different mix)
Label Rough Trade
Writer(s) Johnny Marr, Morrissey
Producer(s) The Smiths (single); Morrissey and Johnny Marr (album version)
The Smiths singles chronology
"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"
(1985)
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
(1985)
"Bigmouth Strikes Again"
(1986)

"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song by British alternative rock band The Smiths. It appears on their third album The Queen Is Dead, but was released as a single (albeit in a different mix) several months before, reaching no. 23 in the UK Singles Chart in autumn 1985.

This was the first single by The Smiths to be accompanied by a promotional video, something the band had previously resisted. The Smiths also performed this song on an episode of the British television programme Top of the Pops.

The jumping man on the cover of the single release is a young Truman Capote.

Margi Clarke asked Morrissey if this song was inspired by Oscar Wilde, and Morrissey replied: "No, that's not true. The thorn is the music industry and all those people who never believed anything I said, tried to get rid of me and wouldn't play the records. So I think we've reached a stage where we feel: if they don't believe me now, will they ever believe me? What more can a poor boy do?"[1]

The chief difference between the single version and the one appearing on the album The Queen Is Dead is in the use of synthesised strings. They are largely absent from the single version, only appearing in the song's coda.

Track listing

7" RT191
No. Title Length
1. "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"   3:17
2. "Asleep"   4:09
12" RTT191
No. Title Length
1. "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"   3:17
2. "Rubber Ring/Asleep"   7:56
CD Single RTT191
No. Title Length
1. "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"   3:17
2. "Rubber Ring"   3:48
3. "Asleep"   4:10

The original 12" and CD singles have "Rubber Ring" and "Asleep" segued into a continuous piece with the voice sample at the end of the former looped and faded into the wind noise preceding the latter. Described by Simon Goddard (in Songs That Saved Your Life, 2nd edition, p. 154) as a "spectacular combination"—a suggestion with which Johnny Marr concurs—this carefully executed sequence can only be found on the original 12" and CD singles, the two tracks having been separated on all subsequent compilations.

Etchings on vinyl

British 7" and 12": ARTY BLOODY FARTY/IS THAT CLEVER...JM

"Is that clever" is a lyric from "Rubber Ring", which itself is a line from The Importance of Being Earnest, a play that was referenced in the etchings of "William, It Was Really Nothing" and Hatful of Hollow. "JM" is a reference to Johnny Marr, and was also an etching on the Sandie Shaw version of "Hand in Glove".

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA) 15
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 23

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

Jack Rabid of Allmusic called this single "just another feather in a jeweled cap".[2]

Cover versions

The song was covered by Scottish band Bis on the tribute album The Smiths Is Dead. Music reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticised the cover, writing: "In particular, the Bis utterly disembowel 'The Boy with the Thorn in His Side' with a single-minded stupidity that is just bewildering."[3]

The song has also been covered by The Crusifixtion, Belle & Sebastian, Scott Matthews, Jeff Buckley, Emilie Autumn, Xiu Xiu and Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis in live performances.

In popular culture

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.