Dear Friends,
Today is the day. “Hello my baby, hello my darlin’, hello my good time gal…”
To say that I am excited to see Rangeley later today is an understatement of understated proportions. I’m also excited to see Vermont and New Hampshire, too. Seeing them means that I am very close.
Plus, I’ve really grown to love New England and feel truly at home here. It’s a different vibe than Phoenix, but I spend enough time here that I feel like it is a part of me.
*****
Yesterday started out very difficult. For one thing, I hate having to say goodbye to people I love for an extended period of time. Just when you get you used to having someone right there, off you go.
It was also pissing down rain in Illinois, so we sat in Tuesday morning traffic in Chicago getting poured on. People drive fucking fast there, too, so it was very uncomfortable. Eventually when we got almost to Ohio the rain stopped.
We listened to a lot of music yesterday on the way, though, and that was good. Liam and I have had some great conversations on this trip, so I feel very fortunate to have that relationship with my son.
Bailey has had kind of a tough trip with her anxiety. We give her a mild sedative, which helps a lot, but every so often it is completely obvious that she is just as high as a Georgia pine. She only tried to kill us a couple of times a day.
We’ll all be very happy to be in Maine today.
*****
Few bands were as important to me in my teenage years as The Smiths. I know I am not alone in this, and it continues to this day. I love that kids are still discovering the band after all of these years. It says a lot about the power of Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce, Andy Rourke, and Morrissey when they were working together.
I struggled to decide which of their records to start with as there are three that I want to cover this year. After thinking about it for a bit, I just let it go and figured that when the day came, I would choose one, so here we are. We are setting the way back machine to 1986 for The Queen Is Dead.
Ultimately, I think I chose this one so I could brag about seeing this tour at Mesa Amphitheater in September of 1986. I will never forget that day and still have the ticket stub. I had been up to teenage shenanigans the night before and had worked all day at Sears before heading out to the show. At one point, I laid down on the grass and just listened.
That didn’t last long because the set list contained many of the songs that kept me going during difficult times. The Smiths have been a go-to band for me for almost forty years now and still are. If I need a change in mood or something to keep me in a particular state of mind, they have been there for me through thick and thin.
As a music fan who gets very attached (and loyal) to certain albums, I kind of felt like I was cheating on my favorite Smiths’ records when The Queen Is Dead came out. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but it was just a little bit different than the albums I had burned holes through during the previous couple of years.
When Joyce’s drums kick in at the start of the record, I was hooked, though. Marr sounds so big, too, when the guitars come in. It’s just fucking brilliant. I can still hear it as they did it live 38 years ago, too. The place lost its collective mind.
“I checked all the registered historical facts…”
What a great start to a wonderful line. I love Morrissey’s lyrics and singing along with him for the last five decades has made my life a better thing. He may be a trainwreck of a human being, but as a singer, he’s a favorite of mine.
I used to use the Smiths as my vocal warm up while I was driving to gigs I’m singing along right now as I type. Don’t ever let anyone tell you can’t play an instrument and sing (or type). You just have to do it.
Like they were wont to do, there is a lot of different emotions on The Queen Is Dead. This is something many bands simply can’t pull off. From the rockin’ yet melancholy sound of the title track to “Frankly Mr. Shankly” you get a delicious mood swing that shifts again into “I Know It’s Over.” The Smiths were not afraid at all to take us on a rollercoaster ride and that’s why teenagers love them. The Smiths might embody what adolescence truly feels like better than any of their peers.
Speaking of “I Know It’s Over,” what a beautiful song. “It takes strength to be gentle and kind” is probably a line that Morrissey should revisit. What he’s talking about, though, was so impactful to me going through different teenage break ups and feeling the world was coming to an end.
Maudlin is a fun word to write. Not so much to say because, well, no one says it much anymore, but the middle of The Queen Is Dead is a master class in it. “Never Had No One Ever” speaks maudlin fluently. Even the riff is terrifically wistful.
Andy Rourke is one of my favorite bass players. He’s the kind of bass player, though, that I would never try to emulate. I don’t have the time to learn his riffs, but I love them. I’ve tried to learn a few here and there and it never goes well. The guy was great and I’m sad I never got to meet him.
“Cemetry Gates” is a good example of his dexterity. It gives way to “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” which is just an asskicker of a song. Talk about playful lyrics. “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt” is a great line.
The lyrics continue to be great during “The Boy With the Thorn in his Side.” This is another one that just captures what it feels like to think that no one understands you. Morrissey expressed these things so well.
“Vicar in a Tutu” is great fun. Marr creates this wonderful western sounding background that must’ve been a blast for him to create. It is certainly a blast to listen to on this beautiful June day.
The Queen Is Dead ends with two more excellent songs. “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” and “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” are two songs that have stuck with me over all these years. Even though the record is not my “go to” Smiths record, I am never bummed when I do choose it or the songs come on randomly.
“To die by your side…the pleasure and the privilege is mine.”
*****
See you tomorrow.
Well...AI kind of nailed this one.