Hear Me Out: ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ is still The Smiths’ most overlooked song
Notwithstanding the horrible personal dynamics at present, The Smiths remain one of the most relevant indie rock bands of the 1980s. With their ironic and witty lyrics, Morrissey’s theatrical vocals and Johnny Marr’s – dare I say it – “jangly” riffs, their tunes have established the band as all-timers.
Some of their tunes are well-known household names, and even if you aren’t a superfan, or don’t think you can name a single one of their songs, there’s a chance that you’d still be able to sing along to the oft invoked in popular culture chorus of ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’…you know the one, it’s always sountracking indie rock-coms: “And if a double-decker bus crashes into us/To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die”.
For the fans, naturally, with such an expansive discography including hits like ‘This Charming Man’ and ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, there are songs that are bound to be overlooked and underappreciated when they most definitely shouldn’t be.
From The Smiths’ third album, The Queen Is Dead, buried between the title track and ‘I Know It’s Over’, there is a little gem that is often ignored. During one of their “marathon” writing sessions at Marr’s home, Morrissey penned the lyrics while Marr wrote the music, creating ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’, an upbeat number from the perspective of a disgruntled employee, talking about their superior. Written in one night alongside it’s more successful sister, ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’, and the ever-gloomy, ‘I Know It’s Over’, it’s the song-form of a resignation from a job which “pays my way and corrodes my soul”—a topic that is highly relatable for a lot of people, especially today. Instead of this demoralising job, the employee wants other life experiences like to “go down in musical history”, and “to live” and “love”.
Morrissey dips his toes into comedy with this track, which has a more light-hearted and humorous tone than the usual melancholic, downbeat tunes that The Smiths are (in)famous for. It is also why he gets away with writing the most ridiculous and outlandish lyrics, because of the adopted persona of the disgruntled employee who is at the end of their tether and no longer bothers to filter the things they say: “Frankly, Mr Shankly, since you ask / you are a flatulent pain in the arse”.
Now, it is believed that the singer himself is the disgruntled employee narrating the song, and that it was written about Geoff Travis, the head of Rough Trade, the band’s record label at the time. Allegedly, the former was dissatisfied with the deal the band was given and, in their minds, the very little profit. In retaliation, he wrote this song to poke fun at Travis and disguised it as a letter to a fictional boss, ‘Mr Shankly’. Although the origin of this song has never been confirmed by either, the lyrics are full of evidence.
To further prove this theory, Morrissey mockingly sings, “I didn’t know you wrote such bloody awful poetry”, which is a reference to Travis, being a fellow poet, would send his poems to the singer for feedback. And this song clearly references this aspect of their relationship, if reports are to be believed, of course, ending with the lyric, “give us money”, referencing the primary issue of finances that the singer had with the label boss.
No matter the origins of the song, ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ is a clear example of Morrissey’s undeniable songwriting genius. It demonstrates his varied ability to shrug off the gloom and angst that usually shrouds his words to write a track full to the brim with lyrics that will make you chortle. Set to a melody that is resonant of The Kinks, with Marr’s signature playing, the jangly, folky riffs make for a hit that you can’t help but bounce about to. Despite the infectiously fun and cheery nature of the song, it never hit the charts in the UK, not even when it was released as a single six years later in 1992 to support the release of a compilation album.
So, next time you’re giving The Queen Is Dead a listen, make sure to give the same amount of attention to ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ as you do ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’, because it no doubt deserves it.
