‘Shoplifters Of The World Unite’: When socialism topped the charts
It was 1987. Margaret Thatcher was in the office, crushing northern mining towns, privatising things left, right and centre and declaring at the Conservative Party conference in 1983 that the British people had completely rejected socialism. The Smiths would say otherwise.
Thatcher’s war on socialism was something she was very proud of. “We have done more to roll back the frontiers of socialism than any previous Conservative Government,” she boasted in 1982 as her government worked hard at their mission of mass privatisation, squirrelling services away into the hands of rich private owners and away from the shared mits of the masses.
She didn’t believe in the idea of public money or shared public things. Things were to be bought and sold, owned by people, and given to people only in exchange for something else. She believed in a rigid capitalist society, as most governments do, but any alternative spells trouble. Socialism, to them, is the realm of the rebels, and as a government, it’s their job to squash that and maintain order in a strict society and economy.
But in 1987, The Smiths seemed to write an anthem for the other side with ‘Shoplifters Of The World Unite’. “Shoplifters of the world, unite and take over,” Morrissey boomed from the radio in a song that harks back to Karl Marx’s communist manifesto as he implores the masses to rise up and take what they want.
As with all of Morrissey’s ‘commentary’, it only goes so far. There are revolutionary hints here, especially as the title and central lyric allude to the communist slogan, “Workers of the world, unite!”, making the track pretty controversial at the time. But everything is balanced out with the band’s signature nonchalance as the singer shrugs it off, “My only weakness is a list of crimes / My only weakness is well, never mind, never mind.”
But something about the song appealed to the masses. At this moment when the economy of local towns was being squeezed more and more, and as the Prime Minister was passionately rallying against any socialist ideals, this rallying cry for the other side landed at number one on the indie charts and number 12 in the mainstream UK chart as a true commercial success for the band.
Perhaps it all comes down to mere catchiness as the band were truly at their best, burning bright right before their blowout split. But perhaps it is these more political messages that appealed. “My only weakness is listed crime / But last night the plans for a future war / Was all I saw on Channel Four,” Morrissey sings, contrasting this urge to steal some snacks from his local supermarket with ongoing global conflicts and the enduring Cold War tension that bubbled under everything.
It feels like a partying at the end of the world kind of song as Morrissey stands up and sings an anthem for a kind of hooliganism, imploring people to go crazy and rob Tesco blind while the world burns. And in 1987, it’s clearly what the people wanted to hear.
