The song that embodies “heartbreak” for Patti Smith
Like her New York contemporary and close friend, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith is recognised for a poetic knack beyond the usual scope of pop music. Smith’s early talent was forged in folk-rock circuits, thanks to her association with Dylan and Allen Ginsberg; however, raw, passionate delivery adorning a heavier rock sound later earned her the title ‘Godmother of Punk’.
Undoubtedly, this title befell Smith thanks to the intensity and gritty immediacy of her poetic performances, but as she’s testified on several occasions, her music was never really punk. “I’ve been called the ‘Princess of Piss’, ‘The Keeper of the Phlegm’, ‘The Wild Mustang of Rock’ n’ Roll’,” Smith once told the BBC half in jest. “But I was not really a punk, and my band was never a punk rock band.”
“I felt that our cultural voice, which was so magnificent through the late ’60s and early ’70s, was faltering and there was the rise of stadium rock and glam rock and all of these different things, and I felt like somebody had to save it,” she continued. “I didn’t think that it would be me, but I thought I could play a role. I had a strong sense of myself, and I came to say, ‘Here I am’. I’m speaking to those like me, the disenfranchised, the mavericks. ‘Don’t lose heart, don’t give up.'”
As a salient feminine presence in rock music, Smith has inspired countless notable female artists to take the stage. Despite her advocacy for the feminist cause – or rather because of it – Smith despises being referred to as a “female artist”.
“I think we’ve made tremendous strides,” Smith told The Telegraph in 2020. “When I was young, I never saw any girls playing electric guitar, but now girls do whatever they want. But in terms of equality, I’m more concerned, truthfully, with the equality of people having water, people having food, people dying of starvation all over the world. I don’t worry about whether rock and roll is equal for one gender or another. That’s a fight each musician can fight on their own. I have sympathy for mothers who can’t feed their children.”
Leading by example more than outcry, Smith takes her status as a feminist icon in her stride and doesn’t like to draw too much attention to her gender. “One of my goals was to create space for women, but I also was hoping that we didn’t have to label ourselves as a ‘female artist’. I resented that. To me, I was an artist. We don’t use the expression ‘male artist,'” she added.
In this sentiment, Smith doesn’t intend to convey that she’s ignorant of gender inequality or doesn’t like identifying with a specific gender. In fact, when picking out her all-time favourite sad song for an interview feature with ShortList, Smith drew attention to one track as an important rumination on female emotion.
“Well, there’s so many beautiful, sad songs, but I think Skeeter Davis’ ‘End of the World’,” she said. “To me, it expresses all young girls’ heartbreak that we’ve all experienced. I’m just speaking as a female, but there’s something so plaintive and so sincere about her delivery, and I used to listen to it when I was a young girl, probably crying over a boy that I liked in 11th grade, but even when I hear it now, it produces a pain.”
Listen to Skeeter Davis’ ‘End of the World’ below.
