‘What Difference Does It Make’: The Smiths song that Morrissey called “absolutely awful”
The wave of excitement that was swirling around The Smiths was intense. By the start of 1984, the Manchester indie rock pioneers had already released two singles, ‘Hand in Glove’ and ‘This Charming Man’, the latter of which became the band’s first top 40 hit in the UK. ‘This Charming Man’ had introduced most of England to the signature elements that made up The Smiths, with Morrissey’s boundary-pushing kitchen sink lyricism, Johnny Marr’s chiming guitar arpeggios, Andy Rourke’s melodic bass lines, and Mike Joyce’s rock-solid rhythms. Then came ‘What Difference Does It Make?’, and things began to change.
Released in January of 1984, ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ preceded the band’s self-titled debut album by one month. It became the band’s highest-charting single up to that point, just missing out on the top ten by peaking at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. It quickly became a fan favourite, and when it found a place on the band’s debut LP, ‘What Difference Does It Make’ quickly became one of The Smiths’ earliest signature songs.
However, Morrissey himself wasn’t always fond of the song. While he was complimentary of the work that his bandmates did on the track, he wasn’t always as taken with his own contributions. In Simon Goddard’s book, Songs That Saved Your Life – The Art of The Smiths 1982-87, the author says on p.100 how Morrissey thought ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ was “absolutely awful the day after the record was pressed”.
In the same book, Goddard quotes a later interview with Morrissey and states the singer said of the track’s meaning: “I just wanted to have a very easy attitude, and that’s what the lyrics imply. People get so neurotic about themselves. Their lives, their hair, their teeth. What difference does anything make, really?”
Despite the chart success of ‘What Difference Does It Make’, The Smiths decided to stop playing it live at concerts in 1984. “There was one stage I was playing ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ seven or eight gigs on the trot, and I didn’t like the feeling,” Morrissey told Melody Maker of his decision to stop performing the song with The Smiths, according to the book.
Morrissey’s relationship with the track he labelled “absolutely awful” immediately after it was pressed has stayed consistent throughout the years, and since going solo in 1988, he’s still yet to perform ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ live.
