The three classic songs by The Smiths written in one night
The story of how Dolly Parton wrote ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ in one day is well known. Well, Morrissey beats her record. He sees her two songs and raises her three as it’s revealed that The Smiths wrote three of their hits in one night.
In their heyday, before all the fighting and arguments, The Smiths were prolific. Despite only actually being together and active for five years, the band released four studio albums and three compilations during that time. When considering how wordy Morrissey’s style is and the multitude of literary and historical references he packed into his lyrics, it’s an impressive feat.
With so many of their songs being so bleak, it’s hard to imagine the band excitedly writing songs. But on one night in the summer of 1985, the band were on a roll. Hanging out at Johnny Marr’s home in Bowden in Manchester, the guitar player and Morrissey were in their usual writing positions. Typically sitting facing each other on the floor, Marr would figure out guitar riffs and rhythms while Morrissey threw out odd lyrics and scribbled thoughts down.
That’s where they found themselves one night when three of their hits were born at once. First up, while in good spirits at the start of the day, the pair figured out an upbeat riff and some of their most famous lyrics, “To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die”. ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ came first, seeming to write itself with Marr telling NME, “It was an enjoyable 40 minutes”.
In a 1993 interview, Marr shared his love for the anthem, telling Select that the song astounded him, saying, “When we first played it, I thought it was the best song I’d ever heard.”
After the joy of that first track, it seems the songwriting duo couldn’t stop themselves. Next up, ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ was born. A galloping, silly number about their ambitions as a band in contrast to their desire for artistic freedom, ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ tackles “fame, fame, fatal fame”. Still upbeat and cheery, Marr and Morrison seemed to be in good spirits on this fateful night.
However, as the sun went down, the mood grew gloomier. Remembering the third and final song of the day, Marr recalled to NME, “We recorded it around about teatime, but England being England, it was dark and wet outside.”
With the sky darkened, the pair wrote what is considered to be their “bleakest ballad”. ‘I Know It’s Over’ steps into the eyes of a dying man grappling with a wasted and lonely life. Recorded for the first time on a tape recorder sat in between the pair’s knees, the track seemed to expel some mutual melancholy.
“It was very beautiful and it reflected how I felt for a large part of my life, and particularly during that period,” Marr continued. But to him, the song isn’t all doom and gloom, adding, “I didn’t see a despondency in that, there’s an acceptance of melancholia being a part of life, that’s why I don’t think it’s depressing.”
Penning all three songs in one marathon writing session proves just how powerful of a team Morrissey and Marr were in their glory days.
