Hello again, and welcome to another edition of 羽曳野古市英会話の英国音楽!
The Smiths, not just your average Joes…
The Guitar, the Lyrics, the Voice
Whether you remember or not (or are too young to know) what went on during the 80s, many of the alternative bands you listen to today have been influenced by The Smiths. Johnny Marr\’s distinctive guitar sound, Morrissey\’s unforgettable voice and lyrics make this Manchester band a must-listen. The BBC News Entertainment Reporter Ian Youngs has tagged them as \”the band that inspired deeper devotion than any British group since The Beatles\” (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21323467).
Marr
In 2013, NME editor Mike Williams said: “All hail Johnny Marr, NME Godlike Genius 2013 and the newest recruit into NME’s holy order of music legends. And what a legend he is! Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world’s greatest ever bands, The Smiths, he’s continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet. So it gives me great pleasure to announce Johnny as our Godlike Genius. Never has anyone been so utterly deserving of the title.”
According to NME, \”The NME Godlike Genius Award is an accolade that is only handed out to the true greats of the music world. The culmination of the evening, it recognises the very best of the best.\”
(Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/music/johnny-marr-68-1253539#1DFi2Kh7sc87Mdtw.99)
Others, like Phil Alexander, Editor-in-Chief of Mojo, see Marr as \”arguably Britain\’s last great guitar stylist\”.
Morrissey
Morrissey was perhaps best described by Mark Simpson in his 2003 book Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan:
\”Bookish, reclusive-but-pugnaciousーavowedly celibateーwith an almost Puritan disdain for cheap glamour and armed with a deeply unhealthy interest in language, wit and ideas, Morrissey succeeded in perverting pop music for a while and making it that most absurd of things, literary. Some were moved to talk of how much Morrissey owed that blousy Anglo-Irish nineteenth-century torch-singer and stand-up comedian Oscar Wilde, the \’first pop star\’. Arguably, poor Oscar was merely an early failed and somewhat overweight prototype for Morrissey.\”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CltsEN8DQ
\”Bigmouth Strikes Again\” from the 1986 album The Queen Is Dead.
Lyrics
Literary Morrissey… So let\’s take a look at the lyrics. You\’ll immediately see what those journalists keep banging on about.
Listen and fill in the gaps:
\”Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I\’d like to
Smash every tooth in your ____
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said by rights you should be
Bludgeoned in your ___
And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her Roman nose
And her Walkman started to ____
Bigmouth, bigmouth
Bigmouth strikes again
And I\’ve got no right to take my place
With the human race
And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know of Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her Roman nose
And her hearing aid started to ____
Bigmouth, bigmouth
Bigmouth strikes again
And I\’ve got no right to take my place
With the human race\”
A 英会話羽曳野古市 + 英会話大阪天王寺 Project
ーNR
