For the month of November, I’ll be selecting songs in conjunction with the music Twitter challenge: #WelcomeToTheOccupation.
The paradox of Marr’s upbeat guitar compositions and Morrissey’s lyrics is the magic of The Smiths. Nothings against Rourke & Joyce, those two certainly contributed greatly to The Smiths’ success. But it’s the Marr-Morrissey paradox that makes The Smiths unlike any other band on the planet. It’s the tension that you can’t put out of your mind. It occurs on nearly every Smiths track – and reaches boiling point on “Panic”.
Forget the social ills. Forget the social alienation. “Panic” is a revolt against bad music. Inspired by a moment when the band saw the news of Chernobyl followed by Wham!’s “I’m Your Man”, something about the music just didn’t sit right. “Panic” seems like an overstatement to the casual music fan. But to those who put more weight into what’s being played, “Panic” was fully justified and relevant. It is for me.
“Burn down the disco. Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play, It says nothing to me about my life.”