Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
The juxtaposition of Morrissey and Johnny Marr made for one of the most unique unions in music. On paper, it didn’t make sense. Mopey vocals and lyrics. Jangly guitar riffs. But upon hearing it, there’s no denying that together they’re far greater than the sum of their parts. Sadly I never got to see The Smiths live, given the fact that they disbanded two years before I first heard “This Charming Man”. From the same debut album, “Reel Around the Fountain” was often overshadowed by the aforementioned classic as well as other Smiths staples over the years. But I’ve come to enjoy it with a newfound sense of appreciation.
“Reel Around the Fountain” isn’t Morrissey’s best work. Nor is it Marr’s best. But the two came together almost in lock step here. In many Smiths songs, Morrissey and Marr often seem at odds with each other, which creates that beautiful tension that is so irresistible. But on this opening track, they seemed more in sync than on any other track on their debut album - or on any of their remaining albums, for that matter. It seemed that, for one brief moment in time, these two extremely talented music artists were on the same wavelength.
“I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice.”