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'This Charming Man'
The Smiths
鈥淭his Charming Man鈥 marked most people鈥檚 introduction to The Smiths and, therefore, to the weird, wordy world of Morrissey and the music of Johnny Marr. Beginning with a spiky guitar riff from Marr, |
 Song facts |
| Composer |
Morrissey/Marr |
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| Genre |
Pop
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| Album |
The Smiths |
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| Year of release |
1983 |
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| UK Chart Position |
25 |
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the track explodes into life with the introduction of Andy Rourke鈥檚 Motown-esque bassline several seconds later.
A few moments after that Morrissey arrives. At once both playful and erudite, his cryptic lyric 鈥 is it about homosexuality? - is essential to the song鈥檚 appeal.
Never one to shy away from clever plagiarism, he took the song鈥檚 two most famous lines from films the refrain 鈥淚 would go out tonight/ But I haven鈥檛 got a stitch to wear鈥 comes from the 1961 movie A Taste Of Honey, while 鈥淎 jumped up pantry boy/ Who never knew his place鈥 comes from a line uttered by Laurence Olivier to Michael Caine in 1972鈥檚 Sleuth.
The Smiths performed the track on Top Of The Pops and in doing so cemented many of the characteristics now associated with them, with Morrissey prancing around in strings of beads while waving a bunch of gladioli around his head.
Morrissey听on听how he started out听in music.  |
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Morrissey reveals how he got out of the council estate and into music - "I had immense determination and it seemed that the more people tried to hammer me down, and say I was dreaming, the more I determined I got".
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Other versions |
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听Italy's Darling recorded their version of This Charming Man for the album There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (A Tribute to The Smiths)
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Songwriting tips Look for unusual words and phrases to make your song different. More in Writing A SongFind out why your publisher is your new best friend. More in What A Publisher Does |
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Test your knowledgeDo you know your Smiths? Try our quiz and see how you get on.TAKE THE CHALLENGE! |
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