Which one is your favorite? - LXXIII -

Let's continue with another great song from the 80s. This is a 1986 song by the English rock band the Smiths from their third album The Queen Is Dead, written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey.  The song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frustrations with the music industry and the merciless media. Frontman, Morrissey, describes being hounded by the press and even compares himself to the French martyr, Joan of Arc.

Here is the song for this week;

"Bigmouth Strikes Again"

It was released the lead single from the album, bypassing Rough Trade's preferred choice, "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out". The single reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart and has since seen critical acclaim. 

Bigmouth Strikes Again" began as a lyric written by Morrissey in the summer of 1985. The lyric was the final one of three written about Morrissey's frustration with the music industry, the previous two being "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" and "Rubber Ring." "Bigmouth Strikes Again" specifically reflects Morrissey's negative experiences with the music press. When asked by the NME about the song, Morrissey replied, "I can't think of one sentence [I regret saying]. We're still at that stage where if I rescued a kitten from drowning, they'd say: 'Morrissey Mauls Kitten's Body'. So what can you do?"

Morrissey intended the lyrics of the song to be humorous; he explained, "I would call it a parody if that sounded less like self-celebration, which it definitely wasn't. It was just a really funny song." Drummer Mike Joyce commented, "What a fantastic title – one of Mozzer's better ones. And with this song, you can see why he made journalists cream their pants. Listen to the lyrical content. He was a one-off."

Johnny Marr based the song's music on a guitar riff he had written during a soundcheck of the band's 1985 tour. Marr later claimed that he had been inspired by the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", stating, "I wanted something that was a rush all the way through, without a distinct middle eight as such. I thought the guitar breaks should be percussive, not too pretty or cordial." Marr described the song as being "as close as getting to the sound of my heroes as we came."

During the song, the protagonist compares himself to Joan of Arc as "the flames rose to her Roman nose" and also says "now I know how Joan of Arc felt". In recent solo performances, Morrissey has changed the lyric "and her Walkman started to melt", to the more technologically current "and her iPod started to melt". Morrissey included the lyric "and her hearing aid started to melt" as a tribute to the band's hearing-impaired fans.

Kirsty MacColl sang backing vocals on this. Sometime later, Johnny Marr briefly became MacColl's London tenant and the pair began writing together. The working relationship resulted in several memorable songs, including MacColl's hit single "Walking Down Madison."

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Placebo - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Treepeople - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Among The Oak & Ash - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• The Snowdrops - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• MIAMI TIGER - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Eva O & DJ Eric Ill - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Heidemann - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.