The Queen

is dead

- The Smiths, 

 is this the last great punk record? 

—> God save the Queen RIP. It’s all about the Death of England of course.

        The video was directed by the English art-film director Derek Jarman who was making his film ‘The Last of England’ around the same time; the guitar lines are by Johnny Marr and snip and snipe like a revolution; but the lyrics by Stephen Morrissey are extraordinary, worthy of T S Eliot:

Take me back to dear old Blighty

Put me on the train for London Town, 
Take me anywhere, 
Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham 
I don’t care…

Farewell to this land’s cheerless marshes 
Hemmed in like a boar between arches 
Her very Lowness with a head in a sling 
Oh but it sounds like a wonderful thing 

I said Charles, don’t you ever crave 
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail 
Dressed in your Mother’s bridal veil? 
 
And so, I checked all the registered historical facts 
And I was shocked and ashamed to discover 
How I’m the eighteenth pale descendant 
Of some old queen or other 

Oh has the world changed, or have I changed? 

Oh has the world changed, or have I changed? 

Some nine year old tough who peddles drugs 
I swear to God I never even knew what drugs were

So, I broke into the palace 
With a sponge and a rusty spanner 
She said : “Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing”
I said : “That’s nothing - you should hear me play piano”

We can go for a walk where it’s quiet and dry 
And talk about precious things 
But when you’re tied to your Mother’s apron
No-one talks about castration

Oh… 

We can go for a walk where it’s quiet and dry 
And talk about precious things 
Like love and law and poverty 
Oh, these are the things that kill me 

We can go for a walk where it’s quiet and dry 
And talk about precious things 
But the rain that flattens my hair…
Oh, these are the things that kill me 

All their lies about make-up and long hair, are still there 

Past the pub who saps your body 
And the church who’ll snatch your money 
The Queen is dead, boys 
But it’s so lonely on a limb