Bigmouth Strikes Again

"Bigmouth Strikes Again"
Singlebythe Smiths
from the albumThe Queen Is Dead
B-side	"Money Changes Everything" "Unloveable"
Released	19 May 1986(1986-05-19)
Recorded	August–September 1985
Studio	RAK,London
Genre	Jangle pop post-punk alternative rock
Length	3:12
Label	Rough Trade
Songwriter(s)	Johnny Marr Morrissey
Producer(s)	Morrissey Johnny Marr
The Smithssingles chronology
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (1985) "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (1986) "Panic" (1986)

"Bigmouth Strikes Again"is a 1986 song by the Englishrockbandthe Smithsfrom their third albumThe Queen Is Dead.Written byJohnny MarrandMorrissey,the song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frustrations with the music industry at the time. Musically, the song was inspired by theRolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash"and centres around a guitar riff that Marr wrote during a 1985 soundcheck.

"Bigmouth Strikes Again" was released as the lead single from the album, bypassingRough Trade's preferred choice, "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out".The single reached number 26 in theUK Singles Chartand has since seen critical acclaim along with several versions recorded by other artists.

Background

"Bigmouth Strikes Again" began as a lyric written byMorrisseyin 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 theNMEabout 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".DrummerMike Joycecommented, "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 Marrbased 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 bythe 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".

Music and lyrics

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

Initially the band had askedKirsty MacCollto contribute backing vocals, but Marr found her harmonies "really weird" and they were left off the final recording. Instead, the backing vocals were recorded by Morrissey and altered to a higher pitch. This is credited to "Ann Coates", a reference to theManchesterdistrict ofAncoats.

Release

Though "Bigmouth Strikes Again" was initially planned to be released as the debut single fromThe Queen Is Deadin autumn 1985, by spring 1986,Rough TradeheadGeoff Travispushed for the band to release "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"instead.At Marr's insistence, the band stuck with "Bigmouth Strikes Again": Marr preferred to release a more assertive single and liked the idea of releasing a single-calibre song as an album track on every Smiths album.

"Bigmouth Strikes Again" was released as a single in May 1986, with the non-album instrumental song "Money Changes Everything" as the B-side. Marr later reused the music from "Money Changes Everything" forBryan Ferry's 1987 hit single "The Right Stuff",which featured new lyrics from Ferry.

The single version's sleeve cover contains a photograph ofJames Deanby Nelva Jean Thomas. On the 12″ single, the band quotedOscar Wilde's famous line "Talent borrows, genius steals" on the runout groove.The single reached number 26 in the UK.

A live version of the song appeared as the closing song on the band's only live album,Rank.Another live version, recorded at the Greek Theatre inBerkeley,California in August 1986, was released in 2017 to promote a collector's edition ofThe Queen Is Dead.

Reception

"Bigmouth Strikes Again" has seen critical acclaim since its release. Decades later criticStephen Thomas ErlewineofAllMusicwould praise the song's "minor-key rush,"whileClashwrote that the song's "brash Stones-esque rock and sharp guitar lines still sound vital today."Far Outwrote that the song was "the perfect combination of Morrissey's playful self-deprecating lyricism coupled with Johnny Marr's ferociously upbeat riff which is a combination that many other acts have tried to replicate but nobody has managed to capture the magic that these two would create in their five active years together."

Several publications have ranked the song as one of the band's best songs.Billboardranked the song as the band's second best,whileNMEnamed it the band's fourth best.Pastecalled it the band's tenth best,whileLouderincluded it in their unranked top ten, writing, "This could be their most iconic song."Rolling Stoneranked it as the Smiths' 13th best, writing,"'Bigmouth' was the funniest song they'd ever done – that drum break alone is a comic masterpiece. "Consequence of Soundlisted the song as the band's 19th best.

Track listing

7 "RT192

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bigmouth Strikes Again"	3:12
2.	"Money Changes Everything"	4:40

12 "RTT192

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bigmouth Strikes Again"	3:12
2.	"Money Changes Everything"	4:40
3.	"Unloveable"	3:54

Charts

Chart	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop)	38
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)	26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold	400,000‡
‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Treepeople version

Seattle-based, Idaho indie rock/grunge bandTreepeoplecovered "Bigmouth Strikes Again" on their 1992 double EPSomething Vicious for Tomorrow/Time Whore,released by an independent Seattle labelC/Z Records.The Treepeople version changes the second line of the first verse from "When I said by rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed" to "When I said I am gonna miss you when you're dead." This version was notable for having been recorded by Seattle grunge pioneer/producerJack EndinoofSkin Yard,who had previously worked withMudhoney,NirvanaandSoundgarden,as well as having been mixed by Seattle producerSteve Fisk,known for his work with Nirvana,Screaming Trees,the Afghan Whigsand more.

Placebo version

The song was covered in 1996 by alternative bandPlacebo,who were asked by the French magazineLes Inrockuptiblesto perform the song for the various artists compilationThe Smiths Is Dead.This version changed the lyric "and herWalkmanstarted to melt' "to" and her Discman/Megadrive started to melt. "Their rendition of the song also appeared as aB-sideto "Nancy Boy", as well as on Disc 2 of theSleeping with Ghostsspecial edition.Far Outdescribed the band's version as "simply brilliant" and wrote, "[Brian] Molko's vocal performance is both far removed and utterly akin to Morrissey's own performance, yet somehow Molko takes it to another level."