The Queen is Dead
The Smiths * Track #1 On The Queen is Dead
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Album The Queen is Dead
- #1The Queen is Dead
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The Queen is Dead by The Smiths
Release Date
Performed by
The SmithsProduced by
Morrissey & Johnny MarrWrited by
Morrissey & Johnny Marr & Bennett Scott & Fred Godfrey & A.J. MillsAbout
“The Queen is Dead” parodies media fascination with the royal family over bombastic guitar bursts and an aggressive bass line. Officially listed on physical tracklist as “The Queen Is Dead / Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty (Medley).”
In a 2015 Reddit AMA interview, Noel Gallagher has named this tr...
The Queen is Dead Lyrics
[Intro]
Oh, take me back to dear old Blighty
Put me on the train for London Town
Take me anywhere
Drop me anywhere
In Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
But I don't care
I should like to see—
(I don't bless them)
[Verse 1]
(Farewell) To this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between archers
Her very Lowness with her head in a sling
I'm truly sorry, but it sounds like a wonderful thing
I say, "Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your mother's bridal veil?
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
[Verse 2]
And so I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendent
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 swear I never even knew what drugs were
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
[Verse 3]
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 are tied to your mother's apron
No-one talks about castration
(Oh, oh-oh)
[Verse 4]
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty, oh, 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 makeup and long hair, are still there
[Verse 5]
Past the pub that saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Pass the pub that wrecks your body
And the church, all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
[Outro]
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
The Queen is Dead Q&A
Who wrote The Queen is Dead's ?
The Queen is Dead was written by Morrissey & Johnny Marr & Bennett Scott & Fred Godfrey & A.J. Mills.
Who produced The Queen is Dead's ?
The Queen is Dead was produced by Morrissey & Johnny Marr.
When did The Smiths release The Queen is Dead?
The Smiths released The Queen is Dead on Mon Jun 16 1986.
What did The Smiths say about "The Queen is Dead"?
Morrissey explained to NME in 1986,
I didn’t want to attack the monarchy in a sort of beer monster way but I find as time goes by this happiness we had slowly slips away and is replaced by something that is wholly grey and wholly saddening. The very idea of the monarchy and the Queen of England is...
What inspired Johnny Marr's guitar style on this track?
For the frenzied wah-wah section on ‘The Queen Is Dead,’ I was thinking ‘60s Detroit, like the MC5 and the Stooges.
— To Guitar Player, January 1990
What was the making of this song like?
Johnny Marr broke down the creative process in-depth to Record Collector magazine in 1992:
It was Morrissey’s idea to include ‘Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty’ and he said, ‘I want this on the track’. But he wasn’t to know that I was going to lead into the feedback and drum rolls. It was just a pi...
How did they get the guitar sound on this track?
I’d done the rhythm track for “The Queen Is Dead”, and left the guitar on the stand. The wah pedal just happened to be half open, and putting the guitar down made the guitar suddenly hit off this harmonic. We were back at the desk playing back the rhythm track and I could still hear this harmonic wa...