Track Of The Day - Hand In Glove

Unfortunately I have not been able to post my article on a review of The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life, a book which I am still reading but very near finishing and will have that article up by the weekend at least. So for now I will provide the Smithdom loyal followers. . . Another Track Of The Day of the first Smiths song I ever heard as stated in my previous post.

Admittedly the first song I ever heard from anyone from The Smiths was Irish Blood, English Heart by our ever entertaining Morrissey when I was just fourteen. But going solo after creating one of the most influential bands in rock/pop history is a large shadow to emerge from, although good; the track would not have the same effect as his true musical origins.

Elaborating on what I said in the This Charming Man post, Hand In Glove is a track that really grew on me; an evolution of acoustic appreciation that could only coincide with personal maturity of musical understanding. I would argue that The Smiths are a band devoid of being a 'fad'; you either respectfully understand them, infatuated with them or hate them. The margin for personal preference is limited with such a timeless and iconic band; as such I developed two of the symptoms. At first I was infatuated with the unmistakable, non-replicable sound of The Smiths musical assortment and execution. But after the 'honeymoon' period was over so to speak, I became equally enveloped but into the respect and craftsmanship of every single track, the history and personality of the band; it was truly an inspiration and the marriage is as strong as ever - could this be evidence of true love? Ok a little too deep, time to move on and get back to the subject manner of Hand In Glove.

In respect of what I have just said, I owe all of this to Hand In Glove. I had never heard a harmonica as a genuine instrument and played with such originality other than seeing cliché blues scene's in a movie. I had never appreciated the repetition of stanza's as an art form and a message until I heard one of my most favourite lyrics of all time; "Yes, we may be hidden by rag's, but we've something they'll never have", also a favourite of the song-writer himself.

My education of music was further developed by Hand In Glove as it exposed the age old belief that in order for music to be great, it has to be complicated or something along those presumptuous lines. By playing simple chords but playing them in an unexplored and personal way, Johnny Marr delivered a sound that I had certainly never heard before and have not heard since; without Marr's involvement. However before I gained my new found understanding I believed this myth of seemingly complicated music to be a template, how very naive and I owe my guidance to Hand In Glove.

Amazing to think that such a transformation of musical appreciation could come from a young man in Manchester who picked up "a crappy old acoustic" and future wife to say that what he played on that guitar was "pretty good". I suppose alot of important movements start from humble beginnings, even though Morrissey say's that he wrote the lyrics for Hand In Glove in just two hours; a moment of genius to inspire another moment of genius.

Fact File:

'Hand In Glove'

Recorded: February 1983

Location: Strawberry Studios, Stockport/Manchester

Produced By: The Smiths (Re-mixed By John Porter for the album The Smiths, February 1984)

Released: May 1983

First Performed: Manchester Hacienda 4/2/83 (The Smiths third gig)

I will have the review of The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life posted in the next few days and look forward to reading any of your comments on this article if you feel so inclined (please do). 

It is worth noting the importance of the image used for the EP of Hand In Glove was very controversial at the time and really personified The Smiths as not wanting to use the theme of homosexuality as a pop trend but as social commentary. This is evident when Andy Rourke showed the EP cover to his father; let's just say he was not amused.