9. Paint A Vulgar Picture (Strangeways, Here We Come, 1987)

En kanske något udda favoritlåt. Jag tror inte att många The Smiths-fans skulle placera Paint A Vulgar Picture på sin tio i topp-lista. Men det skiter väl jag i. Jag älskar den här låten för sitt glada humör, för sin fantastiska melodi och Morrisseys ironiska text om skivbolaget som pumpar ut samlingar med sina utdagade artister:


At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"

Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)

A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, THIS was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to

BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please them !"
(sadly this was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you ?

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."

But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know

Who could never really know
Oh ...

Best of ! Most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour ! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium !"
(THIS was your life...)

And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm

So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again ...

At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last ! - a dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now

No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again

Ironiskt på så sätt att antalet The Smiths-samlingar som släpptes under bandets korta karriär var ganska högt: The World Won't Listen, Hatful Of Hollow och Louder Than Bombs. De här raderna är jag speciellt förtjust i:

Best of ! Most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Det är bara Morrissey som formulerar sig så snyggt och med sådan ironi. Paint A Vulgar Picture är en av få riktiga höjdpunkter på Strangeways, Here We Come - bandets sista platta. En löst sammanhållen, ganska splittrad historia som inte känns riktigt som ett värdigt slut för The Smiths. Speciellt inte med tanke på hur fantastisk föregångaren, The Queen Is Dead, är. Skivan spelades in i mars 1987 och släpptes i september samma år. Under den perioden hade bandet redan splittrats, då Johnny Marr lämnade bandet i augusti. Namnet på plattan är en sammanslagning av fängelset Strangeways i Manchester och repliken "Borstal, here we come" från filmen Billy Liar från 1963. En typisk Morrissey-titel: ett kollage av ordvitsar och populärkulturella referenser. Plattan nådde plats två på den brittiska topplistan.



Morrissey framför låten i Lisebergshallen 1997: