Song of the Day: The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead

I first tried The Smiths in high school with a greatest hits collection, but it didn't take.  I was probably more interested in grunge or alt-rock or whatever, and Morrissey's croon just did not resonate with me.  It wasn't until after college that I gave them another try, buying The Queen Is Dead based on reviews from allmusic.com and Rolling Stone.

What struck me immediately with the eponymous first song was...wait a minute, this kind of rocks (well, I mean if you discount the "take me back to dear old Blighty" part).  And Morrissey's voice, which I originally found whiny, is actually quite pleasant, for lack of a better word.  It amazes me that this is a band to which people gravitate in high school, because what I like about The Smiths - and particularly Morrissey - now is that the lyrics are often quite hilarious and self-deprecating, and my teenage self just didn't understand it.  Take this passage from "The Queen Is Dead":

She said, 'I know you and you cannot sing'
I said, 'That's nothing, you should hear me play piano'

These are details I overlooked the first time through (and what Smiths/Morrissey detractors are also missing), and the lyrics are one of the many reasons The Queen Is Dead is now one of my top 10 albums of all time.

The Queen Is Dead / Take Me Ba...