via//chicago

via//chicago@random: The Smiths - "Reel Around The Fountain"

This is quite the opening statement for this legendary Manchester band, appearing as it does as the lead track on their landmark debut album. Fittingly for the maudlin Morrissey and company, they delve right into the miserable soul of things with this nearly six minute ballad that features a lovely hypnotic guitar line from Johnny Marr that loops most of the way through. But what really makes this song work for me is the organ - it really manages to capture the hopeful, yet cautiously distant mood of the lyrics. I always read this as a love note from the narrator to the bad boy he admires from afar. The narrator knows this person may not stick around for long, but oh how wonderful those fifteen minutes on the patio would be. It's a fantastic track and it contains a few lines that are my favorite Morrissey lyrics ever:

"I dreamt about you last night
and I fell out of bed twice
you can pin and mount me
like a butterfly
but take me to the haven of your bed
was something that you never said
two lumps, please
you're the bee's knees
but so am I"

The Smiths - "Reel Around The Fountain" (taken from The Smiths)