Home cover series - There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths

 

"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is probably my favorite Smiths song (which is saying a lot considering how much I love Morrissey and The Smiths). 

The Queen is Dead is one of my all-time favorite albums. Just listen to it once all the way through, and you will understand.

If you've ever read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this is always the song I picture on that drive where Charlie feels "infinite." I think this song perfectly captures the way it feels to be a teenager falling in love for the first time or even just exploring friendship or the freedom that comes with driving. It's that moment when you're 15 or 16, and you go out with a friend just driving and listening to music and in spite of all of the awkwardness and insecurity that comes with being a teenager, because you're driving around and listening to music - you suddenly feel alive, feel like you belong, like nothing could ruin the experience, you feel infinite. And even if a ten-ton truck crashes into you, well, that's okay. To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.

I think so many teenagers can relate to The Smiths and Morrissey for that reason. His lyrics speak to so much of the teenage/young adult experience - loneliness, unrequited love, wanting to feel connected to other people. When I was about 19 or 20, I really thought that Morrissey was the only person in the world who "understood" me. That's why I got the Morrissey tattoo. (No, people, it's not Elvis, it's not Johnny Cash, it's not James Dean, it's DEFINITELY not John Mayer -- someone seriously asked me if it was John Mayer once.) Because during some of the really hard times that coming of age forces you to face, I could always turn to Morrissey. And even though I don't listen to Morrissey or The Smiths as obsessively as I once did, as my tattoo says, I'll never forget the songs that made me cry or the songs that saved my life. 



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