The Smiths Ill Probably Never See You Again

Single by The Smiths

"Mitt in Glove"
Single by The Smiths
from the anthology The Smiths
B-side	"Handsome Devil" (live)
Released	13 May 1983
Recorded	27 February 1983
Studio	Strawberry, Stockport, England
Length	three:25 (album version) iii:13 (single version)
Label	Rough Trade
Songwriter(s)	Johnny Marr, Morrissey
Producer(s)	The Smiths
The Smiths singles chronology
"Paw in Glove" (1983) "This Mannerly Man" (1983)

"Hand in Glove" is a song by the English rock ring the Smiths, written past vocaliser Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was released as the band'southward outset single in May 1983 on contained record label Crude Merchandise. It peaked at No. 3 on the UK Indie Chart but did not make the top 75 of the UK Singles Chart, settling exterior at No. 124.

A remixed version of the song was featured on the band's debut album, The Smiths, in 1984. That same year, a cover version recorded by singer Sandie Shaw featuring Smiths members Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce every bit bankroll musicians reached No. 27 on the Uk Singles Nautical chart.

Background and recording [edit]

"Hand in Glove" was written by Morrissey and Marr in Jan 1983.^[1] By that date, they had been working together for around eight months, had written more than x songs together,^[1] and had recorded two demo tapes, but had been rejected by both Factory and EMI.^[2] Their usual composition method was for Marr to add together music to Morrissey'southward lyrics, though for "Mitt in Glove", Marr had the music commencement - he developed the chords on an acoustic guitar while at his parents' house.^[3] Unable to record the music there, Marr'southward girlfriend Angie drove him to Morrisey'south house while he connected to strum the guitar, altering it with suggestions from Angie.^[3] At Morrissey'due south the melody was recorded on a cassette tape.^[3] Morrissey said that he wrote lyrics for it in the span of two hours.^[4] Even prior to performing the song live, the group was unanimous in the opinion that "Hand in Glove" was their strongest song to date.^[5]

The Smiths asked their manager Joe Moss to fund the recording of "Mitt in Glove". In tardily Feb, the group booked a one-twenty-four hours recording session at Strawberry Studios in Stockport at the cost of £250, which they produced themselves. Morrissey claimed in later years that he was dissatisfied with his vocal and returned a week later to re-record his part, the day later which the unabridged group travelled to London and convinced Crude Trade owner Geoff Travis to release the record. Nevertheless, author Simon Goddard noted that it was non until Apr 1983 that Marr and bassist Andy Rourke visited the Rough Merchandise offices. On that occasion, Marr handed Travis a cassette featuring "Manus in Glove" and a live recording of "Handsome Devil", telling Travis, "[50]isten to this, information technology's non just some other tape". Impressed, Travis promised he would. The following Monday, Travis chosen the group and invited them dorsum to London to release "Hand in Glove" as a single. Both parties agreed to release the single as a temporary organisation earlier agreeing to whatsoever long-term partnership.^[6]

Two months after the single's release, the Smiths recorded the song again during aborted sessions for their debut album with producer Troy Tate. This version was recorded a tone lower than the original in the fundamental of F# small-scale, and features a shorter introduction. The Smiths recorded the song once more with producer John Porter in October at Manchester'due south Pluto Studios. Morrissey rejected this version of the song. Due to impending deadlines, the version that ultimately appeared on the band'south starting time album The Smiths was a remix of the original master recording from the Strawberry Studios session. For this version, Porter increased the separation between Marr'due south guitar tracks and Morrissey'due south vocals, emphasised drummer Mike Joyce'southward drum beat, pushed Rourke's bass back in the mix, and created a more dramatic opening and conclusion to the vocal.^[vii]

Composition and lyrics [edit]

The original recorded version of "Hand in Glove" is in the cardinal of G pocket-sized.^[7] The song begins with an overdub of Marr playing a harmonica over the rest of the music. Simon Goddard wrote that Marr'due south utilise of the musical instrument "purposefully evoked the very same 'blunt vitality of working-class "northernness" that Ian McDonald attributes to The Beatles' parallel 1962 unmarried 'Love Me Do', though infinitely more than melancholy." Of the backing music, Goddard wrote, "Marr's redolent small chord launder weeps with a rain-soaked hopelessness while Rourke contributes one of his well-nigh inspired bass patterns".^[8]

Morrissey explained that the song's theme was "complete loneliness," going on to state: "It was important to me that that at that place'd exist something searingly poetic well-nigh it, in a lyrical sense, and notwithstanding jubilant at the aforementioned fourth dimension."^[4] Goddard described "Hand in Glove" as "a dour proclamation of doomed happiness [. . .] a shattering left-hook of cocky-loathing, loss and desperation".^[7] Years later Morrissey considered the song to be the group'due south "most special." The vocalizer said he was peculiarly proud of the vocal's second verse, which included the lines "Though we may be subconscious by rags/We have something they'll never have." Morrissey explained that the poetry described "how I felt when I couldn't afford clothes and used to dress in rags merely I didn't really feel mentally impoverished."^[8]

In the vocal's lyrics, Morrissey referenced works past playwright Shelagh Delaney, whom he would reference in several later songs. The vocal's line "I'll probably never meet you once again" appears in Delaney'south kitchen sink realism play A Taste of Honey and The Lion in Love. Morrissey paraphrased the line "Everything depends upon how near you stand side by side to me" from the 1974 Leonard Cohen song "Take This Longing". Goddard conjectures that the song'south title was inspired by the 1947 detective novel Mitt in Glove past Ngaio Marsh.^[five] The lyrics are also quoted in the coda of "Pretty Girls Brand Graves", another vocal from the ring's showtime album.

The vocal starts with the lines "Mitt in glove/the sun shines out of our behinds" and and then states that "No it's non like whatsoever other beloved/this i's different/because it's us." The lyrics then state that "the people stare" and "the Practiced People laugh", "but we take something they'll never take." The vocal ends with the repeated line "I'll probably never see you again". The intro to the song uses the chords F major (sus2), E ♭ major and B ♭ major. The verse uses the chord G minor 7, F7 (sus2) and E ♭ major. (The transcription cited is transposed to Due east minor instead of G pocket-size.)

Release and reception [edit]

"Hand in Glove" was released every bit the Smiths' debut recording in May 1983. The single sold consistently for the next 18 months.^[9] Although the single failed to reach the U.k. Singles Chart, it reached number three on the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Indie Nautical chart.^[10] Its relative success earned the group a listing in the Guinness Book of Records in January 1984 when it and the grouping'southward next two singles' "This Charming Man" and "What Difference Does It Make?"' held the top three position on the United kingdom Indie Chart.^[9] "It should take been a massive hit", Morrissey later said, "it was so urgent. To me, information technology was a complete cry in every direction. It really was a landmark."^[xi] The unmarried did raise the band'due south profile; a week after its release the band gained its first major alive reviews in the music press, which in turn led to their outset radio session with BBC Radio i disc jockey John Peel.^[8]

While reviewing a 1983 concert past the Smiths and the Go-Betweens at The Venue in London, Barney Hoskyns, writing for the NME, described "Paw in Glove" as "one of the year's few masterpieces, a matter of dazzler and a joy forever".^[12] In the 1984 edition of The Rock Yearbook, Hoskyns said the vocal "swept into my heart".^[thirteen] Bill Blackness, writing for Sounds, described it every bit a "daunting" debut.^[14] Writing for Allmusic, Ned Raggett chosen the song a "stunning, surprising debut" and describes the music as "sparkling," highlighting Marr's "careful overdubbing of acoustic and electrical guitars". He also described Rourke'south bass and Joyce'due south drumming as "thin but effective", and said that Joyce "especially shone".^[fifteen]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for Allmusic, said "Manus in Glove"'s lyrics contain "veiled references to homosexuality".^[sixteen]

Noel Gallagher selected the song as his fourth Desert Island Disc during his 2015 appearance on the evidence. He prefaced it with "i of the greatest songs ever written."^[17]

Packaging [edit]

Morrissey had specific instructions on how he wanted the "Hand in Glove" single to be packaged. He told Rough Merchandise's art section that the single should take a paper label centre with 4 vents encircling the middle, in homage to singles from the 1960s. The cover to the single features a photograph of George O'Mara past Lou Thomas or Jim French, taken from Margaret Walters' history The Nude Male.^[18] The sleeve'south homoerotic undertones elicited the reaction Morrissey was hoping for of unease and outrage. Rourke said when he showed the recording to his parents his father was "mortified. He said to me, 'that'due south a bloke's bum' and I said, 'aye' but when he asked me why I just didn't take an respond for him".^[9]

Track list [edit]

Both songs written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr.

1. "Hand in Glove" – 3:sixteen
2. "Handsome Devil" (alive, Manchester Hacienda, 4/2/83) – two:53

Personnel [edit]

• Morrissey – pb vocals
• Johnny Marr – electric and audio-visual guitar, harmonica
• Andy Rourke – bass guitar
• Mike Joyce – drums

Etchings on vinyl [edit]

British 7": KISS MY SHADES/Buss MY SHADES Also

"Kiss my shades" is a lyric from the title track.

Sandie Shaw collaboration [edit]

"Hand in Glove"
Single by Sandie Shaw
B-side	"I Don't Owe You Annihilation"
Released	9 April 1984
Recorded	February 1984
Label	Rough Trade
Songwriter(south)	Morrissey, Johnny Marr
Producer(due south)	John Porter
Sandie Shaw singles chronology
"Wish I Was" (1983) "Hand in Glove" (1984) "Are You Ready to Exist Heartbroken" (1986)

Despite having established themselves as a group, Morrissey and Marr still harboured ambitions that they would exist recognised equally songwriters by having their songs covered by others. Their peak choice was vocalizer Sandie Shaw, of whom Morrissey was a fan, and who had scored several hits throughout the 1960s and was one of the most prominent British vocalists of her era.^[xix] In the summertime of 1983, Marr and Morrissey began asking Shaw to comprehend their song "I Don't Owe You lot Anything", which they had conceived with her in mind to perform. The pair sent Shaw various messages coupled with song demos. Shaw was sceptical at first; she was discouraged by the negative media attention that accompanied the Smiths vocal "Reel Around the Fountain", and when she received a copy of "Hand in Glove" in the post, she reportedly exclaimed to her husband "he's started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!"^[20]

Shaw was eventually won over by the intervention of Geoff Travis and past Morrissey's praise of her in the press. In January 1984, NME announced that Shaw and the Smiths would release a collaborative recording of "I Don't Owe You Anything" as a single on Rough Trade.^[xx] In February, Shaw and the Smiths journeyed to Matrix Studios in London, where Shaw recorded iii Smiths songs with Marr, Joyce and Rourke.^[19] The version of "Manus in Glove" recorded at Matrix was performed in the fundamental of D pocket-size, while Marr placed the intro riff'due south accent on a major scale and Shaw contradistinct some lyrics. Shaw ended up selecting their recording of "Hand in Glove" as the single's A-side, placing "I Don't Owe You Anything" as the B-side.^[xx] The encompass features a still of Rita Tushingham from the motion picture A Gustation of Beloved, an adaptation of the play of the same name that was written by Shelagh Delaney, who appeared on the covers of the unmarried "Girlfriend In a Blackout" and the compilation album Louder Than Bombs.

Released as a unmarried in April 1984 solely under Shaw's proper name, the recording became Shaw'south get-go hit in a decade when it reached number 27 on the United kingdom Singles Chart.^{[21] [22]} Marr, Rourke and Joyce backed Shaw on two mimed television performances of the song, first on Channel 4'southward Earsay in March 1984, and then on Top of the Pops on 26 April, where the band appeared barefoot in homage to the singer, who did so oftentimes in the 1960s.^[23]

Track list [edit]

• 7"

1. "Hand in Glove" – 2:58
2. "I Don't Owe You lot Anything" – four:06

• 12"

1. "Mitt in Glove" – 2:58
2. "I Don't Owe You Anything" – 4:06
3. "Jeane" – 2:52

Etchings on vinyl [edit]

British vii": Osculation MY SHADES/JM

Charts [edit]

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)	13
U.k. Singles (The Official Charts Company)	27
Uk Indie Chart	1

References [edit]

• Goddard, Simon. The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life. Reynolds & Hern Ltd., 2003. ISBN ane-903111-47-i

Notes [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Simon Goddard (2012). Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the Smiths. Random House. p. 153. ISBN9780091927103.
2. ^ Rob Immature (4 Oct 2006). "The Smiths and Rough Trade Records: How Soon Is Now?". magnetmagazine.com.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Simon Goddard (2012). Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the Smiths. Random House. p. 154. ISBN9780091927103.
4. ^ ^{a b} Goddard, p. 27
5. ^ ^{a b} Goddard, p. 28
6. ^ Goddard, p. 28-29
7. ^ ^{a b c} Goddard, p. 32
8. ^ ^{a b c} Goddard, p. 31
9. ^ ^{a b c} Goddard, p. 30
10. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Consummate U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums). London: Cherry Carmine Books. p. 210. ISBN 0-95172-069-4.
11. ^ Simpson, Mark. Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Mannerly Human being past an Alarming Fan. Simon and Schuster. p. 101.
12. ^ Hoskyns, Barney (xv September 1983). "Ridiculous and Wonderful: The Smiths/The Get-Betweens at the Venue, London" (subscription required). NME. Retrieved on 28 May 2009.
13. ^ Hoskyns, Barney in Jones, Allan (editor) (1984). "The Yr Of The Smiths" (subscription required). The Stone Yearbook. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0863690432. Retrieved on 28 May 2009.
14. ^ Blackness, Bill (19 November 1983). "The Smiths: Keep Young and Beautiful" (subscription required). Sounds. Retrieved on 28 May 2009.
15. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Hand in Glove – Review". Allmusic. Retrieved on 31 May 2012.
16. ^ Thomas, Stephen. "( The Smiths : Biography )". allmusic. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
17. ^ Desert Island Discs, Noel Gallagher, 2015
18. ^ Goddard, Simon (2013). Songs That Saved Your Life (Revised Edition): The Art of The Smiths 1982-87. U.k.: Titan. ISBN9781781162590. 'Hand in Glove' Cover Star: A nude model, most likely bodybuilder George O'Mara, as photographed by Lou Thomas, taken from Margaret Walters' 1978 book The Nude Male where the image is miscredited as the piece of work of Jim French.
19. ^ ^{a b} Goddard, p. 88
20. ^ ^{a b c} Goddard, p. 89
21. ^ Goddard, p. 90
22. ^ Roberts, David (editor) (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th edition). London: Hit Entertainment. p. 495. ISBN 1-90499-410-5
23. ^ Goddard, p. 91-92

thompsonjudis1994.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_in_Glove

Share this post