3038That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore - The Smiths

Mar. 18, 2005

 

 

 

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore 


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Park the car at the side of the road
You should know
Time's tide will smother you
And I will too
When you laugh about people who feel so
Very lonely
Their only desire is to die
Well, I'm afraid
It doesn't make me smile
I wish I could laugh

But that joke isn't funny anymore
It's too close to home
And it's too near the bone
It's too close to home
And it's too near the bone
More than you'll ever know ...


Kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down


It was dark as I drove the point home
And on cold leather seats
Well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my
Face after all


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
And now it's happening in mine


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
And now it's happening in mine


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
And now it's happening in mine


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
And now it's happening in mine
Oh ...


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
Oh ...
And now it's happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
Oh ...
And now, now, now it's happening in mine
(I've seen this happen)
Happening in mine
Oh... now, now


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
Oh ...
And now it's happening in mine
(Happen)
Happening in mine
Oh ...
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine


I've seen this happen in other people's
Lives
Oh ...
And now, now, now it's happening in mine
Happening in mine
Mine, mine
Happening in mine



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A marvellous song with an excellent backwards guitar fade-out with
the singer backing himself, endlessly repeating a plagiarised phrase.
Its enigmatic sad lament, an inwards-looking reflection of his life
as compared with the image he presents to the world, seems to point
towards an urge to reveal his soul to the general public. Although
repetition is a by-word in most of Morrissey's lyrics, this song is
very noticeable for the build-up that the endless cycling of the same
phrase creates. At times almost unbearably poignant, this song, as is
par for the course, features a seemingly contradictory and ambiguous
section.
Exactly why does he feel he might die with a smile on his face ? Is
it the implied sexual activity on the "cold leather seats" ? Or is he
planning on taking someone with him to his grave as he crashes his
car, James Dean style ?
Can Morrissey be suggesting the irony of onlookers to his forthcoming
funeral seeing his smiling corpse and wrongly assuming he has had a
happy life ?
David Amor gives a simpler explanation - the final verse as he "drove
his point home" is followed by a victorious and celebratory finale,
as, at last, it happens for him...
This song was bizarrely released as a single, and its un-chartworthy
nature was proven by The Smiths' second worst chart performance in
the UK.
There apparently are strong rumours that this song is about a
journalist with whom Morrissey had a relationship. According to Dave
Simpson in his Uncut article (August 1998), the unnamed journalist
steadfastly refuses to discuss Morrissey to this day.