In this song, a male protagonist, who has punctured his bicycle tire on a desolate hillside, is approached by a “charming man” in a “charming car.” After a brief hesitation, the protagonist climbs into the car with the man, who flirts with his passenger and invites him out later that evening. The protagonist rejects the man’s offer, because he hasn’t “got a stitch to wear.” Front man, Morrissey, told Undress in 1984 that this latter line was written from personal experience: “For years and years I never had a job, or any money. Consequently I never had any clothes whatsoever. I found that on those very rare occasions when I did get invited anywhere I would constantly sit down and say, ‘Good heavens, I couldn’t possibly go to this place tonight because I don’t have any clothes, I don’t have any shoes.’ So I’d miss out on all those foul parties. It was really quite a blessing in disguise.”
Morrissey lifted the line, “A jumped-up pantry boy, who never knew his place,” from the 1972 film adaptation of the homoerotic play, Sleuth, starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. The film itself is referencing the 1945 novel, Loving, by Henry Green. In this story, the caretaker of an Irish castle, Charlie Raunce, accuses his pantry boy of being “jumped-up” and “not knowing his proper place.” Later events include the theft of a ring, for which the pantry boy is wrongly accused.
The Smiths performed this for the first time on the British entertainment show Top of the Pops in 1983. Morrissey swung gladioli throughout the performance, which marked the first time many Britains had seen The Smiths. Marr commented to The Guardian in 2011: “Morrissey was using those gladioli in a way that was far from fey, almost brandishing them. Morrissey provided flamboyance, the rest of us wore sweaters and provided a streetwise, gang aspect. We’d had a year of rejections, getting in the trenches; nothing had been handed to us on a plate and we were ready.” Oasis’ guitarist, Noel Gallagher, was among those who caught The Smiths’ performance that November evening: “None of my mates liked them — they were more hooligan types. They came into work and said ‘F*ckin’ hell, did you see that poof on Top of the Pops with the bush in his back pocket?’ But I thought it was life-changing.”
[ I hereby declare that I do not own the rights to this music I have sung for video karaoke material. All rights belong to the artist/owner. No Copyright Infringement Intended ].
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