The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their first album, The Smiths, in 1984. They based their songs on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr. Their focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound and a fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk was a rejection of the synth-pop sound that was predominant at the time. Several Smiths singles reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, and all their studio albums reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart, including the number-one album Meat Is Murder (1985). They achieved mainstream success in Europe with The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), both of which entered the top 20 of the European Albums Chart.
Internal tensions led to the Smiths' breakup in 1987, followed by public lawsuits over royalties. Their live album Rank (1988) reached the top 10 in Europe. Since the band's dissolution, the members have refused offers to reunite and have all separately stated that the band is finished and will never reunite.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths
Studio albums
The Smiths (1984)
Meat Is Murder (1985)
The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before
The Smiths Lyrics
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Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love
I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make a shy, bald, Buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said I'd lied to her?
Oh, who said I'd lied because I never? I never
Who said I'd lied because I never?
I was detained, I was restrained
And broke my spleen and broke my knee
And then he really laced into me
Friday night in-out patients
Who said I'd lied to her?
Oh, who said I'd lied? Because I never, I never
Who said I'd lied? Because I never
And so I drank one
It became four
And when I fell on the floor
I drank more
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love
The Smiths' song "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" is a dark, introspective piece that tackles themes of heartbreak, obsession, and addiction. The opening lyrics, "Stop me, oh stop me / Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before," suggest a desire to escape the recurring cycle of pain and heartbreak that the singer has experienced in the past.
The singer admits that nothing has changed, they still love the person they are addressing, but only slightly less than before. The chorus reinforces the idea of the singer's addiction or obsession, as they plead with the listener to stop them from repeating the same mistakes.
The lyrics then take a sudden turn, detailing a physical accident or injury that the singer has suffered. The pain from this injury seems to have triggered a mental breakdown, as the singer references a "shy, bald, buddhist" planning a mass murder.
Line by Line Meaning
Stop me, oh, stop me
I'm about to tell a story and if you've heard it before, please let me know so I don't waste our time
Stop me if you think that you've
Tell me if you recognize where this story is going
Heard this one before
Because I've told this story many times before
Nothing's changed
The situation I'm about to describe is the same as before
I still love you, oh, I still love you
This story is about my feelings towards you
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love
Although my love for you has slightly diminished over time, it's still strong
I was delayed, I was way-laid
I got sidetracked and my journey was delayed
An emergency stop
I had to stop suddenly due to an emergency
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I narrowly escaped an accident and realized how close I was to death
I crashed down on the crossbar
I was in a bike accident and landed on the middle bar
And the pain was enough to make
The pain I felt was so intense that it
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
Made even a calm and peaceful person like a buddhist think deeply
And plan a mass murder
About committing a crime which is completely out of character for them
Who said lied I'd to her?
Someone accused me of lying to her
Oh, who said I'd lied because I never? I never!
I'm denying the accusation of lying to her
I was detained, I was restrained
I was held against my will
And broke my spleen
I suffered serious physical injuries
And broke my knee
Another serious physical injury
(and then he really laced into me)
Someone else took advantage of my vulnerable state and criticized me
Friday night in out-patients
I had to spend a Friday night in hospital as an out-patient
Oh, who said I'd lied? - Because I never, I never
Repeating the denial of lying to her
Oh, so I drank one
I started drinking alcohol
It became four
But it quickly turned into me drinking more than I intended
And when I fell on the floor...
I drank so much that I lost control and fell down
...I drank more
But even after that, I continued drinking
Stop me, oh, stop me
Repeating the request for the listener to stop me if they've heard this story before
Stop me if you think that you've
Asking again for the listener to interrupt
Heard this one before
Confirming that the story is the same as the one told earlier
Nothing's changed
Reiterating that the situation (and story) remains the same
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Repeating that the story is about feelings towards the listener
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love
Emphasizing that even if love has slightly diminished, it's still present
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHNNY MARR, STEVEN PATRICK MORRISSEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tristanb2853
[Chorus]
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...Only
Slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love
[Verse 1]
I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, Buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said I'd lied to her?
Oh, who said I'd lied because I never? I never!
Who said I'd lied because I never?
[Verse 2]
I was detained, I was restrained
And broke my spleen
And broke my knee
(and then he really laced into me)
Friday night in Out-patients
Who said I'd lied to her?
Oh, who said I'd lied? - Because I never, I never
Who said I'd lied? - Because I never
Oh, so I drank one
It became four
And when I fell on the floor...
... I drank more
[Chorus]
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
... Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love
@peterlukats937
> These two never granted their Joyce and Rourke any royalty penny
Quite far wide of the mark.
Though the both of them would later dispute it in court, Joyce and Rourke were both on a contract awarding them 10% of royalties and performances.
Joyce won 25% of all future royalties plus a 1 million pounds in back royalties.
Rourke settled out of court for £83,000 and 10 per cent of royalties, renouncing all further claims as he was broke.
@ChrMmn
RIP Andy Rourke. Your bass makes this song bounce with life and shine with light that will never go out.
@zephead843
Andy made every smiths song bounce with life, and his light will never go out.
@Mr.Kerr-cade
Amen
@foto21
I'm a bass player and what he's doing is pretty intense. He basically learned the vocal melody and decided to bounce around inside of it, while at the same holding down the groove with the drums, but his harmonic choices are top shelf. Also, anyone who calls Joyce a simple drummer is an idiot.
@RicardoMartinez-oh9sq
Sad news, he was very relevant along with Mike Joyce, great rhythmic base.
@VaduzVaduz
Andy Rourke se fue de gira Músical a otra dimensión convertido en energía.
@alexegoavil7590
Johnny Marr is a musical genius.
His guitar comes in and out in a subtle way and it suddenly hits you with melodic mastery.
@shabbos-goy9407
at 3mins his genius aligns with those final rifts..
@benspicer7470
Marr was the man!!
@mrkipling2201
He was why I first got into the Smiths and why I’m still a massive fan now. His guitar playing is genius.