Dig!: How Gen Z is embracing The Smiths on TikTok

How Gen Z Is Embracing The Smiths On TikTok - Dig!

From 80s indie misfits to viral golden boys, The Smiths are reaching a new generation and inspiring an army of fans in the TikTok era.

www.thisisdig.com

From 80s indie misfits to viral golden boys, The Smiths are reaching a new generation and inspiring an army of fans in the TikTok era.

 

[gashonthenail]

would be?

is happening

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Absolutely. Brixton was full of young fans. It looks like Hammersmith was similar - although I wasn't there unfortunately!

 

[Les Tameside]

Arrgh now we are going to have a bunch of annoying normies say "I love the Smiths" when for years they never heard of them or even possibly disliked them. It'll be like what happened to Doctor Who in the States, that was horrible..

I remembered growing up, in school no one had heard of Doctor Who (I only discovered the show when I went over to the UK when I was 10 and fell in love with David Tennant immediately). I tried telling people about it and no one seemed interested. Then a few years later it exploded in popularity, and I was like wtf, and kind of annoyed honestly. These people acted like they loved Doctor Who for YEARS when they just discovered it yesterday. Now the same thing will happen to the Smiths I fear

It was the ‘normies’ that paid for that house in Los Angeles. And the recording costs of Without Music, apparently.

 

[goinghome]

Very interesting article! Brilliant that this is happening and that TikTok is helping a new generation of people discover The Smiths.

Have to say I don't understand the section about "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", though:

Responding to lyrics that reflect feelings about toxic relationships and the difficulties of navigating the dating world in the modern age, many users find kinship in memes of girls sipping wine while deriding the unreliability of their partners.

A strange leap from the song's subject matter!

I just got round to reading it, and agree it's a cut above the rest, so I checked on the site for writer info -
"Luke [Edwards] is a freelance music journalist and the founder of the British Music History YouTube channel and website. Formerly Head Of Music at De Montfort University’s student radio station, Demon FM, he has been sharing his passion for music for many years, writing for numerous online publications ever since contributing to the NME Student Guide in 2008. While much of his career has been spent working as a professional marketer and content-marketing strategist, his long-term goal is to use his writing as a springboard to establishing himself as a music historian."

 

[jmb066]

My 13 year old son has heard The Smiths growing up, however when he heard Dad's music on Tic Toc suddenly he loved it and is now collecting CD's and vinyl. Unfortunately he had his 1st Morrissey concert cancelled so that stings. I have taken him to see The Church and The Afghan Whigs but they do not rate like The Smiths or Morrissey for him. His friends are now starting to dig it as well. There could be hope for these younger generations yet. I do hope we ban Tic Toc though.

 

[Southpaw 2023]

Arrgh now we are going to have a bunch of annoying normies say "I love the Smiths" when for years they never heard of them or even possibly disliked them. It'll be like what happened to Doctor Who in the States, that was horrible..

I remembered growing up, in school no one had heard of Doctor Who (I only discovered the show when I went over to the UK when I was 10 and fell in love with David Tennant immediately). I tried telling people about it and no one seemed interested. Then a few years later it exploded in popularity, and I was like wtf, and kind of annoyed honestly. These people acted like they loved Doctor Who for YEARS when they just discovered it yesterday. Now the same thing will happen to the Smiths I fear

Yeah, I feel Ok they’re embracing The Smiths, but quite a few of younger millennials/Gen Z people that I’ve talked to say they don’t like Morrissey because of his political opinions. So I feel it’s kind of annoying.