TV Editor Catrin Osborne discusses the legacy of The Smiths as a quintessential university band.
Excerpt:
"Within the ephemeral online culture of Gen Z (those of us born after 1996) has risen the phenomenon of posting explicitly depressive statements which draws parallels with many of Morrisey’s lyrics. No song by The Smiths exemplifies this better than ‘How Soon is Now?’. A song that pairs Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar with Morrisey’s lamentations on the experience of a failed night out where he concludes ‘And you go home and you cry / And you want to die’. This juxtaposition between joyous instrumental and sorrowful lyrics seems as popular now as it was when it was released. Dubbed ‘sadfishing,’ young people are oversharing their emotions online in the modern age and this is reflected in a lot of popular music. However, there is nothing new about Billie Eilish singing ‘I wanna end me’ over a fast-paced, dance beat. The Smiths did that over a decade before today’s students were even born."
https://www.redbrick.me/the-smiths/
Regards,
FWD.