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


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.
 
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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
 
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
I for one am happy to see them reach a new audience. Doesn't matter how. It's good music with lyrics that touch the soul. Relevant forever.
 
Great that the music is reaching a new audience. I stumbled upon The Smiths at 17 by sheer luck and it saved me during those terrible, lonely years.
 
The Smiths do not need TikTok but it's good the are getting air play there .
The Smiths are the ultimate young person's band, along with The Doors Bowie and the rest. I know Bowie isn't a fecking band but you know what I mean .
There are certain bands you fall in love with as a teen and Smiths are right up there .
I remember a FB mate posted something like " the world is helping to churn out Smiths fans left and right . As we get more fragmented and isolated the more power the Smiths will hold. One could say M helped create a romantic form of prototype incel. "
My man went on to name this site as the "worlds first incel site " .lol 😂😆
 
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!
 
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!

Maybe you're not Gen Z enough, huh!

My joke has now fallen apart because Z is the last letter in the alphabet and can't say "haha more like Gen letter that comes after Z!!"

Also I don't know what Gen Z is
 
Maybe you're not Gen Z enough, huh!

My joke has now fallen apart because Z is the last letter in the alphabet and can't say "haha more like Gen letter that comes after Z!!"

Also I don't know what Gen Z is
they will hijack the calculator and say gen plus.
tik tok is the ultimate platform for show offs or accidents,used to look at it but not for a good while,is it even as popular as it used to be.
 
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’s all good tho, the same thing happened with Kate Bush in the states last year. If you were there at the time in the 80’s like old gits like myself were lucky enough to be, great. But if a teenager now discovers Morrissey and The Smiths instead of , oh, anything which passes for pop music in the charts now, that’s a very good thing.
It has to be
 
they will hijack the calculator and say gen plus.
tik tok is the ultimate platform for show offs or accidents,used to look at it but not for a good while,is it even as popular as it used to be.
I ain't got time for these tik tokkers, Gordyboy

I can show off without a tiktokka and I can definitely have accidents without it - Just this morning I nicked my index finger on a cheese grater. Nobody and I mean NOBODY jumped out of a cupboard with a mobile phone pointed at me

I tell you what though, Jeremy Beadle never had Tiktok and he survived (except when he died) - Never saw or heard of Beadle misunderstanding a Smiths song too... Coincidence?
 
I ain't got time for these tik tokkers, Gordyboy

I can show off without a tiktokka and I can definitely have accidents without it - Just this morning I nicked my index finger on a cheese grater. Nobody and I mean NOBODY jumped out of a cupboard with a mobile phone pointed at me

I tell you what though, Jeremy Beadle never had Tiktok and he survived (except when he died) - Never saw or heard of Beadle misunderstanding a Smiths song too... Coincidence?
ouch,any accident with a cheese grater will be painful.
 
No other band captures the pain and the anguish and the glory of adolescence quite like The Smiths. Listening to them is a right of passage from adolescence to young adulthood. And mostly down to the sound of Morrissey's voice. Unique.
 
No other band captures the pain and the anguish and the glory of adolescence quite like The Smiths. Listening to them is a right of passage from adolescence to young adulthood. And mostly down to the sound of Morrissey's voice. Unique.
...and of course his lyrics.
 
Yeah, more to come like "I love the smiths but I hate Morrissey, I hate him, can't he just... etc." gen z, y, x, etcetera etcetera etcetera, it doesn't matter the generation.

IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEBT

I don't understand how they could hate what the smiths REALLY IS, M.
 
I would say that The Smiths aren't that popular with my age group (I was born in 2002 for reference). Their music gets used a fair bit on TikTok but that doesn't seem to be translating into more fans, and if they become fans they are the "Love The Smiths, Hate Morrissey" crowd. A surface level enjoyment is what I'd call it. I don't think I've ever come across someone who actually knew who they are outside of the internet. Of course there are the outliers like myself who discovered Morrissey for myself a decade ago, just not as many as TikTok might make you believe.
 
I would say that The Smiths aren't that popular with my age group (I was born in 2002 for reference). Their music gets used a fair bit on TikTok but that doesn't seem to be translating into more fans, and if they become fans they are the "Love The Smiths, Hate Morrissey" crowd. A surface level enjoyment is what I'd call it. I don't think I've ever come across someone who actually knew who they are outside of the internet. Of course there are the outliers like myself who discovered Morrissey for myself a decade ago, just not as many as TikTok might make you believe.
I should add that I think a younger group of fans would be amazing for Morrissey
 
I should add that I think a younger group of fans would be amazing for Morrissey

would be?

is happening

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