353 plays

(Notes: 36)

The Smiths - Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before

Oh boy…

I’ve never been a Smiths fan. In fact, I have this caricature of Smiths fans in my head: Neil Gaiman’s Sandman meets Zooey Deschanel’s 500 Days of Summer character. Perfectly hipster, everything was wonderful and nothing hurt. Even some people I like are fans of The Smiths and say they’re their favorite band and, well… when I hear anyone my age claim that an artist that’s not popular right now I’m instinctively cynical.

“Oh you’re so different. The Smiths are totally better than today’s artists, right? You love them so much. Right.”

Sorry. You probably do like them. See, I’ve made it 22 years without listening to a Smiths track. I mean, I’m sure I’ve heard one and not realized who it was but I haven’t actively listened. Then at some point this week I heard the lyrics in the background, “Stop me, oh oh oh, stop me… stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before…” and I thought, I have heard this one before… sung by Daniel Merriweather on a Mark Ronson track from a few years ago. Thing is, it wasn’t the same song I knew… it was the original… The Smiths. I didn’t even know the song I had on heavy rotation in 2007 was a cover. I was/am ashamed. So this is my apology, Smiths fans. You were right. The Smiths rock.

- Max