10 Greatest Album Closers Of All Time
7. Suffer Little Children - The Smiths (The Smiths, 1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YgrN5b2OgMOf all of the criticism and name-calling levelled at Morrissey over the years, the idea that he is a miser is a misinterpretation of the highest order. As part of the Smiths, where he shared an effervescent song-writing partnership with guitarist Johnny Marr, Moz became the voice of teenage angst and melancholy but always ensured that his identifiable lyrics were sardonic and tinged with irony. Take, for example, Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now, a song that wallows in disappointment and dissatisfaction but abounds with wit and humour. So if anything, Morrissey was (and still is) an absurdist, turning tales of teenage longing, loneliness and isolation into concise comedic epics to crack a smile on the face of even the moodiest listener.
Perhaps best remembered for taking a stand against the mime-along-to-the-song ethics of Top of the Pops by choosing to sing the words to This Charming Man into a bouquet of gladioli instead of a microphone prop, Morrissey was an iconoclast from the very beginning. This radicalism was reinforced earlier this year when his long-awaited autobiography upset literature purists when it was released as part of the Penguin Classics collection. The Smiths debut LP is a sound of a band on the cusp of greatness and features a glorious ode to the departure of virginity on Reel Around the Fountain, outsider anthem Hand In Glove and the lovelorn I Dont Owe You Anything, all united by Marrs shimmering, jangly guitar lines.
Moving away from personal failures and grief, Suffer Little Children, is Morrisseys haunting commemoration of the Moors Murders. It is the entry on this list which jars the most with its preceding songs as biting sarcasm is eschewed in favour of haunting lyrical content that includes the ghostly perspectives of Ian Brady and Myra Hindleys defenceless victims, the disconsolate mind frames of their parents and the sickening words of Hindley herself. Far from being an all-out attack on the two heinous perpetrators, a sincere Moz stresses that it is Manchester that has so much to answer for, that society has played a part in the creation and fostering of these kinds of people.
Inspired into penning a song about these atrocities from his childhood exposure to their media coverage and the epidemic of fear that it produced, Suffer Little Children is a cathartic exercise for the Smiths front man. Marr gets the chance to showcase the precocious guitar dexterity that would come to fruition on next album proper, Meat Is Murder, by turning in an atmospheric refined acoustic/electric performance that is complimented by Andy ORourkes mournful bass line and Mike Joyces steady, respectful drum beat. Harrowing and delivered with feeling, Suffer Little Children is an early Moz foray into telling it how it is; creating a song informed by serious events, using pop music not as an escape from, but a reflection of, the real world.