The Smiths Tribute NYC performs The Smiths' "What She Said / Rubber Ring" at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on February 10, 2024. Music by Johnny Marr, Lyrics by Morrissey.
This is the live "Rank" version of the song, which appears on The Smiths' second studio LP Meat Is Murder -- the only Smiths album to reach #1 in the UK.
From MediaLoper's "Certain Songs" series: "Another uptempo raver, “What She Said” featured an absolutely torrential tornado of a guitar riff from Johnny Marr, rising and falling as it spun around you dizzily, helped out by Mike Joyce tattooing his snare in an attempt to keep up. Andy Rourke split the difference with a rubbery, bouncy bass line that situated “What She Said” as an evil cousin to “What Difference Does it Make?” All of this noise both contrasted and supported Morrissey’s sad girl lyrics. Lana Del Rey should do a cover."
The Smiths were already performing the song prior to the release of Meat Is Murder. It was the b-side to the unsuccessful (by Smiths standards) single, "Shakespeare's Sister."
To pretend to be happy could only be idiocy.
