The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single)
| THE SMITHS Single | |
|---|---|
| Name | The Boy With The Thorn In His Side |
| Release | 16 September 1985, 22 April 2017 (7" Demo Mix for Record Store Day) |
| Total Length | 3:18 |
| Recorded | August 1985 |
| Writer/composer | Morrissey / Johnny Marr |
| Producer | The Smiths |
| Art work | Cover star: Truman Capote, photo by Cecil Beaton (1949) / Albert Finney, photo by Cecil Beaton (demo) 2017 sleeve & layout by Esteban and Darren Evans. Layout: Caryn Gough |
| Vinyl Etching | ARTY BLOODY FARTY "IS THAT CLEVER"...JM TRUMP Will Kill AMERICA (demo) |
| Publisher | Rough Trade Records (UK) Warner Bros. Records (demo) |
| Format(s) | 7" Vinyl, 12" Vinyl, CD |
| Chart position | UK #23 UK #172 (demo) UK Vinyl Chart #2 (demo) |
| Single chronology | |
| That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore ← The Boy With The Thorn In His Side → Bigmouth Strikes Again
| |
| Single (Demo Mix) chronology | |
|
Sweet And Tender Hooligan ← The Boy With The Thorn In His Side → The Queen Is Dead
| |
Information
The demo 7" release (April 22, 2017), was another Record Store Day exclusive (12 thousand copies worldwide).
It was held off the #1 spot in the Vinyl Singles Chart by David Bowie's "No Plan" 7" Record Store Day release.
Donald Trump was the subject of the matrix message.
Track list
7" Vinyl
UK - [Rough Trade RT 191]
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – 3:17 (Morrissey/Marr)
- Asleep – 4:10 (Morrissey/Marr)
12" Vinyl / CD
UK - [Rough Trade RTT 191 / RTT 191CD]
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – 3:17 (Morrissey/Marr)
- Rubber Ring – 3:55 (Morrissey/Marr)
- Asleep – 4:10 (Morrissey/Marr)
7" Vinyl
US / Europe - [Warner Bros. Records – TSRSD 2017]
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Demo Mix) – 3:22 (Morrissey/Marr)
- Rubber Ring (Early Drone Studios Version) – 3:19 (Morrissey/Marr)
Lyrics
The boy with the thorn in his side
Behind the hatred there lies
A murderous desire for love
How can they look into my eyes
Still they don't believe me?
How can they hear me say those words
Still they don't believe me?
And if they don't believe me now
Will they ever believe me?
And if they don't believe me now
Will they ever, will they ever believe me?
The boy with the thorn in his side
Behind the hatred there lies
A plundering desire for love
How can they see the Love in our eyes
And still they don't believe us?
And after all this time
They don't want to believe us...
And if they don't believe us now
Will they ever believe us?
And when you want to Live:
How do you start?
Where do you go?
Who do you need to know?
Music Video
Credits
- The Smiths, Promo Film
Live History
Play count (The Smiths concert): 48
The Smiths live history:
- Irvine, Scotland 1985-09-22 (The Smiths concert)
- Edinburgh, Scotland 1985-09-24 (The Smiths concert)
- Glasgow, Scotland 1985-09-25 (The Smiths concert)
- Dundee, Scotland 1985-09-26 (The Smiths concert)
- Lerwick, Scotland 1985-09-28 (The Smiths concert)
- Aberdeen, Scotland 1985-09-30 (The Smiths concert)
- Inverness, Scotland 1985-10-01 (The Smiths concert)
- Liverpool, England 1986-02-08 (The Smiths concert)
- Dublin, Ireland 1986-02-10 (The Smiths concert)
- Dundalk, Ireland 1986-02-11 (The Smiths concert)
Play count (Morrissey concert): 63
Morrissey live history:
- Stockton, California 2007-04-27 (Morrissey concert)
- Sparks, Nevada 2007-04-28 (Morrissey concert)
- Sparks, Nevada 2007-04-29 (Morrissey concert)
- Oakland, California 2007-05-01 (Morrissey concert)
- Santa Rosa, California 2007-05-02 (Morrissey concert)
- Spokane, Washington 2007-05-05 (Morrissey concert)
- Seattle, Washington 2007-05-06 (Morrissey concert)
- Salt Lake City, Utah 2007-05-08 (Morrissey concert)
- Denver, Colorado 2007-05-09 (Morrissey concert)
- Omaha, Nebraska 2007-05-11 (Morrissey concert)
Appears On
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single)
- The Queen Is Dead
- The World Won't Listen
- Rank
- ...Best II
- The Complete Picture
- Singles
- The Very Best Of The Smiths
- That's How People Grow Up (single)
- The Sound Of The Smiths
- The Smiths Singles Box
- Complete
- 25 Live
Appears On Covers Compilation
- The Smiths Is Dead
- Godfathers Of Change Vol. 1: A Tribute To The Smiths
- Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: A Tribute To The Smiths
- The Queen Is 25
Cover Versions
- Bis
- Blossoms
- Fernanda Takai
- G. W. Childs
- Galileo Galilel (band)
- Garden On A Trampoline
- Home
- J Mascis
- James Collin
- Jeff Buckley
- John Ulhoa
- Michael Shannon
- Mockbirth
- Rick Astley
- Spiritual Front
Mentioned In
Discogs Information
Credits
- Bass Guitar - Andy Rourke
- Drums - Mike Joyce
- Engineer - Stephen Street
- Guitar, Piano - Johnny Marr
- Layout - Caryn Gough
- Model [Cover Star] - Truman Capote
- Music By - Johnny Marr
- Orchestrated By - The Smiths
- Photography By - Cecil Beaton
- Producer - Johnny Marr
- Producer - Morrissey
- Sleeve - Morrissey
- Voice - Morrissey
- Words By - Morrissey
Notes
© 1985 Made in England
[Additional printed on sleeve] Special thanks to Grant Showbiz Recorded in Manchester August 1985 Rough Trade Records, 61-71 Collier Street, London, N1 Cecil Beaton photograph courtesy of Sotheby's London
See also The Boy With The Thorn In His Side with the push-out centre label.
Images
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side - Discogs master release: https://www.discogs.com/master/21146
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (7" 45 RPM Single EMI Solid Centre) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/5765302-The-Smiths-The-Boy-With-The-Thorn-In-His-Side
Discogs information (additional release)
Notes
Custom orange inner sleeve.
Recorded in Manchester August 1985 Cecil Beaton photograph courtesy of Sotheby's London Cover star is Truman Capote
℗ & © 1985 Warner Bros. Music Ltd.
Made in England
Images
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (12" 45 RPM Single CBS) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/382177-The-Smiths-The-Boy-With-The-Thorn-In-His-Side
Discogs information (additional release)
Notes
Original single September 1985
Special thanks to Grant Showbiz Recorded in Manchester August 1985
Cover star - Truman Cecil Beaton photograph courtesy of Sotheby's London
℗ 1988 Rough Trade Records Ltd © 1985 Warner Bros. Music Ltd Made in France by MPO
Images
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Single) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/486453-The-Smiths-The-Boy-With-The-Thorn-In-His-Side
Discogs information (additional release)
Notes
Images
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (7" Single Repress Limited Edition) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/1751029-The-Smiths-The-Boy-With-The-Thorn-In-His-Side
Discogs information (additional release)
Notes
Back Cover: Cover star Albert Finney Cover photograph ©The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby's
Labels: Made in the EU Vitaphonic High Fidelity
Other Notes: Record Store Day 2017 release. Includes new artwork featuring Salford actor Albert Finney. Limited worldwide release of 12,000.
Images
- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (7" 45 RPM Record Store Day Limited Edition) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/10167113-The-Smiths-The-Boy-With-The-Thorn-In-His-Side
Wikipedia Information
 |
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released as a single in September 1985, reaching No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. A remixed version appeared on their third album The Queen Is Dead in June 1986. This was the first single by The Smiths to be accompanied by a promotional music video, something the band had previously resisted. They also performed the song on an episode of Top of the Pops. The main difference between the single version and the album version is in the use of synthesised strings, which are absent from the single version. In 2003, Morrissey named it his favourite Smiths song.
Related Forum Threads
- "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" (Demo) - 7" Record Store Day release (Apr. 22, 2017) - Morrissey-solo (Apr 22, 2017)
- The Smiths A-Z: "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" - Morrissey-solo (Jan 16, 2022)