Smiths-related excerpts:
Did you enjoy writing the lyrics? Absolutely. It wasn’t something I hadn’t done before – I just set it aside a long time ago. I’d written lyrics in bands I was in before The Smiths and I’d written phrases here and there since. In Electronic I’d sometimes write with Bernard Sumner. I decided a long time ago to concentrate on being a guitarist and leave the lyrics to the singer – I’d done that in The Smiths and a lot of other bands – but I’ve always written stuff down. It wasn’t a matter of me looking out of a window, holding a pencil, thinking: ‘What will I write next?’ Most of these songs started with the lyrics.
Is it cathartic to sing Smiths songs on your tour? There’s nothing really for it to ‘cathart’, it’s just music a lot of people really love and there aren’t many better things in life than that.
Has anyone unexpected said you’ve been an influence on them? Placebo did a version of Bigmouth Strikes Again – when they did it I could see the connection but I was surprised at the time. The oddest one was that Russian girl duo Tatu who did a version of How Soon Is Now? That was puzzling. It was all right, trite pop, but there’s a place for that.
Has that been your most covered song? I’d say Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want is the most covered but I wouldn’t know – some clever clogs somewhere would know better than I would. There have been a couple of tribute albums I haven’t heard, which sounds incredibly blasé, but I live my life in pursuit of the next day so I don’t get around to a lot of things that concern the past. I don’t have an aversion to it, I’m just busy with the work I’m doing now.
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