The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (song)
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| "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Smiths | ||
| from the album The Smiths | ||
| Released | 1983 | |
| Genre | Indie rock | |
| Length | 4:38 | |
| Label | Rough Trade Records | |
| Producer(s) | John Porter | |
| The Smiths track listing | ||
| Pretty Girls Make Graves" (4) |
"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (5) |
"This Charming Man" (6) |
"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is a song by British rock group The Smiths. It was recorded in 1983 and included on their debut album, The Smiths (1984).
The song borrowed its title from the oft-quoted poem, "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" by William Ross Wallace, changing it into "As long as the hand that rocks the cradle is mine". The song was controversial, and some music journalists were led to speculate upon paedophilic content — a charge flatly denied.
Textually, the song, in simple verse form, sounds like a poem set to music. Musically, the song is indebted to the Patti Smith Group's song "Kimberly".[citation needed]
Given the Smiths perhaps unique style of irony (which was intrinsic to the band, given the characteristic schism between Marr's happy music and Morrissey's sad voice), the song is widely thought to be a disguised anti-imperialist statement, underneath overtly outrageous lyrics.[citation needed] The original Wallace quote "...is the hand that rules the world," is reassembled as a first-person narrative; after each increasingly disturbing verse the insistent chorus boasts "as long as the hand that rocks the cradle is mine..."
Britain had a long history as an empire; it still has some influence over the "Cradle of Civilization," and its highly sought-after oil resources. Given this, and the usual level of nuance and sophistication in The Smith's lyrics, rather than being an obtuse indictment of a paraphilia the song is more likely a ridiculous indictment of imperialism and conquest as a paraphilia; each being a violence of callous disregard for humanity.[citation needed] Consumed by his strange and sad addiction, the imperialist himself confesses "see how words as old as sin fit me like a glove."
An early live recording from 1983 originally had the character of an upbeat black comedy.[citation needed] The version on The Smiths' first album was made somber and melancholic, which tended to suppress the outrageous character of its lyrics.[citation needed]
As in many Smiths songs some of the lyrics of "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" are borrowed from elsewhere. The lines "Rattle my bones all over the stones, I'm only a beggar that nobody owns" are an echo of the poem "The Pauper's Drive" (1841) by Thomas Noel, which includes the lines "Rattle his bones, over the stones, he's only a pauper whom nobody owns." An alternative inspiration mahave been James Joyce who, in 1922, wrote in "Ulysses", "The carriage climbed more slowly the hill of Rutland square. Rattle his bones. Over the stones. Only a pauper. Nobody owns."
The song also takes two lines from the Al Jolson song "Sunny Boy" ("Climb up on my knee, sonny boy; Although you're only three, sonny boy") in its final verse.
