"Sweet and Tender Hooligan" | ||||
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Single by The Smiths | ||||
Released | 23 May 1995 | |||
Format | CD single | |||
Recorded | 1985–1987 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 10:28 (total duration) | |||
Label | Sire Records | |||
Writer(s) | Johnny Marr Morrissey |
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Producer | John Porter | |||
The Smiths singles chronology | ||||
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"Sweet and Tender Hooligan" is a song by The Smiths, released as a single in May 1995 by their American record company Sire Records. It was released to promote the compilation album Singles.
Whereas WEA in Europe opted to re-issue the 1986 "Ask" single to promote Singles, Sire thought it wiser to put out a single containing rarities, even though none of them featured on the actual compilation, as neither "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" itself nor its supporting tracks had been previously released as a single. The title track had previously been recorded for the BBC and included on the 1987 compilation Louder Than Bombs and the 12" of "Sheila Take a Bow"; "I Keep Mine Hidden", "Work Is a Four-Letter Word" and "What's the World?" were previously hard-to-find B-sides to earlier singles "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" (both 1987).
The lyrics describe the lenient sentencing of a hooligan, with the narrator sarcastically taking the side of the criminal, saying "and he'll never ever do it again / of course he won't / not until the next time".
A still of boxer Cornelius Carr from the video of Morrissey's contemporary solo single "Boxers" as directed by James O'Brien in 1995.
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