| "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" | ||||
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| Single by The Smiths | ||||
| from the album Meat Is Murder | ||||
| Released | 1 July 1985 | |||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | Autumn 1984 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 3:49 4:57 (12" single) 4:59 (album version) |
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| Label | Rough Trade | |||
| Writer(s) | Johnny Marr Morrissey |
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| Producer | The Smiths | |||
| The Smiths singles chronology | ||||
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"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" is a song by British alternative rock band The Smiths. It appears on the album Meat Is Murder, the sole track from the album to be released as a UK promotional single. The song was composed by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer-songwriter Morrissey.
The repetition and sad tone conveyed are unusual for a Smiths single. This has raised suspicions that the song is about a journalist with whom Morrissey had a relationship. According to Dave Simpson in his Uncut article (August 1998), the unnamed journalist steadfastly refuses to discuss Morrissey to this day.[1]
The track is often cited by Marr as one of his favourites of The Smiths.[2]
Contents |
The song is about the effects of bullying on the confidence and psychology of individuals. ("when you laugh about people who feel so very lonely / their only desire is to die"). In an extended monologue, Morrissey responds to 'the joke'. He plays with figurative and literal meanings – notably in the line "I drove the point home" – which could refer to the literal "return home" in the car and the insistence with which he makes his point in response to the joke, or the point is a knife that he drives into his wrist (to commit suicide). Alternatively "I drove the point home/and on cold leather seats" could be a reference to sexual intercourse. Morrissey has been quoted as finding leather car seats highly erotic despite being vegeterian.[3]
The single was one of the lowest charting of The Smiths’, entering and peaking in the UK singles chart at no. 49. Its limited success has been said to be due to a lack of original studio material, the 7-inch version missing an instrumental coda and inadequate promotion, including a last-minute refusal by the band to perform on television show Wogan.[4]
For many critics however the song is the focal point of Meat Is Murder. The music has been described as "a monolithic ballad of tender yet imposing grace; a score of unreserved, raw beauty that Morrissey dutifully complemented" and the song’s coda as containing "one of the most heart-rending vocal passages Morrissey has ever recorded."[5]
| 7" RT186 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (edit) | 3:49 | |||||||
| 2. | "Meat is Murder" (live) | 5:34 | |||||||
| 12" RTT186 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" | 4:57 | |||||||
| 2. | "Nowhere Fast" (live) | 2:31 | |||||||
| 3. | "Stretch Out and Wait" (live) | 2:49 | |||||||
| 4. | "Shakespeare's Sister" (live) | 2:12 | |||||||
| 5. | "Meat is Murder" (live) | 5:34 | |||||||
The artwork for the single is taken from a still of a 1964 Russian film. It features a child actor, the uncropped original having also featured the child's mother. According to Morrissey, "The eyes are encrusted with hurt and premature wisdom".[6] The image was sourced from a 1965 issue of a specialist film magazine.[7]
The seven and 12-inch vinyl releases feature the matrix message "OUR SOULS OUR SOULS OUR SOULS" (7-inch A-side and B-side and 12-inch A-side). The Canadian 12-inch A-side features the message "HELEN WHEELS".
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