This Charming Man

"This Charming Man" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Morrissey.

Released as the group's second single in October 1983 on the independent record label Rough Trade, it is defined by Marr's jangle pop guitar riff and Morrissey's characteristically morose lyrics, which revolve around the recurrent Smiths themes of sexual ambiguity and lust.

Feeling detached from the early 1980s mainstream gay culture, Morrissey wrote "This Charming Man" to evoke an older, more coded and self-aware underground scene.

The singer said of the song's lyrics: "I really like the idea of the male voice being quite vulnerable, of it being taken and slightly manipulated, rather than there being always this heavy machismo thing that just bores everybody.

By early 1983, the Smiths had gained a large following on the UK live circuit and had signed a record deal with the indie label Rough Trade.

[2] However, the Smiths' May 1983 debut single "Hand in Glove" failed to live up to critical and commercial expectations, mostly due to its perceived low production values.

When Rough Trade label mates Aztec Camera began to receive day-time national radio-play with their track "Walk Out to Winter", Marr admitted to "feeling a little jealous, my competitive urges kicked in".

The guitarist believed the Smiths needed an up-beat song "in a major key" to gain a chart positioning that would live up to expectations.

[8] The lyrics of "This Charming Man" comprise a first person narrative in which the male protagonist punctures one of his bicycle's tyres on a remote hillside.

"[2] Snow puts forward the case that through the use of the dated word 'charming', Morrissey sought to rebel against the then mainstream gay culture from which he felt alienated.

The rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce provide a beat more danceable than usual for a Smiths track.

With the Smiths, I'd take this really loud Telecaster of mine, lay it on top of a Fender Twin Reverb with the vibrato on, and tune it to an open chord.

[11]The chord progression from the instrumental intro to the lyric "Will nature make a man of me" is: A | Asus4 | A | E | Bm7 | D7 | C#m | E | A | E/A | Asus4 | E[12] On release, the song received near unanimous critical praise.

It jangles and crashes and Morrissey jumps in the middle with his mutant choir-boy voice, sounding jolly and angst-ridden at the same time.

"[14] Another contemporary review by Treble magazine described the song as a "stellar jangle-pop track," based on one of Marr's first truly iconic guitar licks.

[18] AllMusic's Ned Raggett noted that "Early Elvis would have approved of the music, Wilde of the words", and described the track as "an audacious end result by any standard".

[1] A 2004 BBC Radio 2 feature on the song noted that the performance was most people's introduction to the Smiths and, "therefore, to the weird, wordy world of Morrissey and the music of Johnny Marr".

[3] Uncut magazine, commentating on the nationally televised debut, wrote that "Thursday evening when Manchester's feyest first appeared on Top of the Pops would be an unexpected pivotal cultural event in the lives of a million serious English boys.

His very English, camp glumness was a revolt into Sixties kitchen-sink greyness against the gaudiness of the Eighties new wave music, as exemplified by Culture Club and their ilk.

[23] Produced by Roger Pusey, and assisted by Ted De Bono, this version of the song was first included on the 1984 compilation Hatful of Hollow.