Death Of A Disco Dancer
Moral Terror as Art
The third track on Strangeways, Here We Come, the Smiths' fourth (and final) studio album, 'Death Of A Disco Dancer' has the patina of an experimental song with its psychedelic guitar effects and the use of a drone synthesizer. The song also has the distinction of being the only Smiths track to feature Morrissey playing a musical instrument.
'Death Of A Disco Dancer' has a certain unnerving, weird quality to it, exuding anxious suspense. This builds as the song progresses, with Morrissey's vocals adding tension as he sings of an individual's death (the titular disco dancer) with a pronounced resignation. The music's apogee is reached about two-thirds in, at which point Morrissey stops singing and one is treated to his improvisational piano against the grind of guitar, bass and thunderous drums. Listen to the song here:
Whether the lyrics of 'Death Of A Disco Dancer' allude to the IRA's infamous specialty of bombing nightclubs in both Northern Ireland and England throughout the course of 'The Troubles', or (perhaps) the occasional murder of gay men in nightclubs during the 1980s (which occurred with some frequency at that time), or even the AIDS epidemic as some have alleged, is not clear.
The musical style of the song (think the Beatles circa 1967) coupled with Morrissey's lyrics suggest that 'Death Of A Disco Dancer' is intended to ridicule the 'hippie' aesthetic found mainly in the music of the 1960's and early 70's.
With lines such as "Love, peace and harmony?/Oh, very nice...but maybe in the next world", Morrissey sardonically dismisses popular music's idealistic attempts to ignore the immutability of human nature through puerile appeals for love and peace. As if to purposefully inflict a fine point, Morrissey sings “I never talk to my neighbor/I'd just rather not get involved” - a more insouciant lyric likely never found in popular music.
Morrissey: "It was the first time the group played it together and we just switched the tape on and didn't take it terribly seriously. And I just fell onto a piano and began to bang away. We kept the tape because it had some unnameable appeal."
Interviewer: "And people kept the piano away from you after that?"
Morrissey: "People kept away from me after that!"
- Morrissey on 'Death Of A Disco Dancer' in Sounds Magazine, June 1988.
"The vocal room [of Wool Hall Studios] houses an old Red Lion piano that I decided to bang during a run-through of 'Death Of A Disco Dancer'. More Lieutenant Pigeon1 than pianoforte, the Donnybrook punch-up pianner nonetheless remains in the track, and for the first (and last) time I am loosely listed as a musician."
- Morrissey, Autobiography
An alternate take of 'Death Of A Disco Dancer' appears on The Smiths – Unreleased Demos & Instrumentals bootleg LP.
It is known as the "Monitor Mix" and was from a scrapped CD-R, which was subsequently leaked. Listen to the Monitor Mix here:
The death of a disco dancer
well, it happens a lot 'round here
and if you think Peace
is a common goal
well, that goes to show
just how little you know
The death of a disco dancer
well, I'd rather not get involved
I never talk to my neighbour
I'd just rather not get involved
Love, peace and harmony?
Love, peace and harmony?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
...but maybe in the next world
Lieutenant Pigeon were an English novelty musical group popular in the early 1970s, originating in Coventry, England.
One of my faves.