"Rubber Ring"
Don’t Forget the Songs That Made You Smile
On September 16, 1985, the Smiths released “Rubber Ring” as a bonus B-side, together with “Asleep,” on the 12-inch version of their twelfth single, “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side,” which reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
The original 12-inch vinyl version of the single had "Rubber Ring" and "Asleep" segued into a continuous piece with the voice sample at the end of the former looped and faded into the wind noise preceding the latter. Listen to the attached link beginning at 3:50 to hear this seque:
The placement of the song (not to mention its segue into “Asleep”, which intertwine the two tracks as though they are individual sections of a single work) was a curious choice, especially given the promising ethos of “Rubber Ring” that emphasizes the life-saving power of music (“But don't forget […] the songs that saved your life”) leading directly into the existential escapism of “Asleep”. The juxtaposition of the two tracks underscores the deeper emotional conflict within the human heart - the tension between holding on and letting go.
This dichotomy between the promise of life and the closure of death is seemingly at odds with itself, yet it captures and distills the best and worst of the human condition into its simplest form. In binding these songs together so seamlessly, the Smiths seem to acknowledge that the very things which keep us alive…music, memory, connection, can also heighten our isolation, as if to say that the line between salvation and surrender is not only thin, but often crossed in silence.
The runout on the single’s B-side is etched with “IS THAT CLEVER...JM”, a line from Oscar Wilde’s comedic play The Importance of Being Earnest1. The line is spoken in the first act of the play by John “Jack” Worthing in response to Algernon Moncrieff’s ironic observation: “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” The initials “JM” refer to Johnny Marr.
An audio sample heard at 3:07 on the track - “Is that clever?”, “Everybody is clever nowadays.” - and repeated at 3:14, is taken from a 1953 BBC radio adaptation of Wilde’s play. The words are spoken by Sir John Gielgud2 in the role of Jack Worthing. Notably, although various sources transcribe the first part of the sample as “You’re clever,” the original broadcast confirms the correct line as “Is that clever?”
Listen to Gielgud uttering the audio samples beginning at 29:33 in the following link:
The full exchange between the two characters, from which the sample is drawn, is as follows:
ALGERNON: All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.
JACK: Is that clever?
ALGERNON: It is perfectly phrased! And quite as true as any observation in civilized life should be.
JACK: I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left.
The repetitive vocal sample at the end of “Rubber Ring” - “You are sleeping / You do not want to believe...” - originates from an obscure 1971 vinyl record by Konstantin Raudive3 titled Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead. The voice belongs to Nadia Fowler, who was translating into English what were claimed to be Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) - alleged communications from spirits.
Listen beginning at 5:44 in the following link for the full section of the recording that culminates in the audio sample that is found on “Rubber Ring”:
An early instrumental version of “Rubber Ring” was rehearsed during soundchecks on the Meat Is Murder tour in the spring of 1985. A rough version of the song was recorded that August at Drone Studio in Manchester. The definitive version was completed later that month at RAK Studios in London. Morrissey and Johnny Marr produced the track, with Stephen Street serving as recording engineer.
The version recorded at Drone Studio features slightly different lyrics. The following links present two successive versions of the song: the first is an early demo, and the second - often referred to as the “Early Drone Studios” version - is a more polished take recorded before the final London session. Together, they offer rare insight into the song’s evolution:
The definitive RAK Studios version of “Rubber Ring” has appeared on numerous compilation albums over the years4. As a solo artist, Morrissey included a live performance of the song on a DVD release5 in 2005. The previously unreleased “Early Drone Studios” version finally surfaced on April 22, 2017, as the B-side to the demo mix of “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side,” the Smiths’ 29th single6.
“Rubber Ring” was never performed in full by the Smiths in concert; rather, they performed it as part of a medley during at least 33 shows on the 1986 Queen Is Dead tour, and possibly up to 35 times, as setlist information is incomplete. The medley began with "Rubber Ring," transitioned into "What She Said," and returned to "Rubber Ring" for the outro.
Morrissey has performed the song 36 times to date as a solo artist, virtually all during his 2004 You Are the Quarry tour. Since then, he has performed it only once - at the opening show of his Live in Concert 2022 tour in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 10, 2022.
Marr employs layered, echo-laden arpeggios on “Rubber Ring” that give the song a fluid and moody character. Rourke’s steady bassline and Joyce’s crisp, understated drumming round out the track’s ethereal tone. This instrumentation creates a reflective, almost hypnotic atmosphere that complements Morrissey’s introspective vocals, which he delivers in a measured, almost conversational manner.
Both nostalgic and cautionary, Morrissey’s lyrics offer a deep psychological meditation on the passage of time and the emotional disconnection that often accompanies growing older. Music is portrayed as both a lifeline and a vessel of memory, preserving moments of identity and emotional truth that are often lost amid the distractions and disillusionments of adulthood.
The repeated phrase “rubber ring” evokes a longing for safety and stability during periods of loneliness, alienation, or personal crisis, affirming the comfort that music can provide: “don’t forget the songs that made you cry, and the songs that saved your life.”
The inclusion of seemingly unrelated audio samples is a clever and haunting touch, lending the track an otherworldly, disembodied quality that blurs the line between memory and present experience. The voice sample at the very end of the song, “you are sleeping, you do not want to believe”, can be interpreted as the younger self of the listener speaking from the past: a final parting shot that underscores the song’s central theme of aging and the fading resonance of youth’s emotional truths.
“Rubber Ring” not only captures the quiet ache of time’s passage, where music becomes both witness and balm, but reflects on the role music plays in shaping personal identity, preserving emotional experiences that might otherwise fade.
As the song warns, “Don’t forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life,” it asks us to consider: when we outgrow the music that once defined us, do we risk forgetting who we truly are, or is that forgetting part of growing up?
Full title: The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. A farcical comedy, the play depicts the tangled affairs of two young men about town who lead double lives to evade unwanted social obligations, both assuming the name Ernest while wooing the two young women of their affections. Wilde’s play premiered on February 14, 1895. While the successful opening night of the play marked the climax of Wilde's career, within a short period of time he would experience a cruel reversal of fortune. The Marquess of Queensberry, who was the father of his lover (Lord Alfred Douglas), planned to embarrass Wilde by throwing a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the playwright at the end of the performance; however, Wilde was tipped off and had Queensberry barred from entering the theater. A few days after the play’s debut, the Marquess left a calling card reading "For Oscar Wilde, posing Somdomite [sic]" at a club that Wilde frequented. This incident ignited a series of events that ended with Wilde's conviction and imprisonment for homosexual acts barely three months later. Despite the play's early success, Wilde's disgrace caused it to be closed in May after 86 performances. Wilde wrote no more comic or dramatic works after his release from prison in 1897.
Sir Arthur John Gielgud (1904 – 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades.
Konstantin Raudive (1909 - 1974) was a Latvian writer and parapsychologist. He was especially interested in the possibility of the afterlife and investigated electronic voice phenomena (EVP).
-The World Won't Listen (released 1987)
-Louder Than Bombs (released 1987)
-Rank (released 1988)
-Best...I (released 1992)
-The Smiths Singles Box (released 2008)
-Complete (released 2011) -Deluxe Edition of The Queen Is Dead (released 2017), which contains the RAK studio version of the song as well as a live version with "What She Said" sandwiched in the middle. The live version of the song was recorded at a Smiths' concert on August 5, 1986, at the Great Woods Performing Arts Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Though technically a suburb within the greater Boston area, the concert location is listed in the album as being Boston.
Who Put the M in Manchester? is a DVD documenting Morrissey’s concert at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on May 22, 2004.
A Record Store Day exclusive limited to 12,000 copies. Record Store Day is an annual event that celebrates independent record stores, vinyl culture, and music fandom. It was first launched in 2008 and typically takes place in the month of April. Special limited-edition vinyl records, CDs, and other collectibles are released specifically for Record Store Day. These are often rare reissues, unreleased material, or special variants (colored vinyl, picture discs, etc.). Only independent, brick-and-mortar record stores are eligible to participate. Big-box retailers and online-only sellers are excluded.
