Rusholme Ruffians

Scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen (this means you really love me)

The second track on the Smiths' Meat Is Murder studio album, 'Rusholme Ruffians' has a pronounced rockabilly sound coupled with vivid lyrics about the last night of a local fair where unrequited love, suicide, alienation, theft and violence occur against a backdrop of working class pathos.

The song's title was inspired by Rusholme, an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city center.

According to Stephane at PassionsJustLikeMine.com, the song was written during the summer of 1984. An initial demo of the song was recorded in July 1984 at Jam Studios in London with producer John Porter.  This demo was almost 7-minutes in length.  Listen to the demo version here:

Another version was recorded on August 1, 1984 for the Smiths' third appearance on John Peel's BBC program, which was broadcast on August 9th.  Listen to the Peel session version here:

The definitive version of the song was mainly recorded in October 1984 at Amazon Studios in Liverpool, with the Smiths (mostly Johnny) acting as producer and Stephen Street as recording engineer. Overdubs were added the following month at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey. The song's final mixing was done in December 1984 at Island Record's Fallout Shelter.

Johnny Marr has stated that the distinct sound of 'Rusholme Ruffians' came about because of his affinity for Elvis Presley's 1961 song 'Marie's The Name, His Latest Flame'.

Per Marr, as a child his parents used to play 'Marie's The Name, His Latest Flame' at home and that he was impressed by the chord changes. Listen to Elvis' 'Marie's The Name, His Latest Flame' here to hear the remarkable similarity between the two songs:

Marr went on to say "That was blatantly done [copying the cord changes]. Morrissey said to me, 'Let's do a song about the fair,' and for some reason my association with the fair was to pull out that Elvis riff. We tried, but we couldn't get away from it." In concerts from September 1985 to October 1986, the Smiths frequently performed ‘Rusholme Ruffians’ as a medley with an intro from Elvis' aforementioned song.  Listen here for a sample of the Smiths' beautiful medley:

Listen to the definitive album version of ‘Rusholme Ruffians’ here:

Morrissey's lyrics for 'Rusholme Ruffians' borrowed almost directly from the lyrics of Victoria Woods' song, ‘Fourteen Again’.

Morrissey’s love of Victoria Wood [an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director] stretches all the way back to her 1978 play Talent, which featured ‘Fourteen Again'.

Throughout the 1980s Morrissey often spoke of his admiration for Wood, at one point commenting that he wanted to marry her. Wood hilariously retorted: “Morrissey and I have been married for 11 months, though due to touring commitments, we have yet to meet.” See Victoria Wood and Morrissey enjoying a cup of tea together here:

'Fourteen Again' contains familiar lines such as "[I Want To] Tattoo myself with a fountain pen"; "Free rides on the waltzer off the fairground men"; "For a promise of a snog the last night of the fair"; "Behind the generators with your coconut"; "The coloured lights reflected in the Brylcream on his hair"; "When I was funny, I was famous, I was never ignored".

Listen to Woods' daft song here:

It would seem that Oscar Wilde was spot-on when he quipped that "Talent borrows, genius steals!"

The last night of the fair
by the big wheel generator
a boy is stabbed
and his money is grabbed
and the air hangs heavy like a dulling wine
she is Famous
she is Funny
an engagement ring
doesn't mean a thing
to a mind consumed by brass (money)
and though I walk home alone
my faith in love is still devout
the last night of the fair
from a seat on a whirling waltzer
her skirt ascends for a watching eye
it's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)
from a seat on a whirling waltzer
her skirt ascends for a watching eye
it's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)
and though I walk home alone
my faith in love is still devout
then someone falls in love
and someone's beaten up
someone's beaten up
and the senses being dulled are mine
and someone falls in love
and someone's beaten up
and the senses being dulled are mine
and though I walk home alone
my faith in love is still devout
this is the last night of the fair
and the grease in the hair
of a speedway operator
is all a tremulous heart requires
a schoolgirl is denied
she said: "How quickly would I die
if I jumped from the top of the parachutes?"
this is the last night of the fair
and the grease in the hair
of a speedway operator
is all a tremulous heart requires
a schoolgirl is denied
she said: "How quickly would I die
if I jumped from the top of the parachutes?"
scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen
(this means you really love me)
scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen
(this means you really love me)
and though I walk home alone
my faith in love is still devout