“The Draize Train”
When The Smiths Let the Music Speak
One of only three instrumental songs recorded by the Smiths, “The Draize Train” is sometimes regarded by fans as the weakest of the trio. This view, however, is challenged by the live version on Rank, which has earned high praise due to Johnny Marr’s superlative guitar work. The song was composed by Johnny Marr and recorded in May 1986 at Livingston Studios in London1 with fifth Smith Craig Gannon and producer John Porter.
A taut, guitar-driven song, “The Draize Train” is wiry and meticulously structured, showcasing Johnny Marr’s precision and melodic ingenuity. Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce provide propulsive, funk-inflected rhythm.
Listen to the song in the following link:
As Johnny later explained to Guitar Player magazine:
“I use Nashville tuning all the time. I’ve got an Epiphone Coronet with one pickup, and I string it with the high strings from a 12-string set. It’s a really zingy, trebly guitar. I used that on a lot of things that people think are 12-string... I also used it on the studio version of ‘The Draize Train,’ along with two Rickenbackers. I was working with Alan Rogan, the famed English guitar technician. He said, ‘Well, if you want a Pete Townshend sound, I’ll bring down two of Pete’s guitars.’ I don’t know whether Pete knows about that!”2
Notwithstanding the efforts of Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis to persuade Morrissey to provide lyrics for the track, Morrissey demurred, not considering Johnny’s creation a viable candidate for his efforts:
“I was... asked to write words for... ‘The Draize Train,’ which I thought was the weakest thing Johnny had ever done. Geoff Travis came to see me one day with the tape of it and said, ‘It’s the best thing Johnny’s written and it’s a Number One single if you put words to it.’ But I said, ‘No, Geoff, it’s not right.’ So, yes, there was pressure to write lyrics, but I thought they were better as they were.”3
Sympathetic to his partner’s deeply held convictions regarding animal rights (as well as his own - Marr has been a vegetarian since 1983 - though insiders who were close to Johnny in the early days of the Smiths indicate that he was known to enjoy a clandestine bite of steak or Kidney pie!), Marr chose the title as a reference to the Draize test4.
Despite his initial misgivings about the song, Morrissey acceded to its inclusion in the final UK leg of The Queen Is Dead tour in the autumn of 1986, beginning October 13 at the Carlisle Sands Centre in Carlisle, England. At this concert, as well as the others in this final segment of the tour, the song appeared as part of the extended encore.
On July 21, 1986, “The Draize Train” was released as a B-side to the 12-inch edition of the Smiths’ fourteenth single, “Panic.” The single reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
Beyond its original appearance on the “Panic” single, “The Draize Train” has resurfaced on several other Smiths releases over the years. In August of 1986 it appeared on the Greek 12-inch edition of the “Bigmouth Strikes Again” single and in October on the Germany-only release of the “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” single. In 1987, the track was included on the Australian edition of the compilation album The World Won’t Listen, while a live version followed in 1988 on the aforementioned concert album Rank. The song was subsequently revived for inclusion on the deluxe digital edition of The Sound of The Smiths compilation in 2008, appeared again in the comprehensive Complete box set in 2011, and was most recently reissued in 2017 on the 12-inch format of “The Queen is Dead” single.
“The Draize Train” offers a rare glimpse of the Smiths speaking entirely through music. With its taut guitars and driving rhythm, the track is a powerful testament to Johnny Marr’s organic talent, and it underscores that even without Morrissey’s voice and lyrics, the Smiths could mesmerize and compel - inviting listeners to reconsider the Marr/Morrissey dynamic from a fresh perspective.
Listen to Rank live version of the song in the following link:
The track was recorded alongside “Panic” and an early, slower version of “Sweet And Tender Hooligan” in this session.
Johnny Marr, interview by Joe Gore, “Guitar Antihero” Guitar Player, January 1990.
Morrissey. Interview by Len Brown. “Born to Be Wilde.” NME, 13–20 Feb. 1988.
The Draize test is an acute toxicity test devised in 1944 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) toxicologists John H. Draize and Jacob M. Spines. Initially used for testing cosmetics, the procedure involves applying substances to the eye or skin of a restrained, conscious animal, and then leaving it for a set amount of time before rinsing it out and recording its effects.