The genesis of 'What She Said' dates from September 1984 as elements of the song can be heard in soundchecks and rehearsal tapes from that time. Along with the other songs found on the Meat Is Murder studio album, 'What She Said' was initially recorded in October 1984 at Amazon Studios in Liverpool. The Smiths (primarily Johnny Marr) produced the song with Stephen Street as recording engineer. Overdubs were added in November 1984 at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey. The song's final mixing was completed at Island Record's Fallout Shelter in December of that year.
Listen to to 'What She Said' here:
The Smiths introduced the song on November 11,1984 in their concert at the Savoy in Waterford, Ireland. They went on to perform it 89 more times in concert.
‘What She Said’ was initially released in February 1985 as the fourth track on the Smiths’ Meat Is Murder studio album, and was the B-Side on their ‘Shakespeare’s Sister’ single (released the following month). A live version of the song is contained on 1988’s Rank live album.
'What She Said' begins with shrill guitar lines coupled with hammering drums, imbuing the song with a sort of hectic urgency that does not relent until its final note. Morrissey's voice is tinged with a stinging resonance as he details a woman's desperate, spiraling descent. Lines such as "What she said was sad/but then, all the rejection she's had/to pretend to be happy/could only be idiocy" leave an indelible mark like lashes from a whip.
Lyrically, the song may not be what it seems at first glance. Upon reflection, one can begin to discern a subtle sub-context…lines such as "What she read/all heady books" causes one to surmise that the actual subject of 'What She Said' is none other than Morrissey himself. Looked at from this perspective, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that the "tattooed boy from Birkenhead" is Johnny Marr, and that it is Morrissey's eyes that have been opened. One can build upon this understanding to appreciate the true meaning of the song.
As was the case with the lyrics of 'Shakespeare's Sister', Morrissey "borrowed" material from Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept and incorporated it into the lyrics of 'What She Said':
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept: "I have learned to smoke because I need something to hold on to. I dare not be without a cigarette in my hand."
'What She Said': "I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an early death and I need to cling to Something!"
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept: "Perhaps I am his hope. But then she is his present. And if then she is his present, I am not his present. Therefore, I am not, and I wonder why no one has noticed I am dead and taken the trouble to bury me. For I am utterly collapsed. I lounge with glazed eyes, or weep tears of sheer weakness."
'What She Said': "How come someone hasn't noticed that I'm dead and decided to bury me. God knows, I'm ready"
The Lyrics of ‘What She Said’:
What she said:
"How come someone hasn't noticed
that I'm dead
and decided to bury me?
God knows, I'm ready"
What she said was sad
but then, all the rejection she's had
to pretend to be happy
could only be idiocy
What she said was not for the job or
lover that she never had
What she read
all heady books
she'd sit and prophesise
(it took a tattooed boy from
Birkenhead
to really really open her eyes)
What she read
all heady books
she'd sit and prophesise
(it took a tattooed boy from
Birkenhead
to really really open her eyes)
What she said:
"I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an
early death
AND I NEED TO CLING TO SOMETHING!"
What she said:
"I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an
early death
AND I NEED TO CLING TO SOMETHING!"
Listen to Morrissey perform the song in Dublin in 2008:
Listen to the 'What She Said' / 'Rubber Ring'' medley as contained on Rank: