'What's The World?'
The Smiths' obscure cover song
Released in November of 1987, the Smiths’ cover of 'What's The World?' - a song originally released by the band James1 - appeared only on the UK cassette format of their 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' single.
'What's The World?' was excluded from all other formats of the 1987 single.
The cover art for the 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' single features a cropped photo-still of actress Avril Angers2 from the 1966 film The Family Way34 (a photo-still of Murray Head5 from the very same film adorns the cover of the Smiths’ single 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before'6. Both songs appear on Strangeways, Here We Come).
The track is from a live performance of 'What's The World?' by the Smiths in Glasgow, Scotland in September 1985, and appears again on their 1995 'Sweet and Tender Hooligan' single.
The song was originally performed by fellow Mancunian band James, and was the B-side to their debut single, Jimone, which was released in 1983.
James formed in Manchester in the same year as the Smiths (1982). James were the supporting band for the Smiths in February and April 1985 on the latter's Meat is Murder tour. ‘What's The World’ was performed a number of times by the Smiths on the Meat is Murder tour.
Listen to the Smiths performing 'What's The World?' here:
Listen here to the song as performed by James:
An English indie/alternative band, James enjoyed wide popularity during the 1990s with four top-10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. James’ best-known singles include ‘Come Home’, ‘Sit Down’, ‘She’s a Star’, and ‘Laid’ (‘Laid’ also became a hit on American college radio). By 2001 the band were inactive, but reunited in January 2007 and have since released a further seven albums. Live performance has continually remained a central part of the band's output.
Florence Avril Angers (1918 – 2005) was an English stand-up comedian and actress. She never married or had children. Angers lived in London, where she died from pneumonia, aged 87.
The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film starring father and daughter John and Hayley It is about the marital difficulties of a young newlywed couple living in a crowded house with the husband's family. Hayley Mills did a nude scene in the film, which received much publicity. She called it "a very integral part of the film... the whole thing was handled with great taste."
The influence of cinema upon Morrissey - most especially British films - is well known. In his own words, Morrissey has stated, "My relentless obsession with British films of the '40s, '50s and '60s has had an overwhelming influence on everything I've ever written. The list of favorites could be endless […] Modern films do not inspire me at all. I refuse to watch anything post-1971 because every story had been told by then."
Murray Seafield St George Head (born 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the BAFTA award winning and Oscar-nominated 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Can't stand this song 😒