William, It Was Really Nothing
‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ - the sixth single from the Smiths - was released in August, 1984 and reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is featured on the compilation albums Hatful of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs (as well as other ‘best of ‘ and singles collections). Rolling Stone magazine ranked ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ at number 425 in their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ was written in June 1984, and thought to have been recorded at Jam Studios in London in July 1984 with producer John Porter. However, Andy Rourke has claimed that this is not the case: "We recorded this one in an 8-track basement studio in Chorlton, Manchester for no money. The record company took it to London to remix it, but couldn't better it."1
Another version was recorded on August 1, 1984 for the band's third appearance on John Peel's BBC program (broadcast August 9, 1984), with producer John Porter. Listen to the Peel session version here:
Johnny Marr has described ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ as “…quite a whimsical song really. I don't think it's broken all the rules in pop music, but to start a song with a short verse and then follow it with three choruses is quite good."
An advert for Analog & Digital Systems Inc. speakers ("A.D.S."), circa 1981-1982, was utilized for the single’s cover art.
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The matrix on the A and B-side’s of the 12-inch version of the UK single had a variety of etchings:
Variant 1, side A runout: THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST A
Variant 1, side B runout: ROMANTIC AND SQUARE IS HIP AND AWARE A
Variant 2, side A runout: THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST
Variant 2, side B runout: ROMANTIC AND SQUARE IS HIP AND AWARE
As well as being a reference to Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest2, "The impotence of Ernest" is an allusion to the impotence that American author Ernest Hemingway allegedly suffered in his final years. The "romantic" line was said by John Lennon to British author Hunter Davies.
When the band performed the song on Top of the Pops on August 30, 1984, Morrissey ripped open his shirt to reveal the words "MARRY ME" written on his chest ("Would you like to marry me?" is one line in the song). Watch the Smiths' performance on Top of the Pops here:
November 1987 saw the UK reissue of 'William, It Was Really Nothing'. As A.D.S. had threatened legal action against the Smiths for their use of the former’s print advert, the cover art for the reissued single was altered, and consisted of a photo still of Billie Whitelaw3 from the 1968 film, Charlie Bubbles.4
The matrix on the 7-Inch version of the reissued single has "THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST" etched on its A-side, while the B-side is etched with "WE HATES BAD GRAMMER". The matrix on the A-side of the 12-Inch single is etched with "THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST", with "ROMANTIC AND [ ] is hip n` aware" etched on its B-side.
While Morrissey is on record as stating that 'William, It Was Really Nothing' is a deliberate attempt on his part to write a song about marriage from the point of view of a man5, another interpretation is that the song is actually addressed to Billy Mackenzie, a Scottish singer-songwriter who is best known for fronting The Associates. In his book on Billy Mackenzie, The Glamour Chase, author Tom Doyle asserts that Morrissey and Billy had a brief friendship which “allegedly ended with Mackenzie stealing a Jane Stein novel from the singer's Manchester flat”.
Smiths drummer Mike Joyce seemingly corroborated that 'William, It Was Really Nothing' is about Billy Mackenzie: on a BBC radio show in 2012, Joyce played 'William It Was Really Nothing' and two other tracks and asked listeners to guess the theme. When one emailer suggested the link was “English men’s names”, Joyce pointed out that Billy Mackenzie was actually Scottish...!
While The Associates enjoyed brief fame with the singles 'Club Country' and 'Party Fears Two', original member Alan Rankine left just as the band were about to head out on tour, leaving Billy Mackenzie to cancel the dates and carry on alone. The duo reunited in 1993 to demo some new material, with one of the songs being called 'Stephen, You’re Really Something', which is seemingly a sort of “reply” to 'William It Was Really Nothing'. The song includes the line “I loved the way you sent your poetry”. Tragically, Billy Mackenzie committed suicide in 1997 at age 39 shortly after the death of his mother. He had been suffering from clinical depression at the time of his death.
Listen to 'Stephen, You’re Really Something' here:
![Alan Rankine was the maestro of the Associates' post-punk pop – and an architect of indie | Indie | The Guardian Alan Rankine was the maestro of the Associates' post-punk pop – and an architect of indie | Indie | The Guardian](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc1241c2c-af42-42eb-9ed1-ea4e55b41678_1200x900.jpeg)
Filter magazine, June/July 2005 issue
Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People was first performed in February 1895 at the St. Jame’s Theater in London. The play is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations.
Billie Honor Whitelaw CBE (1932 – 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was also known for her portrayal of Mrs. Baylock, the demonic nanny in the 1976 horror film The Omen.
Charlie Bubbles is a British comedy-drama directed by Albert Finney in his feature directorial debut. The film starred Finney alongside Billie Whitelaw (portraying Lottie Bubbles) and Liza Minnelli. The film made great play of its Manchester setting, contrasting the return of its eponymous lead character, played by Finney, to his home city after achieving success as a writer in London. During his return, he visits his former wife, played by Whitelaw, in Derbyshire, and watches a Manchester United match at Old Trafford (featuring footage of Bobby Charlton and Denis Law) with his son. They are cut off from the outside world in a glass-fronted box as they watch the match. Finney's character is bored with his success and his privileged position, which allows him to indulge himself in most ways he wishes. One of these is a relationship with his secretary Eliza Heyho, played by Minnelli.
"It occurred to me that within popular music if ever there were any records that discussed marriage they were always from the female's standpoint, female singers singing to women. There were never any songs saying 'do not marry, stay single, self-preservation,' etc. I thought it was about time there was a male voice speaking directly to another male saying that marriage was a waste of time ... that, in fact, it was absolutely nothing."
-Morrissey on the lyrics of 'William, It Was Really Nothing'