The 500 - #296 - Meat Is Murder - The Smiths

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

---

Album: #296

Album Title: Meat Is Murder

Artist: The Smiths

Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Post-Punk

Recorded: Amazon and Ridge Farm Studios, Liverpool and Surrey, UK

Released: February, 1985

My age at release: 19

How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist:  The Headmaster Ritual

It was a cold and blustery day one February when I walked into a record shop in downtown London with a specific agenda: to purchase No Jacket Required by Phil Collins. The album, the third solo release by the British musician, would become his biggest, with four singles receiving massive airplay on radio and music television. At the time, back in 1985, I had no idea Phil's record was going to become a commercial juggernaut. He was a member of Genesis, one of my favourite bands, and I was excited to hear his newest material and continue building my collection of albums and solo projects by members of this talented group.

As I entered the shop, I paused by the rack displaying the newest releases. It was there that I first saw the album cover for Meat Is Murder, the second studio release by the Manchester quartet who have four records on The 500. In June, 2019 I wrote a critical account of the group’s debut release. Offsetting my caustic comments, my pal Steve Monaghan praised their compilation record, Louder Than Bombs, in a 2021 guest blog appearance.

Louder Than Bombs (left) and The Smiths' debut recor (right)

As I shook off the cold (and likely stomped slush from my boots), I was struck by the album cover, which featured four identical black and white pictures of a Vietnam-era soldier with the words "Meat Is Murder" (the album's title) crudely printed on his combat helmet.

I've since learned that the picture is of marine corporal Michael Wynn and the text on his helmet was digitally altered for The Smiths’ album cover. The original photograph was from Emile de Antoino's 1968 documentary In The Year Of The Pig. Previously, Wynn's helmet read "Make War Not Love".

The original picture and slogan, with
jacket text added for the film documentary.

In contemporary North America, becoming vegetarian for ethical reasons is a fairly common phenomenon. However, in 1985, those who eschewed animal-based protein in their diets were a quiet minority and people who espoused animal rights were a subset. Consequently, the title, Meat Is Murder, grabbed my attention. I can remember the thoughts that ran through my head when I first read that provocative statement:

"Meat is Murder?"

"Wow! That's quite a title!"

"Meat is Murder?"

"Well, I guess it is, if you think about it."

"But, we have to eat meat to survive?"
"I suppose we could be vegetarians?"

"But, we need protein...we have canine teeth after all."

"hmm...anyway"

"Where's that Phil Collins record I was looking for?"

Despite that moment of arrested attention upon seeing the album cover, I did not become a vegetarian or a Smiths fan that afternoon. I gathered  my Phil Collins record and went on with my day.

The Smiths in 1985(l-r) Andy Rourke, (Steven) Morrissey,
Johnny Marr & Mike Joyce

Now, 37 years later, I am starting to come around to the notion of going meatless. My wife and I have reduced our meat consumption for ethical and environmental reasons. We stopped buying pork a few years ago and we are fortunate to be able to afford to purchase much of our meat from ethical sources – farms with chickens or cows raised on quality food, with room to move and socialize. At least the animals have good lives before a sudden, very bad (and relatively pain free) moment.

At home on the range

I am also coming around to The Smiths’ music. Meat Is Murder is my favourite of the three records by the band that I have heard. I particularly liked the opening track, too. The Headmaster Ritual is a scathing critique of the Manchester school system in the 1970s and its reliance on corporal punishment as discipline.

Packaging for a single release of The Headmaster Ritual

The caustic lyrics are disquieting, depicting educators of the time as callous, violent and cruel. The lyrics further suggest some of the teachers were jealous of the youth under their charge, with a subtext suggesting sexual overtones.

I am an educator who has never raised his hand (and rarely his voice) to reprimand a student. However, I was a child of the 70s and attended both the Canadian (Ontario) and the Greater Manchester school systems. I can remember friends who returned from “the office” red-faced and tear-streaked after receiving the strap. There was also one particularly unpleasant principal who used to poke me hard in the chest when he wanted an explanations for some minor indiscretion in which I had been involved.

British schoolboy receiving "the strap"

Those incidents aside, it is the 45-second instrumental jam that opens The Headmaster Ritual that really seized my attention. It is a dynamic and engaging introduction to the record. Guitarist Johnny Marr revealed in interviews that the song was three years in the making. He had his guitar tuned to open E, which means the E chord will sound if the strings are strummed without any fingers on the fretboard.

. 

Marr also disclosed he was inspired by George Harrison's playing on The Beatles' song Daytripper, and that it is supposed to sound like something folk artist Joni Mitchell might have played "if she was a fan of (hard rock band) MC5".

Marr in a YouTube instructional video on how to play 
The Headmaster Ritual.

I'll now admit, much to my friend and guest blogger Steve's delight, that I'm becoming a fan of The Smiths. We even had a humourous exchange about it through text messages this week.

A chunk of our text exchange. I have also
rethought my "so so lyrics" comment.

Of all the members of the band, I think I am more a Johnny Marr fan. His live version of The Headmaster Ritual on YouTube is superb. Sample here. This summer he performed in Toronto in support of The Killers, a contemporary band who cite The Smiths as an influence. My pocketbook compelled me to reconsider attending. Post-pandemic hotel prices are outrageous and the 200 km drive, fighting traffic, to get back to London is a depressing prospect at the end of a good night of entertainment.