Album: Strangeways, Here We Come
Year: 1987
. . .
“Do you really think she’ll pull through?”
Even for The Smiths, Strangeways, Here We Come was a morbid album, starting with a song narrated by a ghost, and featuring several songs about recently deceased — rock stars, disco dancers, etc — or in the case of “Girlfriend in a Coma,” soon to be deceased, people. And while it’s not really a competition, “Girlfriend in a Coma” just might be the most morbid. Also, it might be the darkly funniest, a George Constanza plotline before that was a thing.
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s really serious
As was often the case with The Smiths, Johnny Marr has surrounded the morbid lyrics with some of the brightest music imaginable. In this case during the verses and the chorus, the dominant musical instrument is a bright, twinkling guitar figure that I guess might represent the hope that it isn’t as serious as George might think.
There were times when I could
Have “murdered” her
(but you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her)
No, I don’t want to see her
But then the bridge comes in, a melodramatic wash of fake strings that is nearly anthemic, and outside of “There is A Light That Never Goes Out,” Marr’s best use of the emulator. With Mike Joyce dropping the beat and doing stop time drum rolls during it, you kinda know what the answer is.
Do you really think
She’ll pull through?
Do you really think
She’ll pull through?
Do…
The other thing about “Girlfriend in a Coma,” is that — outside of the those bridges — the rhythm section is playing a closer approximation of a reggae groove as they were ever going to get, as signaled by Andy Rourke’s outsized bass in the opening and formalized by Marr’s rhythm guitar stabs throughout.
Whether famous reggae-hater Morrissey knew this or cared doesn’t really matter, and his singing is quiet and resigned, ending on a final sigh on “as I whisper my last goodbyes / I know it’s serious” as the song ends just a couple of minutes after it started.
Despite being released just as news of Johnny Marr leaving the band was surfacing, “Girlfriend in a Coma” was the final Smiths single during their lifetime to crack the U.K. top 15, landing at #13. It was also the final Smiths single to make it to #1 on the U.K. indie charts, a streak of 14 in a row going back to “This Charming Man,” which may be some kind of record?
“Girlfriend in a Coma”
“Girlfriend in a Coma” official music video
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