If I had to choose just one song from The Smiths to take away with me to a desert island, it would be this classic track they released in 1984. William, It Was Really Nothing encapsulates everything that was so great about The Smiths in one neat little package. It’s almost as though someone who doesn’t take to this song would hardly take to The Smiths, such is the way the song incorporates their best features in one little microcosm.
Also William contains some of the best guitar I’ve ever heard in a two-minute song, thanks to Johnny Marr’s jangly, rustic, metallic guitar playing. I love how he is playing an acoustic guitar while somehow making it sound like an electric. Then combine that awesomeness with Morrissey’s schmoozy, yet somehow playful and teasing voice and his off-kilter, bemusing lyrics, and it just cries out to be replayed over and over again. The song is the epitome of not overstaying your welcome and leaving you craving more.
The live version here from Top of the Pops is dazzling as well and visually complements the music, even enhancing it through Morrissey’s theatrical expressions as he looks both detached and passionate at the same time. His ripping open of his shirt to reveal ‘Marry Me‘ as he sings “Would you like to marry me?” is one for the annals and always induces a wry smile. Regarding that stand-out lyric and display, this is what Morrissey had to say about it:
“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.“
Even after many years of listening to the song, I was unable to decipher exactly what Morrissey was going on about, although I got a blast out of hearing it. So, I’m glad he has cleared that up for us today, or at least for me. Hurrah!
William, It Was Really Nothing was released as a single in August 1984 and featured the B-sides Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want and How Soon Is Now?.
Gee wizz, if that isn’t one of the most artistically eminent 80s singles one could have in their possession, then I don’t know what is.
It reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 425 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
[Verse 1]
The rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down
Oh, the rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down
Oh, no, and everybody’s got to live their life
And God knows I’ve got to live mine
God knows I’ve got to live mine
[Chorus]
William, William, it was really nothing
William, William, it was really nothing
It was your life
[Verse 2]
How can you stay with a fat girl who’ll say:
“Oh! Would you like to marry me?
“And if you like you can buy the ring”
She doesn’t care about anything
Would you like to marry me?
And if you like you can buy the ring
I don’t dream about anyone – except myself!
[Chorus]
Oh, William, William, it was really nothing
William, William, oh-oh-oh-oh-woah
Woah-oh, oh-oh
References:
1. William, It Was Really Nothing – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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