Rubber Ring (1985) – The Smiths

Morrissey sings here about how music mattered intensely to so many of us when we were young:

A sad fact widely known
The most impassionate song to a lonely soul
Is so easily outgrown
But don’t forget the songs that made you smile
And the songs that made you cry
When you lay in awe on the bedroom floor
And said, “Oh, oh, smother me mother”

The title is both a nod to a vinyl record (as it is round and made of rubber) and to the flotation ring used to pull someone from deep water. In that sense, Smiths songs often serve the same purpose for young listeners: something to cling to when things feel overwhelming. Morrissey’s message is a reminder not to dismiss or forget the music that once carried you through difficult moments, even if adulthood has dulled its urgency or changed the way you relate to it.

Rubber Ring is well respected by Smiths fans and critics alike, deeply entrenched – and widely admired – within the band’s expansive, eclectic back catalogue. It’s yet another great Smiths B side song this time tucked away on the single The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (image inset) which reached No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.

In fact, the single has two B-sides – Rubber Ring and Asleep – and they fit together so naturally that where Rubber Ring ends, Asleep seems to begin, like inseparable halves of the same thought.

Rubber Ring stands apart as one of the Smiths’ more off-kilter tracks, beginning with a stripped-down, lightly grooving interplay between Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke, as Mike Joyce keeps things anchored and Marr colours the sound with an odd, bowed-string effect. Over this, Morrissey reflects on the intensity music once held in youth, before the rhythm tightens and lifts, sending Marr into tangled, fast-moving guitar figures that echo the way Morrissey lets his voice dart and overlap.

In the long outro, Morrissey’s “la da da dey” returns over a grounded rhythm section, until the voice of John Gielgud appears – “everybody’s clever nowadays,” just before the creepy lady says “you are sleeping, you do not want to believe” as the wind and first note of the piano from Asleep creep in binding the two tracks together.

[Verse 1]
A sad fact widely known
The most impassionate song to a lonely soul
Is so easily outgrown
But don’t forget the songs that made you smile
And the songs that made you cry
When you lay in awe on the bedroom floor
And said, “Oh, oh, smother me mother”
Oh, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh na na na, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh la day, la da da dey di la da da dey di

[Verse 2]
The passing of time and all of its crimes
Is making me sad again
The passing of time and all of its sickening crimes
Is making me sad again
But don’t forget the songs that made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now and you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you

[Verse 3]
The passing of time leaves empty lives waiting to be filled
The passing of time leaves empty lives waiting to be filled
I’m here with the cause, I’m holding the torch
In the corner of your room (Can you hear me?)
And when you’re dancing and laughing and finally living
Hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly
Oh, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh na na na, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh la day, la da da dey di, la da da dey di

[Outro]
Do you love me like you used to?
Oh, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh na na na, la da dey, la da dey, la da dey
Oh la day, la da da dey di, la da da dey di
(You’re clever)
(Everybody’s clever nowadays)
(You’re clever)
(Everybody’s clever nowadays)

[Segue]
(You are sleeping, you do not want to believe)
(You are sleeping, you do not want to believe)
(You are sleeping, you do not want to believe)
(You are sleeping—)

References:
1. Rubber Ring – Genius Lyrics
2. Certain Songs #2296: The Smiths – “Rubber Ring” – Media Loper