There is a Light that Never Goes Out
Cover Lover presents: “There is a Light that Never Goes Out”
| Inspirational Place wrote:
Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 11:07 PM
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[this is good] Sounds a little bit like Morrisey…which is good, real good ;o)
Inspirational Place’s comment above, er, inspired me to write about “There is a Light that Never Goes Out” covers. I realized that there’s already been several website doing coverage on this song (and its covers), but their articles are ugly! Ok! As a long time Morrissey/Smiths collector, I have also extended my collection to tribute CDs and bootlegs, so most of these songs are already in my little Moz shrine.
A little introduction on Morrissey’s obsession on super long song titles. Here’s some examples:
- “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”
- “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want”
- “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”
- “Please Help the Cause Against Lonliness” (written by Morrissey, recorded by Sandie Shaw)
- “Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference”
- “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful”
- “The Last of the Famous International Playboys”
- “There is a Place for Me and My Friends in Hell”
- “The More you Ignore me, the Closer I Get”
Undoubtedly, one of my favorite long-titled song is “There is a Light that Never Goes Out”. This is a really sweet, but sad song. Every time I hear Morrissey sings “and if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die“, ah, well it just makes me cry a little inside.
Obviously the song’s been a major influence on a lot of bands (we’ll get to that later), but I was surprise to see it in Irvine Welsh’s book Trainspotting the first time I read it after seeing the movie (incidentally, one of my favorite top 10 movies of all time):
Spud wanted to never get to that party, wishing that they could just go on walking and talking. They went down into the underpass and Spud thought that he should try to put his arm around Nicola. Then a passage from a Smiths’ song, one he’d always liked called: ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, came into his head:
and in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God my chance has come at last
but then a strange fear gripped me
and I just couldn’t ask
Morrissey’s sad voice summed up his feelings.He didn’t put his arm around Nicola, and his attempts to chat her up were half–arsed after that.
So below are some covers of “There is a Light”. This is by no means a definitive list, but it’s a pretty good list by diverse artist. Plus many of these covers were released in one format or another with the exception of the Death Cab’s version as that was a live radio broadcast. I have several videos also (notably Noel Gallagher’s rendition of “There is a Light” that’s worth looking up on youtube if you get a chance), but I’m mainly sticking with CD releases.
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ANBERLIN
schneidertm.net ♥ myspace.com When I spoke with Stephen Christian of Anberlin earlier this year on W♥M Radio #24 (incidentally one of our most downloaded show!), I was happy to learn what a big anglophile he was. I suppose I should’ve seen the writing on the wall as the band’s covered some of Britain’s best songs…. including The Smiths’ “There is a Light that Never Goes out” which appeared on their 2007 album, Cities (The Special Edition version). They’re currently on tour in support of their major-label album, New Surrender:
12/12 – The Great Salt Air – Magna, UT 12/15 – Toad’s Place – Richmond, VA 01/07 – Nashville, TN @ Rocketown 01/08 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 01/09 – Harrisonburg, VA @ The Alethia 01/10 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club 01/11 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel 01/13 – Montreal, QC @ Studio JPR 01/14 – Ottawa, ON @ Babylon 01/15 – London, ON @ Cowboy’s Ranch 01/16 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin College Fine Arts Center 01/17 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Eagles Club 01/18 – Des Moines, IO @ People’s Court 01/19 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 01/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 01/22 – Fargo, ND @ The Venue 01/23 – Winnipeg, MB @ Garrick Centre **VENUE CHANGE** 01/24 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange 01/25 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room 01/26 – Calgary, AB @ The Warehouse 01/28 – Vancouver, BC @ Richard’s on Richards Cabaret 01/30 – Billings, MT @ Shrine Auditorium 01/31 – Pocatello, ID @ Icon |
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
deathcabforcutie.com ♥ myspace.com As mentioned above, I don’t have this on CD, this was strictly a download via morrissey-solo. We’ve previously mentioned Death Cab a few times on W♥M because we like Barsuk Records, so be sure to read some of our articles on Death Cab. This is an acoustic version, pretty faithful with Ben Gibbard only messing up slightly (but not noticable) for Philadelphia’s Radio 104.5. I’ve seen the band live before, and I sure wish they’d play this song as I would’ve gone nuts for it. The band’s recently been in the news because their “classic” 1998’s debut album Something About Airplanes was re-issued as a limited edition deluxe 10-year anniversary 2-disc set. The bonus disc contains “recently-unearthed recording of the band’s first-ever Seattle show, a February 1998 set at the legendary venue The Crocodile Café”. Apparently on this live recording also includes Sean Nelson on vocals for Death Cab’s version of yet-another The Smiths’ song, “Sweet and Tender Hooligan”! Since I actually own their first album and didn’t get a review copy for this release, I probably won’t pick up the album (sorry Death Cab!)…. Although it’s very tempting at such a reasonable price of $12. Oh, hey, they’re on tour.
12/11/08 Oracle Arena Oakland, California 12/13/08 Tucson Convention Center Tucson, Arizona 12/14/08 Gibson Amphitheatre Los Angeles, California 12/12/09 Club Quattro Naka-nu Nagoya 12/14/09 Shinkiba Studio Coast Koto-ku, Tokyo 12/16/09 Big Cat Chuo-ku, Osaka |
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THE LUCKSMITHS
thelucksmiths.com.au ♥ myspace.com This is one of my favorite cover – as it’s also a duet. Originally appeared on the Smiths tribute CD called Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware (the cover art appears to have been taken from the Smiths’ “Ask” video), I picked this up way back in 2003. The song recently made its way back on The Luckies’ two-disc compilation CD, Spring a Leak released last year. What makes this an invaluable item in your collection will be that it contains songs from their debut 7″ single The Macintyre 7 inch which has a very surprisingly country-esque song “Are You Having A Good Time!!”. This is rock n roll so everything rhymes! I love it. |
THE DIVINE COMEDY
thedivinecomedy.com ♥ myspace.com 10 years after the release of The Queen is Dead, French Magazine Les Inrockuptibles compiled this wonderful little tribute album consisting of then-famous British rockers doing song-for-song of The Queen is Dead. Although I can’t agree with some of the direction of the songs, overall it was a decent effort. Some of the highlight of this album for me is Placebo’s fast-paced, yet whiny, version of “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and Supergrass’ dope version of “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” Neil Hannon’s approach to “There is a Light” is very orchestral – which is basically what The Divine Comedy is known for. Hannon’s operatic vocals lends itself to feel more epic. |
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YO-YO MUNDI
yoyomundi.it Yo-Yo Mundi is an Italian band and that’s all I really know about the band. Their cover of “There is a Light” appeared on the Italian Smiths Tribute CD called There is a Light that Never Goes Out. It was released in 2000, limited to 1,000 pressing (it may have been re-issued due to demands). What I love about this release is that the cover artwork is the full print of “The Enchanted Desna” (unknown actors). The picture previously was cropped only showing the baby for “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”…. and in addition, unseen photographs of The Smiths were used. The price is kind of steep if you’re on a budget at $20, but hey, if you’re a Smiths fan (and generally like covers), this is a great package – if not for the limited run. |
WALLEYE
myspace.com/walleyemusic I’m not sure if that’s actually their myspace, but I picked up this Smiths tribute CD called The World Still Won’t Listen, which is a hardcore punkified version of Smiths song. I suppose I am more of a fan of melodic punk/pop punk, as these songs on this album is much too much for me. The sound volume on the CD is loud and louder. I can’t bring myself to listening to, but it was a nice try, at least a very different take on Smiths songs – which are known for their sensitive side. I don’t know any of the bands that made it on The World Still Won’t Listen, so there’s not much to write here, sorry :/ PS, one thing I liked was that the cover artwork, mimicking The Smiths’ compilation album, The World Won’t Listen, only with mohawked kids on the cover. |
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SCHNEIDER TM
schneidertm.net ♥ myspace.com Possibly the most interesting and inventive cover version of “There is a Light” by electronic artist Dirk Dresselhaus, or better known as Schneider TM. The song originally appeared as a b-side on his Binokular EP (2000) with collaborator KPT.michi.gan. I couldn’t find proof of this on wire.com (Wire: please have better search features, please?), but according to wikipedia, the song was voted as “best cover versions ever recorded” by Wire Magazine. |
THE OCEAN BLUE
theoceanblue.com The Ocean Blue’s cover of “There is a Light” originally appeared as a b-side on their EP, Peace and Light. Way back in high school, trendsetter Dan Davis (we all admired this guy in high school) was really into The Ocean Blue. At the time, I think he was really into Echo & The Bunnymen and Candy Flip (remember their cover of “Strawberry Fields Forever”?) So, that was early 90s, so I was really surprise to see that they’re still around – on Sally’s review of Blue Skies Daisy Days. |
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BRAID
polyvinylrecords.com I thought this punk-ish band’s version of “There is a Light” is pretty good. It has a, I don’t know, a power-pop to the song – which clearly is not what the song is missing. It’s a good take on the song though. The band broke up before I had discovered them, but you can find their greatest hits/compilation Movie Music volume 1 and 2 in used bins at most record store. |
NEIL FINN
finnbros.com ♥ myspace.com/neilfinn Probably best known for being in Crowded House (wow, remember those guys?), Neil Finn teamed up with a bunch of superstar rockers, Lisa Germano, Sebastian Steinberg, Ed & Phil of Radiohead (I interviewed Phil Selway for KFSR 90.7FM a long time ago), Eddie Vedder, and of course Johnny Marr. For Marr’s appearance, they covered The Smiths’ “There is a Light that Never Goes Out” – which sounded fantastic live! |
So, a funny thing about the title “There is a Light” was I bought this stupid keychain flashlight at a Smiths convention a while back with the text clearly written on the side: “There is a light that never goes out”. You know what? A year into owning this dumb thing, the flashlight stopped functioning. I guess the light went out for me :/
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