The Smiths and the Story of ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’
Morrissey has never been one to keep quiet. He seemed to know this as far back as 1985, when he and Johnny Marr wrote “Bigmouth Strikes Again.” This is the history of that song, the Rolling Stones song that inspired Marr’s guitar riff, and the subtle nod to the Ancoats district in Manchester.
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WATCH NEXT:
✓ “The Last of the Famous International Playboys” https://youtu.be/-zuqKY8kDHk
✓ “Suffer Little Children” https://youtu.be/tgrWNyeTfek
✓ Why Meat is Murder Still Matters Today: https://youtu.be/blxw55-0kWA
✓ The Accidental Hit that was Blue Monday: https://youtu.be/QGGgblDDKfM
✓ Top 10 Andy Rourke Bass Lines: https://youtu.be/392mnS5g5SM
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👉 The Queen Is Dead on Vinyl: https://amzn.to/4fw5mgP
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Books Referenced 📕
👉 Songs That Saved Your Life: https://amzn.to/3YmYOKo
👉 Autobiography by Morrissey: https://amzn.to/3BVQPfR
Poetic Wax is a weekly music history YouTube series and podcast hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introducing Bigmouth Strikes Again
2:25 The Smiths in 1986
4:14 Ancoats vs Anne Coates
4:50 The Highly Critical Tryptic
6:54 Humor & Irony in Morrissey’s Lyrics
9:45 The Legacy of Bigmouth Strikes Again
#thesmiths #morrissey #johnnymarr #thequeenisdead #bigmouthstrikesagain #songhistory #musichistory #albumhistory #musicstorytelling #musicdocumentary #albumdocumentary #albumstory
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@AndyFenstermaker
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Next, I dig into the story behind "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" 👉 https://youtu.be/-zuqKY8kDHk
@edwardwilliammorris1340
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Respectfully it's Kirsty MacColl not Cristy. I'm a lover of the smiths strangeways here we come was perfect and I still listen to it regularly. Shame the band had to split , there was such genius involved ❤ this upload was clearly an intelligent, interesting and loving view of the band
@Fmgangbanger
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Maybe big girls..because ye..as you say the misunderstandings make the man
@lisanoell
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
How do you choose a favorite. So many good songs, so many good albums. I loved them in the 80’s and have been reconnecting with them again recently and only now am I seeing their videos — and living the fact that they often wear their own The Smiths T-shirts haha. 😂 in one music video Morrisey has his own face on the back of his jacket. Geez, I just love him for that.
@pen2199
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Mark E Smith off, The Fall, he's you're man for being controversial.,,,,he is Manchester
@tfsonicyouth88
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I love the smiths. Saved me and if I can own any vinyl of them, then it would be the hand in glove single.
@amyx4143
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
And the pyramid started to melt
@deebeeinto
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Tony Wilson!
@malkmusRules
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
The Walkman line was a modernized version of Joan hearing divine voices in her head. It also fits with Morrissey's absurd savior of England complex (Joan had a vision to expel the English from France) which has "evolved" into an antithesis of The Smiths mentality.
@FrankTerry-y8u
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
As more time passes the more BASED Morrissey has become. I wish i could say the same for people like Mark Hamill.
@simonkaye7268
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Morrissey only annoys communists and carnivores. Those who treasure freedom of expression and being a herbivore, I'm sure he's very fond of. In fact he's been repeating it for years in interviews.
@kobalt77
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Thank you Andy. I am really enjoying all your Smiths videos. You easily put into words what I have always felt and known, so greatly appreciated.
@LarryLarry-r4z
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Say all the sh@t against Moz you want. But you are afraid to walk your own streets. Day or night. And if you speak out against it the police show up at your door. Moz turned out to be right.
@HenryWJonesJr
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
7:56 I’ve always thought of getting a tattoo of that image. I like the anachronistic imagery of having Joan burning at the stake with the Walkman strapped to her belt. One day…
@lennykelly9952
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Morrissey is a genius controversial that why we love him I was a misfit so could relate to him my favourite band of all time an Indie band who could chart very funny the people who don’t see it don’t understand.
@CourtneyWiginton
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Bigmouth Strikes Again is my favorite. One of my best musical memories was giving him daisies before the show at Astroworld in Houston.
@ColmBolger-h8k
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Cat 4.33 😂
@kaabe41
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
best concert event… montgomery al… Morrissey . crazy in the south. awesome
@neurodivergentpixi6736
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I sometimes think about what the lyrics would be if the song were written today. In the early 2000's I figured walkman would be Ipod; but today in 2025 it would be Iphone. And hearing aid I feel would be airpods. So the 2025 lyrics would be:
As the flames rose to her Roman nose and her iPhone started to melt
As the flames rose to her Roman nose and her airpods started to melt
@sexobscura
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
How The Smiths get associated with being doom ridden Goths is the most astonishing thing about them. Fans know the humour that is part of Morrissey's lyricism in order to add levity to the sombre subject matter, and that people who are too thick to see that deserve their own idiocy. As for his 'miserablism', well that's just as laughably flippant as the humour at the heart of The Smiths oeuvre.
@moonlight_stone_1067
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Wow, loved the T-shirt! Sadly I couldn't find one similar
@bv9434
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Criticizing the media and status quo used to be appreciated by young people and the counter culture. Morrissey hasn’t changed, the world has. People should think about that a bit maybe and consider perhaps that their idea of counter culture has been commandeered by those who seek to control.
@kalichisucks5607
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
British Psycho
@novadhd
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Yes Morrissey is great but Rourkes bass was legendary
@astra-rb6sz
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
How soon is now my favourite Smiths song.
@lawrencedewan9838
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Panic on the streets of London
@lawrencedewan9838
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
How about
" There is a light that never goes out…
Or at the cemetery gates..any answer Mr Yates…?
Big Mouth strikes again…
@coff1n-gr4v3
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
The first song I heard from The Smiths was, Heaven knows I'm miserable. And I was instantly hooked :]
@Betrayerslayer
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I DESPISE icons. Icons😄
@glucosaminecondroitan9135
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I first heard Big Mouth as a cover by the hardcore band Slapshot. I had never listened to the Smiths at that point and didn't listen to them till years later. I have been going through their music looking for songs I might like. So far I like "is it really so strange", "nowhere fast", "rubber ring", "what she said", "shakespeare's sister" and "big mouth strikes again".
@DarlinJacq
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I will very much love for Himashiac to rub Me in an eVen MORR rightly manner ~& I AM NOT wrongly rubbed for that amazing thought…
@doctorhaphazard
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
It is impossible to choose a favourite Smiths song without changing your mind a minute later.
@TimHornenothorny
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I know it's only a minor point in the video and I am aware you are American so I know correctly speaking English is hard but it's KIRsty not Kristy. It's bad enough that you can't pronounce Craig properly without completely rearranging the letters of people's names.
@fantasticfencesltd6065
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours. If you could do a vid about what that song is about then it would be pretty neato.
@LarryDanaDavid
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I met Morrissey in a pub in Los Angeles, he was very nice and affable. After having the conversation he thanked me for not being one his overzealous fans.
@was_ist_musik
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I always felt, the song was about someone else, who has a really big mouth. Now I'm questening my opinion! good video!
@mblumenstein1
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Fortunate to catch both The Smiths (1986/Detroit) and Morrissey (2024/Las Vegas) play BSA and it was sublime. Enjoy your content.
@andrewhall7930
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Cemetery Gates song: One day Johnny Marr was riding the train from Manchester to London. He was in an empty car. He got out his guitar and came up with a guitar riff. He thought it would be too weird for Morrissey to Sing over. He played it for Mike Joyce, who wasn't sure about it. He played it for Morrissey who immediately sang newly penned lyrics: A dreaded Sunny Day, so I'll meet you at the Cemetery gates: etc.
Only Smiths which began on a train.
@goldfred66
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
I allways thought this song was a lot to do with the work of Joe Orton.. Who killed his partner
@jusupdjidjimidjimilovic3677
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Overrated singer of overrated band, singing about things from gay relationship and gay culture, after producers, managers and reporters from Britain music scene – who was part of gay population – finally defeated the flood of heterosexuals in rock and pop music during 70's. One of gays who were incorporated into that new gay flood and remain something in that community.
Nothing interesting for rest of the world, hysteric thinking, hysteric lyrics, hysteric character, protected by his circle.
@glenno5897
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
People love and adore Morrissey so much, he says things and gives a wry smile with the intent to give the viewer to work out if he’s being serious or not. He’s an interesting character and personality and thats why he’s adored by so many.
@chipmunktubetop
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
He's the vegan Ted Nugent.
@chipmunktubetop
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Morrissey's ego should have had a separate billing.
@observerstation
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Morrissey is still the most interesting 'pop' star of the last 40 years. He couldn't care less what you think of him, which is very admirable
@3klangraum
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"
@TheSiberion
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
This song was a regular favorite in a Miami goth club called “the kitchen”, now I understand why so! 🦇 thanks for sharing all this great info! 👍
@RecordGraffiti
December 20, 2025 at 2:54 am
Too bad he ended up fascist.
Comments are closed.