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"How Soon Is Now?" is a 1984 song written by described it as "possibly our most enduring record. It's most people's favourite, I think."'' Uncut '', March 2007: p.48. Despite its prominent place in The Smiths' repertoire, however, it is not generally considered to be representative of the band's style. All Music Group review Originally a B-side with "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" on the 12" single version of " William, It Was Really Nothing " in 1984, the song was subsequently featured on the compilation album '' Hatful Of Hollow '' and on US, Australian and Warner UK editions of '' Meat Is Murder ''. It was belatedly released as an A-side in the UK in 1985, reaching #24 on the Singles Chart . The single did not make the US Top 40. Although a club favourite, "How Soon Is Now" did not chart as well as writers Morrissey and Marr had expected. Most commentators put this down to the fact that the song had been out on vinyl in a number of forms before being released as a single in its own right. The original track ran for nearly 7 minutes; however, the 7" single edit cut the length down to under 4 minutes. The complete version is generally used on compilations. MUSIC AND LYRICS The song contains only one verse which is repeated twice, plus a chorus and a bridge. The subject is an individual who cannot find a way to break out of his shyness. Two couplets from the song are well known in pop culture, the opening to the verse: "I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular", and the chorus: "I am human and I need to be loved / Just like everybody else does". The opening was adapted from a line in gay club culture. The tune is built around a guitar chord that rapidly Oscillates in volume. As to how the distinctive resonant sound was achieved, Marr gave the following account to '' Guitar Player '' magazine in 1990: The vibrato sound is fucking incredible, and it took a long time. I put down the rhythm track on an Epiphone Casino through a Fender Twin Reverb without vibrato. Then we played the track back through four old Twins, one on each side. We had to keep all the amps vibrating in time to the track and each other, so we had to keep stopping and starting the track, recording it in 10-second bursts... We did it in three passes through a harmonizer, set to some weird interval, like a sixth. There was a different harmonization for each pass. For the line in Harmonics , I retuned the guitar so that I could play it all at the 12th fret with natural harmonics. It's doubled several times. RELEASES The song was originally included as a bonus track on the 12" single release of The Smiths' " '' Hatful Of Hollow '', relased on 12 November 1984 . The Italian 12" pressing of "William, It Was Really Nothing", on Virgin Records , featured an out-take version of "How Soon Is Now?", which has not been released in other territories. The song was released on '' magazine: "It's hard to believe that 'How Soon Is Now' was not a hit. I thought that was the one..."''Creem'' magazine, 1987. "How Soon is Now?" was released as an A-side in the UK on 4 February 1985 . The 7" featured an edited version of the track, and the B-side was "Well I Wonder", from the about-to-be-released '' Meat Is Murder '' album. The 12" single included a new instrumental track, "Oscillate Wildly". In spite of being considered, by this time, something of a classic, "How Soon Is Now?" only managed to rise to #24 in the UK singles chart. According to John Porter, "Everybody knew the Smiths' fans already had it". Following the acquisition of the Rough Trade catalogue by Warner Bros. Records , "How Soon Is Now?" was issued again as a single in the UK in September 1992. A 7" single and cassette featured the editied version, backed with a live version of " Handsome Devil ", recorded at The Haçienda on 4 February 1983 (this had originally been the B-side to The Smiths' first single " Hand In Glove "). Two CD singles featured tracks from The Smiths back-cataolgue which were, following the demise of Rough Trade, unavailable in the UK at that time. The re-issue reached #16 in the UK singles chart. REVIEWS "Morrissey and co have once again delved into their Sixties treasure-trove, and produced a visceral power capable of blowing the dust off Eighties inertia. The majestic ease of Morrissey's melancholic vocals are tinted with vitriol, as they move through vistas of misery with plaintive spirals around the pulse of Johnny Marr's vibrato guitar. The string's muted strains conjure wistful signs that bridge the schism between crass sentimentality and callous detachment. Each repeated phrase intensifies the hypnotic waves, with results that outflank anything since ' This Charming Man '. Catharsis has rarely been tinged with so much regret, and shared with so much crystalline purity." - '' Melody Maker '', 2 February 1985 "For the most part, Morrissey is the Hilda Ogden of pop, harassed and hard done-by. I guess what seems like meat to one man sounds like murder to another." - Gavin Martin, '' New Musical Express '', 9 February 1985 ARTWORK The single's cover art was a still from the film '' was used instead. According to Morrissey: "'How Soon Is Now?' was released in an abhorrent sleeve - and the time and the dedication that we put into the sleeves and artwork, it was tearful when we finally saw the record..."''Creem'' magazine, 1985 MUSIC VIDEO A music video was made using the 7" edit of the song. It intercut clips of the band playing live (including a shot of Johnny Marr showing Morrissey how to play the guitar), an industrial part of a city, and a girl dancing. Whilst unauthorised and heavily criticised by the band (Morrissey: "We saw the video and we said to Sire, 'You can't possibly release this... this degrading video.' And they said, 'Well, maybe you shouldn't really be on our label.' It was quite disastrous") the video has been credited with helping make the song their most famous in the US, along with heavy exposure on college radio.Johnny Rogan (2006). Op Cit: pp.53-54 LIVE VERSIONS "How Soon Is Now?" was always considered a "major problem" to play in concert, and live versions are rare. One was used to open Morrissey's album ''Live at Earl's Court''. Another was recorded during the concert for The Smiths' live album '' Rank '', but was not used. Instead, a raw version of this song (and entire concert) appeared on the bootleg ''A Bad Boy from a Good Family''. COVER VERSIONS "How Soon Is Now?" has been covered by various artists including the Russian pop duo T.A.T.u. ( The Song is featured on the album '' 200 Km/h In The Wrong Lane '') in 2002, UK indie band Hundred Reasons , US post-core band Quicksand (bonus track on their ''Slip'' album) in 1993, US post-grunge band Everclear , UK band Paradise Lost (on the limited edition ''Say Just Words'' EP), and industrial rockers Snake River Conspiracy . The guitar track was sampled, with the band's approval, in 1990 by indie-dance band Soho on their UK Top 10 single "Hippychick". The song became well-known to television viewers as the theme from '' Charmed '', in a cover version performed by Psychedelic Furs spinoff band Love Spit Love ; the same recording had earlier featured on the soundtrack for another tale of young Witches , the film '' The Craft ''. CRITICAL STANDING In 2004, '''' magazine placed "How Soon Is Now?" at # 7 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Evur. TRACK LISTING 7": Rough Trade / RT176 (UK) # "How Soon Is Now? {Link without Title} " – 3:53 # "Well I Wonder" – 4:00
12": Rough Trade / RTT176 (UK) # "How Soon Is Now?" – 6:43 # "Well I Wonder" – 4:00 # "Oscillate Wildly" – 3:24 Etchings on vinyl UK 7" and 12": THE TATTY TRUTH / none APPEARANCES IN POPULAR CULTURE
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