SOTW0224 The Smiths "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
Yeah, yeah, I know. The freaking song from (500) Days of Summer. What a joke.
Well, yeah, I'm with you. That movie – which we all loved and now love to hate – is the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the song. I don't know about you, but I saw that movie so many times that I can even see the scene with Tom and Summer singing it to him in the elevator. Nonetheless, the song is good. Great. Mind you, it's awesome. Classified in 2014 by NME as the 12th greatest song of all time and then again in 2021, but this time by Rolling Stone, as number 226th of their greatest songs of all time; you'd hard pressed to say it's a bad song.
Now, I'll paint you a scene. You're drinking a cup of chai latte with your friends in a kinda aesthetic coffee shop, just catching up on each other's lives after being out of contact for a little bit. Out of nowhere, the waitress comes with the check and tells you that they're closing soon, so it's time to pay. Then the song starts playing in the background, with that distinctive intro... And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.
Lyrics (via Genius)
[Verse 1]
Take me out tonight
Where there's music and there's people
And they're young and alive
Driving in your car
I never, never want to go home
Because I haven't got one anymore
Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people
And I want to see lights
Driving in your car, oh, please don't drop me home
Because it's not my home, it's their home
And I'm welcome no more
[Chorus]
And if a double-decker bus crashes into us
To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-tonne truck kills the both of us
To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine
[Verse 2]
Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care
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
Take me out tonight
Oh, take me anywhere, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care
Driving in your car
I never, never want to go home
Because I haven't got one, la-di-dum, oh, I haven't got one
Oh, oh
[Chorus]
And if a double-decker bus crashes into us
To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-tonne truck kills the both of us
To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine
[Outro]
Oh, there is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out
I guess it just hit me. And I can now understand why it still considered one of the greatest songs of all time.
What's your pick for song of the week? Let me know at @scaarg on X (ex-Twitter) as well as on Threads.
