Shakespeare's Sister (song)

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Shakespeare's Sister (song) - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Shakespeare's Sister"

Single by The Smiths

B-side

"What She Said"
"Stretch Out and Wait"

Released

18 March 1985

Recorded

January 1985

Studio

Utopia Studios, Primrose Hill, London

Genre

Rockabilly^[1]^[2]

Length

2:09

Label

Rough Trade

Songwriter(s)

Johnny Marr, Morrissey

Producer(s)

The Smiths

The Smiths singles chronology

"How Soon Is Now?"
(1985)

"Shakespeare's Sister"
(1985)

"Barbarism Begins at Home"
(1985)

"Shakespeare's Sister" is a song by the English rock band The Smiths. Released in March 1985, it reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart. It is also featured on the compilation albums Louder Than Bombs and The World Won't Listen. The front cover to the single features former Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix, dressed up as her character Elsie Tanner.

Background

The title refers to a section of Virginia Woolf's feminist essay A Room of One's Own in which she argues that if William Shakespeare had had a sister of equal genius, as a woman she would not have had the opportunity to make use of it.^[3]^[4] Sean O'Hagan says that the essay was "one of the many feminist texts Morrissey embraced as a sexually confused, politically-awakened adolescent".^[3]

According to Simon Goddard, the lyrics also draw on Elizabeth Smart's novella By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept and the Billy Fury song "Don't Jump".^[3] The song's narrative has been compared to The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, in which the character of Laura Wingfield is referred to as "Shakespeare's sister" by the character Jim O'Connor because the latter refers to Laura's brother Tom, an aspiring writer, as "Shakespeare."^[5]

Release

The song had some disagreements regarding its release. The boss of Rough Trade Geoff Travis had little faith in the song, and thought that it was too short.^[6]

Released as a standalone single, "Shakespeare's Sister" was a relative disappointment commercially, reaching number 26 in the UK charts. Marr reflected, "It didn't surprise me that a song like 'Shakespeare's Sister' didn't get in the charts. It was a very arch record to release at that time. Quite audacious, a bit mad. That's why I loved it."^[7] Morrissey, meanwhile, attributed the underperformance to Rough Trade's insufficient promotion of the single, claiming the label "released 'Shakespeare's Sister' with a monstrous amount of defeatism".^[7]

Track listing

7" RT181
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shakespeare's Sister"	2:09
2.	"What She Said"	2:40

12" RTT181
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shakespeare's Sister"	2:09
2.	"What She Said"	2:40
3.	"Stretch Out and Wait"	2:37

Artwork and matrix message

The original single's sleeve cover featured Pat Phoenix, best known for her long-running role as Elsie Tanner in the British soap opera Coronation Street.

The British 7" and 12" vinyls contained the matrix message: HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS/none

The Netherlands versions contained the message: HOLLAND CUTTING/none. "Holland cutting" was an etching on the Dutch version of the album Meat Is Murder.

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)	11
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)	26

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[8]

In a retrospective review of the song, Jack Rabid of Allmusic wrote, "The Smiths' weakest is still quite good, is what we can infer from this. What wit Morrissey still shows, record after record? Who else is writing an opening line like 'Young bones groan/And the rocks below say/Throw your skinny body down, son!' – thus evoking the tragic Romeo and Juliet quality of so much teenage romance in the most poetic terms?"^[8]

Writer Jon Savage described it as "essentially a suicide drama set to a demented rock'n'roll rhythm".^[3]

Influence

The duo Shakespears Sister [sic] took their name from the song.^[9]

References

^ Bracy, Timothy; Bracy, Elizabeth (7 January 2013). "The Smiths Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
^ Goddard, Simon (2013). Songs That Saved Your Life - The Art of The Smiths 1982-87. Titan Books. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-78116-259-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sean O'Hagan (2007). "Morrissey – so much to answer for". Observer (Sunday 6 May 2007): 12.
^ Woolf, Virginia (1929). A Room of One's Own. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
^ McApline, Fraser (15 November 2011). "Kate Bush Week: Five Great British Literary Songs". BBC America. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
^ "The Smiths track Morrissey called "the song of my life"". 24 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Crowning Glory". Uncut. January 2006.
^ ^a ^b Rabid, Jack. "Shakespeare's Sister Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
^ Jonathan Buckley; Mark Ellingham; Justin Lewis (1996). Rock: the rough guide. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-201-5. Retrieved 22 December 2010.

v t e The Smiths
Morrissey Johnny Marr Andy Rourke Mike Joyce Craig Gannon
Studio albums	The Smiths Meat Is Murder The Queen Is Dead Strangeways, Here We Come
Live albums	Rank
Compilation albums	Hatful of Hollow The World Won't Listen Louder Than Bombs Stop Me Best I Best II Singles The Very Best of The Smiths The Sound of The Smiths The Smiths Singles Box Complete
Extended plays	The Peel Sessions
Singles	"Hand in Glove" "This Charming Man" "What Difference Does It Make?" "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" "William, It Was Really Nothing" "How Soon Is Now?" "Shakespeare's Sister" "Barbarism Begins at Home" "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" "Bigmouth Strikes Again" "Panic" "Ask" "Shoplifters of the World Unite" "Sheila Take a Bow" "Girlfriend in a Coma" "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" "Sweet and Tender Hooligan"
Other songs	"Still Ill" "Suffer Little Children" "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" "The Headmaster Ritual" "Asleep" "The Queen Is Dead" "Cemetry Gates" "I Know It's Over" "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" "A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours"
Related articles	Discography Songs Live performances The Smiths Is Dead Shoplifters of the World

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