THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

42-The Smiths-Panic.

1986-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 1.33. If I had £1 for every time someone has sung this song to me, I could afford to buy my own gallows.

The Smiths (see also best songs 673-222 and 167) were formed in Manchester, England, in 1982, and remained active until 1987. In total there were nine members come and go, but the classic line up consisted of Morrissey, (lead vocals) (see also best songs 940 and 72) Johnny Marr, (guitars) Andy Rourke, (bass) and Mike Joyce, (drums) the vast majority of the groups songs were written by Morrissey, (lyrics) and Johnny Marr (music.)

The discography of The Smiths includes four studio Albums released between 1984-1987, and 10 compilation Albums that have been issued between 1984-2011. The Smiths also released 25 singles, which have been made available between 1983-2017, of which 18 of those have reached the UK top 40, with the re-issue of ‘This Charming Man’ charting the highest when making Number 8 in 1992. In America on the Billboard chart, The Smiths have never had an Album or a single chart within the top 40.

‘Panic’ was the 14th single released by The Smiths in July 1986, as a stand alone single, it’s first appearance on an Album was on The Smiths second compilation Album ‘The World Won’t Listen,’ issued in February 1987. The Album’s title is Morrissey’s frustration that The Smiths were not receiving the mainstream radio play that he thought the band deserved. ‘Panic’ was written by Morrissey and Marr, with the production by The Smiths long time collaborator John Porter. Porter was born in Leeds, England, on September 11th, 1947, and had attended ‘Allerton Grange School,’ in Leeds, (the same school that this author also attended some 14 years later.) Prior to working with The Smiths, Porter had been the bass player with Roxy Music (see also best songs 721-316 and 57) between 1972-1973, playing on that bands 1973 Album ‘For Your Pleasure.’

‘Panic’ is probably The Smiths most controversial song. Morrissey and Marr had been listening to the UK BBC Radio 1 ‘Newsbeat’ programme reporting about the ‘Chernobyl Nuclear’ disaster that occurred on April 16th, 1986, in the Soviet Union. As soon as the report was over the radio DJ Steve Wright played the song ‘I’m Your Man’ by ‘Wham!’ This led Marr to think that the radio station was not showing enough respect to the tragedy by playing an upbeat Pop song that was meant to have no serious meaning. Marr remembers saying,’What the f..k has this got to do with people’s lives? We hear about Chernobyl, then, seconds later, we’re expected to jump around to ‘I’m Your Man.” The Smiths later commissioned a T-shirt featuring Steve Wright’s portrait, and the phrase ‘Hang the DJ.’

Musically ‘Panic’ is heavily based on the 1972 UK Number 1 song ‘Metal Guru,’ by T.Rex (see also best songs 790-386 and 67.) Johnny Marr has said,’When we wrote ‘Panic,’ Morrissey was obsessed with ‘Metal Guru’ and wanted to sing in the same style. He didn’t stop singing it in an attempt to modify the words of ‘Panic’ to fit the exact rhythm of ‘Metal Guru.’ He also exhorted me to use the same guitar break so that the two songs are the same!’

As previously stated, Morrissey hated the fact that The Smiths were not receiving enough airplay, and therefore not selling the quantity of records he thought the group deserved. ‘Panic’ bemoans the trivial state of contemporary pop music, and begins with Morrissey name checking a handful of cities and towns in Britain and Ireland where unrest (probably from youths) could occur. He reveals the source of the chaos is ‘Pop Music’ which ‘Says nothing to me about my life.’ In reaction he tells the listeners to ‘Burn down the Disco,’ and ‘Hang the DJ.’ This caused a lot of controversy at that time as many people paired ‘Disco music’ with ‘Black music,’ and this led to some calling Morrissey a racist. This incensed Johnny Marr who countered that,’Disco music’ could not be simply equated with ‘black music’, saying, ‘To those who took offence at the ‘burn down the disco’ line, I’d say please show me the black members of New Order!’ (see also best songs 885.)

‘Burn down the disco hang the blessed DJ, because the music that they constantly play it says nothing to me about my life. Hang the blessed DJ, because the music they constantly play. On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down, the provincial towns you jog ’round, hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ.’