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ur first foray into Johnny Marr’s solo world is ‘The Right Thing Right’. Despite being seemingly torn between the north and the south, ultimately the narrator is ‘on the right thing’. The song captures the exhilaration of plans coming to fruition and knowing the decisions you have made are the right ones. This winning streak is emphasised in the lines ‘Take it/Life just got a hit’ and ‘Hear it/The signs just won’t quit’. The imperative verbs encourage us to get a move on and not let life pass us by, to use our talents well. It is a fine message for the opening track of the album and sometimes the opening song at his shows. These lines are also typical of Johnny’s lyrical style. He often sticks with a linguistic pattern and alters it slightly at later points in the song, a strategy echoed in his guitar playing where he uses different effects for different sections – the same and yet different. The end of line rhyming acts cohesively in these sections, a monosyllabic full stop like a verbal punch. Elsewhere the lyric is lifted with imagery of enlightenment, ‘the star just got lit’ and ‘love finds love’, an optimistic message
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“He often sticks with a linguistic pattern and alters it slightly at later points in the song, a strategy echoed in his guitar playing.” to lonely souls everywhere and a universal message of loving thy neighbour. It is also a shift from the more ambiguous opening line of ‘Love fights love’. In the end we are ‘individual citizens’ with our own battles and responsibilities to society. Of all the songs on both albums the lyrics of ‘The Messenger’ stand out. Significantly shorter than the others, it looks most like a poem and reads like a love letter. It is reminiscent of the succinctness of ‘Back to the Old House’. The narrator is in a similar thoughtful mood questioning his role as mediator and ‘messenger’, reflecting on the responsibility and disadvantages of being cast in this role.