Shakespeare's Sister

"We were on our way to the studio on Saturday and Morrissey said, 'Look, we need a song', and we put it together."

"[Andy Rourke and I] would do stuff instinctively and sometimes work basslines out in the control room. He was always a really good musician and he played the cello on 'Shakespeare's Sister.'"

"As a 7" single for the group at that time, it was quite inventive. There was something about that riff that I always wanted to do. I just flipped recording it. I really loved doing it. We didn't get much support from Rough Trade on that one. As with 'Bigmouth Strikes Again', it was a valid 7" single to own, but maybe not to play on the radio. But that's all right by me."

"That has got one of the best rhythm patterns and grooves I have ever heard. If Elvis Presley had had Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke in his band he would have been an even bigger name. I'm sure of it."


- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded a Guitar Pro tab file here(right click to save as).


Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:




















Here is the tab from the Singles book:













Here's an awesome version from juttkeys:




Here's Jahnli with a late-night session on a 1965 Guild Starfire II:

Girlfriend In A Coma

"Actually, [Strangeways] is my favourite Smiths album. We split after we recorded it and they were good sessions. One or two of the songs are acoustic-led, which I really liked - now that was an organic record."

"Over the last few years I've heard 'Girlfriend In A Coma' in shops and people's cars, and I'm always surprised by how good it sounds."

- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded two Guitar Pro files here(right click to save as).

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(Thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Here are the scans from the Singles tab book:








Here are the scans from the Smiths Best Complete Score:











And here are the scans from the complete chord dictionary:





Oscar80It does a great version on acoustic. Really smooth riffs.




thirdynumberone plays around with the songs ideas here:




Jahnli does a nice version here, on a 1958 Martin 00-17:




johnnymare nails it on his Tele:




Here is a great full band version from Daniel Earwicker(with vocals!):




Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

"After that I started getting turned on to Chic, The Fatback Band, The Ohio Players and War. If you listen to 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side', the rhythm part from verse two onwards - that chick-a-chick part - it's pure Nile Rogers.

That was the first time I used a Strat on a record. I got it because I wanted a twangy Hank Marvin sound, but it ended up sounding quite highlify.

Will the new stuff be radically different? Yes. There is the single which will probably be 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' and then the album which we have pretty much got in hand and which will undoubtedly shock a lot of people. Well, let's hope so. From a purely personal point of view there will be a move away from the old jingly-jangly guitars of old. Everyone knows I can do that.

'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' is about us. Well, Morrissey specifically. The thorn is the music industry. If you listen to the words, 'how can they hear me say those words and still they don't believe me'... By the time we'd written that song, we'd been put down so much for our beliefs, in the music industry, we'd been put down for all these things that we said were dead. And then we did 'The Boy...' and it was a real pleasure that people who were actually responsible - people who were the 'thorns' in our side - were actually buying this record and championing it in the music industry. It's about all the bigotry and idiocy in the music business really. And how a lot of people who are in a responsible position actually don't know squat."

- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded two Guitar Pro tabs here:

Here is a tab from the Play Guitar With The Smiths book:









I have uploaded the accompanying backing tracks here(right click to save).


Here are the scans from the Singles tab book:








Here are the scans from the Smiths Best Complete Score:











Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:





Here are the scans from the Queen Is Dead piano songbook with guitar chords:







Jahnli does a great version on acoustic 12 string, using a capo at the 5th fret. I don't know if this is exactly how Marr played it, but it sounds really similar. He also posted the chords he used in the comments section on Youtube:

D Am7
C D
G Am
D Am7 C D

G Am D
Am7 C D
G Am D
Am7 C

D G Am D
Am7 C
D G Am D
Am7
C D C D C D C Cmaj7 Dsus4 C D




Another great version from KintrickPinch:




Here's Oscar80It:




Here's nicknoh69:




Here's johnnymare:




Here's dhowellbassist:




Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul: