Barbarism Begins At Home

"I came up with the riff the day that Troy Tate came up to Manchester to meet with us. It was almost because our first proper producer was about to arrive that I thought we needed a new song, maybe, and it was a sunny afternoon. We played it in the daytime, which was unusual because there were these machinists working downstairs on the floor below, and we wouldn't want to be working stuff out at high volume. There was no drums there, it was just me and Andy jamming like we used to when we were 14 or 15. I know a lot of fuss has been made and Andy is, quite rightly, proud of that bassline, but, personally, harmonically I don't think it comes anywhere near Andy's other stuff. 'Nowhere Fast', 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore', 'The Headmaster Ritual', all tower above it. It was one of those things where it was a good idea at the time, but later, as we played it, I didn't think it really represented the band. The overall thing, all of it, was a little bit corny."

"Barbarism Begins At Home is a bit naff. I don't like the tune - there's no emotion in it."

"With 'Barbarism Begins At Home,' a lot's been made of the funky aspect of the bassline, but that track harks back to what I was doing with Andy before The Smiths. I guess it came out of this love of retro kind of James Brown records, and things like Rip Rig & Panic and The Pop Group. That period of anemic, underfed white funk. It's me and Andy being townies in Manchester, liking a bit of the American No-Wave thing. James Chance, I guess."

-Johnny Marr

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


Here are the scans from the Meat Is Murder songbook:




Thanks to Ted Maul for these scans.


Here's another great version by Daniel Earwicker:




Here's juttkeys:




Here's buckleyboyben:




Here's IFoughtTheLaw369 with two full-length versions on guitar and bass:






Here's sonofdrcross on bass:




Here's a full-length version from nicknoh69:




Awesome acoustic version by WilliamFs11:




Here's lunachangue with his Ric 330:




Here's barjabulon:




Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

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:

Hand In Glove

"When we did 'Hand In Glove,' that was brilliant because it was a fantastic piece of vinyl. But there was never a time when I put my feet up and said, 'Ah, I'm happy.'"

"That song came about when I was round my parents' house one Sunday evening. I started playing this riff on a crappy guitar I kept there. Angie - who's now my wife - was with me and she kept saying, 'That's really good!' I was panicking because I had nothing to record it on, so we decided to drive to Morrissey's, because he had a tape recorder. I sat in the back of the car playing the riff over and over so I wouldn't forget it. On the way, as is her want, Angie kept saying, 'Make it sound more like Iggy'. I was just hoping Morrissey would be in. Well, I knew he would be, he was always in. When we got there he was a bit taken aback, it hadn't been arranged and it was a Sunday night-unheard of! He let me in and I played the riff and he said, 'That's very good'. About five days later we were rehearsing and Morrissey wanted to play the song. When we heard the vocals to that we were all like,wow... From then on it was always going to be the first single."

- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded a Guitar Pro tab file here.


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
















Here are the tabs from the Singles book:










Here are the scans from the Smiths Best Complete Score:












Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:





Here's the scans from the debut album piano song book with guitar chords:





Here's AX100G's version, which is the only one I could find at this time. He does a great job though:



Here's a cool acoustic version from thirdynumberone:




He also did a great version on electric:




Here's juttkeys on his tele:




tnyhung does a great version on a Les Paul:




Another awesome version by johnnymare:




Here's a great version by Jonasmacca:




Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul: