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The intro bassline (and basically throughout the song) is:
B A G#m G B A G#m E
G -------------------------------|-------------------------------|
D -------------------------5-4---|-------------------------2-0---|
A -2----2-0----0---------------5-|-2----2-0----0---------------4-|
E ----2------0---4------3--------|----2------0---4--4p2p0--------|
Sometimes the bass changes a bit, but that is the basic bassline.
the lyrics are (and the same eight chord progression is constant throughout
the entire song):
B A G#m G
the death of a disco dancer
B A G#m E
well, it happens a lot round here
and if you think peace is a common goal
well, that goes to show
just how little you know
the death of a disco dancer
well, i~d rather not get involved
i never talk to my neighbour
i~d just rather not get involved
love, peace and harmony?
love, peace and harmony?
oh, very nice
very nice
very nice
very nice
...but maybe in the next world
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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Manu Professional Badass |
#1 by Manu at May 2, 1970 at 5:41 PM EST |
| I completley agree with Aurora2 | |
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Kyle Average |
#2 by Kyle Bish at Oct 8, 1971 at 12:24 PM EST |
| GAY BASHING!!! | |
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Joe Average |
#3 by Joe Montana at Nov 30, 1973 at 2:20 AM EST |
| "I'd rather not talk to my neighbour, I'd rather not get involved" -Poor Cow, by Nell Dun | |
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caleb Wanna Be |
#4 by caleb at Apr 12, 1974 at 9:29 AM EST |
| My first interpretation was that it referred to homophobic violence, but that's probably because I came of age in the aftermath of Matthew Shepard...given the historical context, the AIDS reference is more likely. | |
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Tyler Average |
#5 by Tyler Hutchison at Dec 10, 1979 at 12:24 AM EST |
| if you think Peace Is a common goal That goes to show How little you know My favorite lyric of all the Smiths' songs. | |
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dylan Average |
#6 by dylan markus at Jul 6, 1981 at 2:13 PM EST |
| Hey BobC, maybe just use a fucking condom? Anyway your interpretation is pretty solid. I originally thought it was a lot to do with violence. | |
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Chris Average |
#7 by Chris Tucker at Aug 22, 1984 at 7:12 AM EST |
| one of the most underated smiths songs with a nice dear prudence style feel to it, the climax to the song is fantastic, if you crank up the last couple of seconds of the song you can hear Johnny Marr say "that was great!" and it is truly the most glorious end to any song I have heard. Even Morrissey musically plays his part. | |
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claireus Wanna Be |
#8 by claireus s at Dec 15, 1987 at 3:13 PM EST |
| I always thought this song was about the AIDS crisis and the contempt people showed thsoe who were dying of it in the late 80's. I remember the AIDS jokes. We've come a long way from those days but at that time it was scary how people thought it was so funny that gay people were dying of this disease. It was chilling. I remember being more afraid of people finding out I was gay than dying of that disease. fortunately I never contracted it! | |
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The Masta The Muther F*ing Masta! |
#9 by The Masta at Dec 11, 1992 at 2:20 AM EST |
| Bob, great interpretation. I also might ad that the "rather not get involved" symbolizes the majority of American attitudes towards Aids research and prevention at the time. It was a "Disco Dancer" problem, not worth looking in to. | |
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Jeremy Average |
#10 by Jeremy Rees at Jul 29, 1994 at 9:00 AM EST |
| i dont think this song is primarily to do with aids etc, due to the lines about peace, morrissey's sympathy clearly goes out to the poor and desperate here, though he is too shy to "get involved", this could also be a dig at politicians of the time "love peace and harmony, very nice, maybe in the next world", words have never come so close to describing humanity, just that sentence alone is enough to leave communism as just a nice idea, why wasnt morrissey invented earlier, maybe the world would be a different place | |
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Will Average |
#11 by Will Yost at Aug 29, 1998 at 7:17 PM EST |
| I thought maybe Moz might have been inspired by the murder of Kitty Genovese. She was a girl who was murdered in Queens in front of her apartment. Genovese was attacked three different time over a period of 30 min. Many of her neighbors (up to 38 people according to the NY Times) heard or saw the attack but didn't intervene because as one one woman said she didn't want to "get involved." Great Song! Like everything the Smiths did. | |
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Derek Lead Player |
#12 by Derek O'Kanos at Dec 21, 2001 at 12:17 PM EST |
| I don't know how people are linking the Sixties, Hippies, and the Beatles to disco. Wrong decade entirely. And Generation X wasn't even an idea in 1987! Interpretations have to have a slender basis in reality. Morrissey says in interviews that he grew up around discos and clubs and there was a lot of violence, skinheads, etc. This song came out in 1987, when disco had ceased to be mainstream, but was still part of gay culture. 1987 is the right time for AIDS deaths to be a major concern. The repeated concern that "peace" is at stake hints more at gay-bashing as the cause rather than terminal illness, but either of those are possible interpretations. IRA bombings... a good observation, but I don't think "It happens a lot round here" would describe those. Aside from those three, the interpretations listed here are just impossible. | |
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scotty 2 hotty Rhythm Player |
#13 by scotty 2 hotty at Oct 24, 2004 at 10:44 PM EST |
| I think this is a satire of The Beatles. It's got a few features typical of their songs such as the climax at the end, and indeed the lyrics seem to ridicule the naivety of the "love peace and harmony" delusions that sixties bands such as the Fab Four had. | |
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