The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life (Paperback)

How much you'll enjoy this book ultimately depends on the depth of your fandom and your interest in the Smiths' musical production.

The Songs that Saved Your Life is engaging and edifying, however, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

This book is not for you if:
1. You're only looking for Behind the Music / E! True Hollywood Story type gossip.

2. You're only looking for lyrical interpretations of Smith songs.

3. You're more interested the big picture rather than smaller details.

Despite whatever feelings you may have for Mike Joyce, he actually writes a touching forward for the book -- mind you not as brilliant at Mick Middle's forward for Morrissey's Manchester -- but surprisingly optimistic and celebratory of the Smiths' legacy.

The book lists about 80 Smiths songs in the order of the finished studio mater tape. To say "lists" is a bit of an understatement as The Songs that Saved Your Life is more or less the Encyclopedia Brittanica of Smiths songs.

Not only does it catalog singles and B-sides, it includes detailed information on Smiths songs that have never seen the light of day by the general public. The most famous of these songs is, "A Matter of Opinion" which was uncovered by author Simon Goddard while listening to Mike Joyce's own master tapes in preparation for writing the book.

There are also a number of untitled instrumentals produced by John Porter, Grant Showbiz and Stephen Street that are detailed as well.

Each of the songs in the book lists the day & place it was recorded, who it was produced by and the format & month of the first UK release (admittedly a bit confusing from an American POV). Next comes the detailed history of the song, e.g. how the song came about, what influenced the song, musical and or lyrical drafts, anecdotes, UK chart placement, song keys, quotes from band members (including Morrissey), Rough Trade / Geoff Travis reaction and headlines and controversies.

Now just when you thought you've learned everything possible about 'Wonderful Woman' for example, there are three more sections regarding the song's life in concert, on television and on the radio. The concert information is current to Morrissey's 2002 where Moz performed several Smiths song live. It did, however, feel somewhat eerie seeing in print information about a tour that just ended a couple months ago.

What's good:

The book can be read chronologically, or out of order. Skip the songs you hate (as if you'd actually hate any Smiths song) or pick a song you lurve and read up on it. You do, however, get a better sense of continuity having read it cover to cover.

Short chapters - good for those of us with attention deficit disorder.

Extremely detailed - More than you ever really wanted to know

The Verdict: Undoubtedly Simon Goddard has created a masterpiece. By the time I got to page 250 I'm sure my IQ went up a point or two. The vast amounts of data included in the book are incredible. If you're a Smiths fan and you haven't bought this book yet. I have to ask, what are you waiting for?

Because every song is listed in the order it was written you really get a sense of how The Smiths grew as a band and how the break up was inevitable. It really makes you want to go back and listen to the songs again and hear new things. Maybe it isn't the sort of book you'd read cover to cover, more as a reference guide, but if you love The Smiths you simply cannot afford to miss out on this. Even if you only quite like them, I think reading this book will really make you appreciate the brilliance of the songs and the lyrics and may well turn you from a partial fan into a raving Smiths maniac!

All in all Songs That Saved Your Life is an awesome book about an awesome band. Like it says on the back cover - apart from the records themselves there is nothing else you need on this subject!