Editing The Smiths (section)

==Musical style==
The Smiths' music has been described as [[indie pop]],<ref name=MonroeJ>{{cite web |last1=Monroe |first1=Jazz |title=The Smiths Bassist Andy Rourke Dies at 59 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/the-smiths-bassist-andy-rourke-dies-at-59/ |website=Pitchfork |date=19 May 2023 |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref> [[indie rock]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-smiths-mn0000899530/biography|title=The Smiths {{!}} Biography & History|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=25 February 2020|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215175459/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-smiths-mn0000899530/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> [[jangle pop]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Bannister|first=Matthew|title=White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lt2hAgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-9374-7|pages=71–72, 87, 124–125|author-link=Matthew Bannister (musician)}}</ref> [[post-punk]],<ref name=PayneC /> and [[alternative rock]].<ref name="Ref-1"/> Morrissey and Marr dictated the musical direction of the Smiths. Marr said in 1990 that it "was a 50/50 thing between Morrissey and me. We were completely in sync about which way we should go for each record".<ref name="Joe Gore 1990">Joe Gore, "Guitar Anti-hero", ''Guitar Player'', January 1990.</ref> The Smiths' "non-rhythm-and-blues, whiter-than-white fusion of 1960s rock and [[post-punk]] was a repudiation of contemporary dance pop",<ref name="Ref-1">Simon C. W. Reynolds, [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/549957/the-Smiths "The Smiths"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504043826/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/549957/the-Smiths |date=4 May 2015 }}, ''Britannica Online''. Retrieved 8 January 2012.</ref> and the band purposely rejected synthesisers and [[dance music]].<ref name="Johnny Rogan 1992 pp. 281-282"/> From their second album ''Meat Is Murder'', Marr embellished their songs with keyboards.<ref name="Marr_Byrds" />

Marr's jangly guitar-playing was influenced by [[James Honeyman-Scott]] of [[the Pretenders]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/theres-a-lot-of-guitar-culture-that-i-dont-like-at-all-how-johnny-marr-placed-the-smiths-at-the-forefront-of-the-uks-1980s-music-scene |title={{-'}}There's a Lot of Guitar Culture That I Don't Like At All': How Johnny Marr Placed The Smiths at the Forefront of the U.K.'s 1980s Music Scene |work=[[Guitar Player]] |first=Mark |last=McStea |date=22 February 2022 |access-date=2024-12-12}}</ref> and [[Bert Jansch]] of [[Pentangle (band)|Pentangle]].<ref>{{YouTube |5GUCqMEeaRY |Interview: Johnny Marr plays tribute to guitar hero Bert Jansch – 2015}}</ref> Marr often used a capo to tune his guitar up a full step to F-sharp to accommodate Morrissey's vocal range and also used [[open tunings]]. Citing producer [[Phil Spector]] as an influence, Marr said, "I like the idea of records, even those with plenty of space, that sound 'symphonic'. I like the idea of all the players merging into one atmosphere".<ref name="Joe Gore 1990"/> Marr's other favourite guitarists are [[James Williamson (musician)|James Williamson]] of [[the Stooges]], [[Rory Gallagher]], [[Pete Townshend]] of [[the Who]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Marc Bolan]] of [[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]], [[Keith Richards]] of [[the Rolling Stones]], and [[John McGeoch]] of [[Magazine (band)|Magazine]] and [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]].<ref>"Johnny Marr's Top Ten Guitarists", ''Uncut'', November 2004. Marr's selections are [http://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/91739-Johnny-Marr-s-Top-Ten-Guitarists summarised] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101071653/http://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/91739-Johnny-Marr-s-Top-Ten-Guitarists |date=1 January 2012 }} at morrissey-solo.com, 12 October 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2012.</ref> In a 2007 interview for the BBC, Marr said that his goal was to "pare down" his style and avoid rock guitar clichés.<ref>BBC Four, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VozP2JzueI Johnny Marr – The Joy Of The Guitar Riff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118081022/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VozP2JzueI |date=18 January 2020 }}, accessed 7 April 2018</ref> Marr used "arpeggiated chords, open-string licks and unusual progressions" and his style "combined the chime of '60s jangle-pop bands with the pared-down musicality of players like [[Nile Rodgers]] and Keith Richards."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/johnny-marr-guitar-lesson | title=The Ultimate Johnny Marr Guitar Lesson | work=Guitar Player | first=Patrick | last=Brennan | date=29 September 2023 |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> Marr also used an [[overdrive pedal]] in "[[London (The Smiths song)|London]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Franklin |first=Jamie |date=16 December 2009 |title=Johnny Marr – PowerOn |url=http://www.roland.co.uk/blog/johnny-marr-2/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805072626/http://www.roland.co.uk/blog/johnny-marr-2/ |archive-date=5 August 2014 |access-date=2 September 2022 |website=Roland UK}}</ref>

Morrissey's role was to create vocal melodies and lyrics.<ref>Jennifer Nine, "The Importance of Being Morrissey", ''[[Melody Maker]]'', 9 August 1997. The full text of the interview is reproduced [http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/interviews/1997/import.htm here.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120071530/http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/interviews/1997/import.htm |date=20 January 2012 }} Retrieved 8 January 2012.</ref> Morrissey's songwriting was influenced by punk rock and post-punk bands such as [[New York Dolls]], [[the Cramps]], [[the Specials]] and [[the Cult]], along with 1960s [[girl group]]s and singers such as [[Dusty Springfield]], [[Sandie Shaw]], [[Marianne Faithfull]] and [[Timi Yuro]]. Morrissey's lyrics, while superficially depressing, were often full of mordant humour; John Peel remarked that the Smiths were one of the few bands capable of making him laugh out loud.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Influenced by his childhood interest in the [[social realism]] of 1960s [[kitchen sink realism|"kitchen sink"]] television plays, Morrissey wrote about ordinary people and their experiences with despair, rejection and death. While "songs such as 'Still Ill' sealed his role as spokesman for disaffected youth", Morrissey's "manic-depressive rants" and his {{"'}}woe-is-me' posture inspired some hostile critics to dismiss the Smiths as 'miserabilists.{{'"}}<ref name="Ref-1"/> Julian Stringer characterised the Smiths as "one of Britain's most overtly political groups",{{sfn|Stringer|1992|p=16}} while in his study of their work, Andrew Warnes termed them "the most anti-capitalist of bands".{{sfn|Warnes|2008|p=143}}