The Queen is Dead

"The Queen Is Dead" is a 1986 song by English alternative rock band the Smiths, appearing on their third studio album of the same name. Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the song features anti-monarchist lyrics that attracted controversy in the UK music press. Musically, the song was a result of experimentation and jamming, with Marr and rhythm section Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce using technology in the studio to enhance their performances. "The Queen Is Dead", though not released as a single until 2017, attracted notoriety in its time and made several appearances in the band's live setlist. In the years since its release, it has since seen critical acclaim for Morrissey's savage lyrics and the band's aggressive instrumental performance. Background The origins of "The Queen Is Dead" date to a live performance of the band's 1985 song "Barbarism Begins at Home", where Smiths frontman and lyricist Morrissey ad-libbed the lyrics "the queen is dead", a phrase from the novel Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964). Morrissey later decided to revisit the phrase for the lyric of a new song. Inspired by the political tone of the lyric, Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr wrote the music by drawing on MC5 and the Velvet Underground's "I Can't Stand It", a song which had been unreleased by the band until it appeared on an archival compilation in 1985. Much of the song's composition resulted from extensive jamming in the studio. As bassist Andy Rourke recalled: Rourke composed the song's bassline in the studio, a performance Marr described as an accomplishment "that [other] bass players still haven't matched". Upon Rourke's death in 2023, Marr added: "Watching him play bass on the song The Queen is Dead was so impressive that I said to myself 'I'll never forget this moment.'"