The Smiths, “Hand in Glove” | LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶

On the 5^th edition of LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 (2022), we highlight the song, “Hand in Glove” performed by The Smiths.  

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ring on the B-O-P-Z, like #SLAYYY! LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 is a column t that embraces, highlights, and celebrates singles and tracks by LGBTQIA musicians.  On LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶we provide background info and insight into the respective musician(s), as well as analyze + go gaga over the bops being served up.  Furthermore, when the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is articulated to the fullest.  All styles of music are welcome and the BOPZ can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, on the X edition of LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 (2022), we highlight 🎵 “Hand in Glove” performed by 🎙 The Smiths. 

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Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Hand in glove / The sun shines out of our behinds / No, it’s NOT like any other love / This one is different because it’s us!”  The eyebrow-raising portion of those lyrics is obviously The sun shines out of our behinds, which sounds, um, sexual. Also, as you dig further into this 🎙 The Smiths classic, 🎵 “Hand in Glove”, it clearly has a queer vibe, hence, the song’s inclusion as an LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶.  Worth noting, the cover art for the single features a nude man from the back – homoerotic too say the least! Upon reviewing 💿 The Smiths, the band’s debut album featuring “Hand in Glove,” music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes, “Marr’s [🎙 Johnny Marr] inventive songwriting was made all the more original and innovative by 🎙 Morrissey’s crooning and lyrics.” He goes on to say they wrote “about unconventional topics [such as] homosexuality,” citing “Hand in Glove” as an example. Morrissey knew what he was doing here!

Throughout this quick-paced song, Morrissey serves up beautiful lead vocals; I love his tone and energy.  Maybe more compelling, however, are the lyrics.  On the chorus, he paints a picture of a love that is strange to people, hence, adding fuel to the fire of that there is indeed a queer element to this song which Morrissey describes as a depiction of loneliness:

“And if the people stare

Then the people stare

Oh, I really don’t know

And I really don’t care

Kiss my shades…”

In the second verse, Morrissey asserts this love is something that others don’t have. A line that stands out that he repeats during the verse is, “Yes, we may be hidden by ‘rags’ / But we’ve something they’ll never have.”  The ‘rags’ part references old, torn-up clothes, obviously, but the “something they’ll never have” is open-ended.  Is this a close friendship, a bromance, or potentially a same-sex romance? The third verse is where the queerness seems to go through the roof.  Morrisey asserts, “I’ll fight to the last breath / If they dare touch a hair on your head / I’ll fight to the last breath / For the good life is out there somewhere.”  A life where same-sex relationships aren’t frowned upon and viewed negatively? Seems like a legitimate interpretation to me. Of course, it could be ‘friendship,’ which Morrissey and Johnny Marr clearly shared.   Perhaps the saddest part is when the singer states, “Yes, I know my luck too well / And I’ll probably never see you again.” Hmm, the question is why? The answer? Subject to your interpretation, sigh.

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Final Thoughts 💭

Is “Hand in Glove” queer necessarily? No, of course not. A man is never explicitly mentioned as Morrissey’s lover, bromance, or otherwise. Still, let’s keep it 100 – it feels queer given the titillating cover art, and of course, some of the lyrics. To me, this ‘relationship’ seems to be secret, or at least run deeper than others see.  There are clearly more explicit, queerer songs in the LGBTQ+ catalog, but until you convince me otherwise, “Hand in Glove” belongs.  Worth noting, Morrissey’s sexuality has been historically ambiguous, so…

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🎙 The Smiths • 💿 The Smiths • 🏷 Warner UK • 🗓 1984
The Smiths, “Hand in Glove”: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 No. 5 (2022) [📷: Anna Shvets, Brent Faulkner, Kurious, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, Warner UK]

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