The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

My InterpretationTo me, this song is about someone that's felt isolated and depressed for so long, and finally they've broken out of their misery and into the world. They 'want to see people and want to see life'. Finally they're out there, living it up, but they're scared that the moment's going to end and so they want to die there and then, at their happiest. Such a bittersweet song.

I described that pretty badly and rambled a lot, but that's my interpretation. I absolutely adore this song. It definitely makes my all time top ten favourites.

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  @w0nderful
  -1

  No, Its about wanting to get away from your parents

  Flag heidibun99on March 09, 2014  

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  yh definately thats what i get from it

  Flag lmanon April 10, 2014  

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  @w0nderful Yes, I agree with you but what they mean by saying " There is a light that never goes out" ????

  Flag nikos18209on December 14, 2016  

General CommentThe light that never goes out is hope for eternal love. Here's a Morrissey quote:
"When you’re a teenager and in your early twenties it seems desperately eternal and excruciatingly painful. Whereas as you grow older you realise that most things are excruciatingly painful and that is the human condition. Most of us continue to survive because we’re convinced that somewhere along the line, with grit and determination and perseverance, we will end up in some magical union with somebody. It’s a fallacy, of course, but it’s a form of religion. You have to believe. There is a light that never goes out and it’s called hope."
from "I've always felt like an exile" by Andrew Billen in The Times (30th May 2006)

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  @MrFatPenguin

General CommentWow Sarah754. If that wasn't a joke then I really pity your ignorance on many levels!

Anyway,

These lines are unbelievable:


"and in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last
but then a strange fear gripped me
and I just couldn't ask"

This is understatement on such a grand scale that it would stand up to any poetry ever written (in my opinion). A strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask. The literal meaning is almost inconsequential, but the sorrow, anguish and regret so clear behind these words make the hair on my arms stand up whenever I hear this song. And I hear it pretty often. Sublime.

Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting" has a chapter with the same title as this song, and I think sums up its meaning perfectly. If you are a Smiths fan please read it.

TO me, the light that never goes out is something between hope, excitement and the thrill of what just might happen, and that ANYthing could happen. The feeling that is so sadly extinguished in many by adult years, and replaced by cynicism and the idea that "If you expect nothing then you will never be disappointed". The song is a celebration of chasing unlikely dreams of any form, the butterflies in your stomach, the anticipation of the unknown, of life being lived to its fullest, without the mind ever capturing how that might be, the thrill of opening your mind and heart to the most extreme emotions you can imagine without the fear of what harm may come of it. The exuberance and fearlessness of youth.

The Smiths were truly unique. Sometimes I go a few months without listening to a Smiths song, then I hear one on the radio and fall in love with them all over again, spending days listening to nothing else.

And I still dream of meeting someone who merits the words and emotions expressed in Morrissey's lyrics. I am not going to speculate on who his muse was, but to me this person has assumed transcendental properties of purity and beauty. While I could think of an old flame fondly or bitterly listening to many musicians, the Smiths speak of something so much higher that I could never apply them to any person I have ever met.

Waffle over. Big Love

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  @odonn1

MemoryI identify with this song sooooo very much. My entire family passed away in a freak plane accident and orphaned me in July '10 and this song summed up exactly how I felt right after the accident. I had come back to my hometown and was surrounded by my friends the entire time. I'll explain further as the lyrics go:

"Take me out tonight. Where there's music and there's people. And they're young and alive"
-My friends took me out the night the accident happened and we went TPing and acted like high schoolers even though we were 24-25. I was so thankful for that momentary break from being so unbearably sad and depressed.

"Driving in your car, I never never want to go home, Because I haven't got one, Anymore"
-My boyfriend drove most of the night and we never went to my parents house at all. We stayed at my uncles because I truly felt that I didn't have a home anymore, it wouldn't be the same now that it was empty. I never wanted the night to end because going home meant having to lie there and process what happened that day.

"Take me out tonight, Because I want to see people and I Want to see life"
-Again, just another plea to keep my mind off of everything. I didn't want to be faced with the reality of death, I wanted my friends and family to keep me occupied.

"Driving in your car. Oh, please don't drop me home . Because it's not my home, it's their home, and I'm welcome no more"
-Again, I just really didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to go to my house and though it wasn't like I wasn't welcome, but the thought of going through their personal things just seemed like such a privacy violation and it made me uncomfortable.

"And if a double-decker bus. Crashes into us .To die by your side, Is such a heavenly way to die. And if a ten-ton truck Kills the both of us To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine"
-This has kind of a double meaning to me. One being that I envisioned my family saying something similar about the plane crash. That they were fortunate to die together and quickly and without pain. I am glad they were able to be together, but at the same time, I almost wished I could've been there with them. "The privelege is mine"
-The second meaning was kind of how I felt about my boyfriend and I. I didn't want to die, or him to die, but if we were going to, I wanted to be with him when it happened. I don't know, perhaps it was really morbid thinking on my part given the circumstances or what.

"Take me out tonight. Take me anywhere, I don't care I don't care, I don't care"
-This really just pushed the feeling that I had of not knowing where I wanted to be, I couldn't be happy anywhere, I just wanted my mind off of anything and I wanted to keep running away from the situation at the time.

"And in the darkened underpass. I thought oh God, my chance has come at last
(but then a strange fear gripped me and I Just couldn't ask)"
-I think this hints to the brief notion that I kind of was suicidal, or had at least wished I was with them when they died so we could have all died together, but then I was snapped out of that notion, not necessarily by fear, but with a realization that I couldn't leave everyone else I loved.

"Take me out tonight Oh, take me anywhere, I don't care I don't care, I don't care"
-Still pushing that point.

"Driving in your car I never never want to go home Because I haven't got one, da...
Oh, I haven't got one"
-Still reiterating that I didn't feel like I had a home if they weren't going to be there. The "la da da" part really felt fitting because I felt so matter-of-fact about the situation. Like, I recalled telling a gas station cashier that my family died like it was no big deal. I was a bit numb at that point.

"Oh, there is a light and it never goes out
There is a light and it never goes out...(repeat)"
-This totally just seems like it was talking about their memories. Like they were the lights and their lives and memories would never be forgotten. They may have passed but we were all going to do our best to remember them and we always will.

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  @buerkett
  +2

  I read this a while ago, I think last summer, and now everytime I hear the song it reminds me of your story because. It's sounds odd to say it, but I now associate the song with that story because I was so moved when I read it. Don't know if you'll ever read this, but I wanted to tell you that.

  Flag kittycat279on March 26, 2014  

  +1

  @buerkett that's real gripping, I really feel for you. That's something no one should ever have to go through, but by hell; you described that so well

  Flag Donnachieon February 18, 2016  

General CommentTo me, this song is about his homosexuality and his family's disapproval of it. He asks his friend to take him away and possibly tries to express his feelings for him, but can't.

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  @Clayton Bigsby
  +2

  I don't think the narrator necessarily has to represent Morrissey (although a lot of us would argue it clearly reflects his own feelings), but I think the song's lyrics are specifically about homosexuality rather than any from of rejection. It makes so much sense. He's just been kicked out by his family for being gay -
  " I never never want to go home, because I haven't got one, anymore "
  and asks his friend to pick him up and drive him somewhere, he doesn't care. He just wants to be with his friend who he has feelings for, but can't bring himself to tell him for fear of being rejected by him too. He could happily die in this fleeting moment, with the person he wants to be with, as he feels his future is bleak and is hopeless.

  Flag Spoikeon May 31, 2013  

General CommentI think it's a death wish of sorts. Two people in a car, one of whom (the narrator) is in love, but isafraid to admi, because he thinks he might be rejected. He obviously is not incredibly happy (he also lived with his parents and just got kicked out of the house), but he feels content with his belovèd, and wishes he could die right then at the one good moment of his life.

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  @Chloe le Fay

General CommentThe part about not having a home and not being welcome there seems to suggest it is also about a teenager/young adult who feels no sense of belonging anywhere. So they wish to enjoy themselves and literally get lost in the moment like many of their peers seem to be doing. As a young adult who often feels isolated and depressed I can really relate to this song. This is about social anxiety, they feel unsociable so they go out to counter their phobia expecting to become someone with a sense of self worth by the end of the night. In reality when 'a strange fear gripped me and i just couldn't ask', they end the night the same feeling as bad as before.

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  @matb5829

General Commenti always thought it was someone's plea for a more exciting life. wanting to get out of the small towns and into the big cities. i also thought that the singer didn't know the person they were in the car of, like a hitch hiker, and the 'oh god my chance has come at last' was about losing your virginity in a one night stand with a stranger. i never got the impression it was about real love. i love the way such a strong line as 'there is a light that never goes out' makes me think of tacky neon nightclub signs.

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  @Miss_Chainsaw

General Commentif there is good 80's music, this is it. well, this and the cure and U2. but yeah, this song is adorably charming.

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  @goodbyeskyharbor
  0

  You said it

  Flag Memqueenon December 23, 2008  

  +1

  and Tom Waits.
  
  and maybe Violent Femmes' debut album too.

  Flag ThomYorkeGuyGarvey92on July 16, 2010  

  +2

  There is plenty of good 80s music, the 80s was the first decade where the mainstream music started to suck, but it's also probably the best decade for indie music of which the smiths are one of many examples of awesome bands.

  Flag calebyon February 07, 2012  

General CommentThe first time I heard this song I thought it sounded familiar and it was! I'd actually heard it first in SPANISH. Mikel Erentxun (or however you spell his last name) atually made a remake of this song but in spanish. The song is exactly the same and the lyrics are almost the same. It's titled "Esta Luz Nunca Se Apagara". Both of the songs are great. First it was my fav. in spanish and now in english

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  @alda
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  Thumbs up to the spanish version!

  Flag anchorman69on May 06, 2012