Very old friend
Came by today
As he was telling everyone in town
Of all the love that he'd just found

And Marie's the name (of his latest flame)

Talked and talked
And I heard him say
That she had the longest blackest hair
Prettiest green eyes anywhere

And Marie's the name (of his latest flame)

The last night of the fair
By the big wheel generator
A boy is stabbed
His money is grabbed
And the air hangs heavy like a dulling wine

She is famous
She is funny
An engagement ring
Doesn't mean a thing
To a mind consumed by brass (money), oh

The last night of the fair
From a seat on a whirling waltzer
Her skirt ascends for a watching eye
It's a hideous trait (on her mother's side)
From a seat on a whirling waltzer
Her skirt ascends for a watching eye
A hideous trait (on her mother's side)

Then someone falls in love
Someone's beaten up
Someone's beaten up
And the senses being dulled are mine
And someone falls in love
Someone's beaten up
And the senses being dulled are mine

This is the last night of the fair
And the grease in the hair
Of a speedway operator
Is all a tremulous heart requires
A schoolgirl is denied
She said : "How quickly would I die
If I jumped from the top of the parachutes ?"

This is the last night of the fair
And the grease in the hair
Of a speedway operator
Is all a tremulous heart requires
A schoolgirl is denied
She said : "How quickly would I die
Oh, if I jumped from the top of the parachutes ?"

Oh, walk home alone
I might walk home alone
But my faith in love is still devout
I might walk home alone
But my faith in love is still devout
I might walk home alone
But my faith in love is still devout


Lyrics submitted by Brandnizzle2k4, edited by Mellow_Harsher

His Latest Flame/Rusholme Ruffians [Live] Lyrics as written by Steven Patrick Morrissey Johnny Marr

Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    Ok and so have i. Bugger. I really am going to have to keep my mouth shut in future. Ignore me. Always Ignore Me.

    Jemaeuxon July 06, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The bit up to the line "Last night of the fair" is from an Elvis Presley song called Marie's the Name of His Latest Flame.

    The rest of the song is a song by The Smiths themselves called Rusholme Ruffians.

    They performed the song at their concerts complete with the Elvis intro, but on the album version (from Meat Is Murder) the intro isn't there.

    The song itself is, like many Smiths songs, about death. At a fairground.

    shastingson September 18, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This version of Rusholme Ruffians appears on the live album "Rank".

    Marrisseyon May 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the riff of this song was nicked from the Elvis song

    myspandexparadiseon June 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    erm.. that's because it is an Elvis song. It's performed in a medley with Rusholme Ruffians on Rank and other bootlegs.

    Wallamanageon March 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I like it better with Marie's The Name at the start.

    Gareththomsonon April 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    comment deleted

    zlaya10020on November 19, 2021   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    this is nowhere fast! you've got the name of the song wrong!

    Jemaeuxon July 05, 2004   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    All correct up to the last paragraph shastings, for me its not about death, its morrissey descibing the thrill he felt as an awkward boy at a fair (in rusholme, manchester) he doesn't belong there, but the brashness of it all excites him

    xo

    Libertweenon January 25, 2005   Link

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