Ask
Words by Morrissey - Music by Johnny Marr
"Shyness is nice
And shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life you'd like to"
Officially Released Versions
1. Single version (RT 194 - Released October, 1986). This edited
version of the song fades out during the "humming" section.
2. Louder Than Bombs (Rough 255 - Released April, 1987). This longer version of
the song fades out during the instrumental portion after the "humming" ends.
3. Rank (Rough 126 - Released September, 1988). "This is our new single...
ASK!" introduces Morrissey on this very energetic live version of the song. Morrissey
changes the lyric, "Nature is a language, can't you read?" to "Nature is a
language, can anybody read?"
Cover Stars
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Yootha Joyce (1927-1980) on the set of the 1965 film Catch Us If You Can. The image was also used for the German release of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others". This cover image was used for the U.S. and U.K. releases. Yootha Joyce was a British film and television actress whose credits include Go On, It'll Do You Good, Jason King, Dixon of Dock Green, Steptoe and Son, On the Buses, The Fenn Street Gong, Man About The House, and George And Mildred, one of the top-rated TV shows in England during the late '70's. Morrissey was obviously a bit of a fan... |
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Colin Campbell from The Leather Boys (1963), a gritty and touching film by Sidney J. Furie about Reg and Dot (Campbell and Rita Tushingham), a working-class teen couple who marry too young and live to regret it. Their constant squabbling leads Reg to spend more time with his motorcycle mate Pete (Dudley Sutton); the pals' suspicious relationship creates an even bigger chasm between the married couple. The homoerotic subtext was considered especially daring back in '63. Snippets of this film were later featured in the Tim Broad-directed video for "Girlfriend In A Coma". |
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Morrissey foreshadows the self-graced covers of his solo career on this Australian import. This was one of only two occasions where Morrissey graced a Smiths cover (the other being the Terence Stamp mock-up of "What Difference Does It Make?"). The photo, which was made into a popular poster, was taken by Pat Bellis and features Morrissey leaning against a poster promoting the British leg of The Smiths' 1986 "Queen Is Dead" tour. |
Special Thanks To Hand In Glove for the cover scans.
Groove Etchings
A Side: "Are You Loathsome Tonight?"
B Side: "Tomb It May Concern"
Videos And Television Appearances
Derek Jarman shot a video in Wapping which featured a
lovestruck bespectacled young geek handing flowers to his lady love, playing with a bomb,
and dancing about with his much more fashionable friends whilst waving flowers about. The
original version did not feature The Smiths, but a later version - included on The
Complete Picture - featured high contrast images of the various Smiths, including
Craig Gannon, superimposed over the frolicking teenagers.
The Smiths also played "Ask" during their final live appearance - at the San
Remo Festival in Italy on February 7, 1987. This appearance can be found on bootleg
videos.
Bootleg Versions
... The Bad Boy From A Good Family, Dance With Octopuses (live at
the Kilburn National, London, October 23, 1986 - the same show as on Rank)
The Final Gig, Never Had No One Ever (live at the Brixton Academy, December 12,
1986)
Brixton Academy Friday 20/10/86, Genius Steals (live at the Brixton Academy,
October 24, 1986)
Heavy Horses, Royal Command Performance (live at the G-Mex Festival, July 19,
1986)
Quintessential Bootleg Version
Although all live versions of "Ask" sound essentially the same,
with the exception of the December, 1986 Brixton Academy version which is a bit sonically
bare due to the fact the absence of second guitarist Craig Gannon, the version on Genius
Steals is probably the best performance of the lot. It doesn't really differ from the Rank
version by much though...
Controversy
Internal strife galore! The mixing of this song is one of the many moments
that cumulatively led to the breakup of The Smiths. The song had been produced by John
Porter and he and Johnny Marr had devised a great sound affect of waves splashing and
guitar-created seagulls noises during the quiet instrumental break. However, Morrissey
used the occasion to emphasize his increasing dissatisfaction with John Porter (presumably
because John had, like most of the people that Morrissey banned from the band's sphere,
become "too close" to Johnny) by handing over the unfinished tapes to backing
vocalist Kirsty MacColl's husband Steve Lillywhite (who later produced Morrissey's Vauxhall
And I, Southpaw Grammar, and Maladjusted albums) to finish mixing.
Porter describes the debacle (from The Severed Alliance): "It was another one
that didn't come off. There were a lot of guitars and only I knew how they fitted
together. There was this great breakdown with the big wave splashing. It was the most
theatrical effect, with the seagull noises done by Johnny on guitar. It was fantastic but,
on the record, you don't notice it. It's just gone. I was really pissed off because that
was a spectacular track... We'd make plans and Morrissey would go ahead and ride roughshod
over them. Johnny obviously had to keep his allegiance with Morrissey, which was fair
enough. In a sense, Johnny was the go-between because, by this point, Morrissey almost
never spoke to me. There was no animosity. I just think he'd already decided that he
didn't want to work with me."
In addition to the controversial mixing of the song, there was also a songwriting controversy. Additional guitarist Craig Gannon claimed that he deserved publishing credit for devising the chord sequence used on "Ask" (from The Complete Guide): "Me and Johnny were sat in the library playing acoustic guitars and they must have been miked up as we were probably putting down the acoustic tracks for 'Panic'. I just started playing the chord sequence which would later become 'Ask' in exactly the way it appears on the record. Johnny then joined in playing the same... I then forgot about the idea and left it at that... Johnny must have played Morrissey this idea or given him the recording I already mentioned. I was completely surprised as we were now recording this for the next single. The only section of the chord structure that I didn't come up with for 'Ask' was the middle eight section with the chords E-minor, D and C. That was actually what Johnny came up with. All the way through the song there is an overdub with me and Johnny sat around a mike with acoustics, playing a riff that he came up with towards the end of the recording of the song. That is a great riff and a real hook but it was still just an overdub and I felt the song was nearly complete without it. Up until the release of 'Ask' I still thought I'd be given a writing credit. When I found that I wasn't given a writing credit, it didn't really bother me, but I thought it was pretty bad that no one even acknowledged that it was my idea in the first place."
Johnny Marr heatedly denied this claim (from The Complete Guide): "When he did come up with his own parts, others said it was like something I'd played on the last single. It wasn't exactly his own style. Craig really threw it away. He really screwed it up for himself." Another telling quote by Johnny (from The Severed Alliance): "That really hurt me. That's one of the things in The Smiths that you don't do. We were always very careful from the very first day all the way through the sessions to bring in our own songs. It was ridiculous. no one ever had any inclination to write any songs, and that was fine." John Porter agreed with Johnny: "I didn't ever imagine him having any input."
Eventually, the matter was settled out of court and the original song credits remained.
Smiths-Speak
"... it was quite crucial to release a single that was a slight
antidote to 'Panic', because if the next single had been a slight protest, regardless of
the merits of the actual song, people would say, 'Here we go again.' That's why we put out
'Ask'. The idea there is... Well, restraint is a decent thing really, but it's nice to
throw caution to the wind as well -- to jump in at the deep end."
Morrissey, Record Mirror, 2/14/87
Sundry
"Ask" reached #14 on the U.K. Charts.
