"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It appears on their third album The Queen Is Dead and was the lead single from the album, reaching No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart. It is also the closing song on the band's only live album, Rank.
Music and lyrics[]
The lyrics describe the protagonist's response to others taking issue with his comments, to which he replies "I was only joking".
During the song, the protagonist compares himself to Joan of Arc as "the flames rose to her Roman nose" and also says "now I know how Joan of Arc felt". The line, "and her Walkman started to melt'", is often changed by Morrissey in live performances, to the more technologically current "and her iPod started to melt". (On a similar basis when Placebo covered the track the line was changed to "and her Discman/Megadrive started to melt", referencing the sought after tech of the time)
The backing vocal is Morrissey's own voice altered to a higher pitch. This is credited to "Ann Coates", a reference to the Manchester district of Ancoats.
Artwork[]
The single version's sleeve cover contains a photograph of James Dean by Nelva Jean Thomas.