By the time Johnny Marr, born John Maher on October 31, 1963, was 13 he was already playing in bands, including Freak Party with his future Smiths bandmate, the late Andy Rourke. Eventually, he switched his surname to Marr to avoid being mistaken for The Buzzcocks’ drummer, John Maher, before forming The Smiths with Rourke, Mike Joyce, and Morrissey in 1982.
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Throughout The Smiths’ short run through ’87, Marr and Morrissey crafted the band’s classics “Hand in Glove,” “Girlfriend in a Coma,” “This Charming Man,” “How Soon Is Now?” and all the remaining songs of their four albums.
After The Smiths split, Marr went on to write and play in The The before releasing three albums throughout the ’90s as Electronic with New Order‘s Bernard Sumner. By the ’00s through 2010s, Marr worked with Modest Mouse, The Cribs, and Crowded House‘s Neil Finn’s charitable music project, 7 Worlds Collide, and with collaborations as a musician and writer spanning Pet Shop Boys, Jane Birkin, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry, and Beck, among others.
In 2013, Marr released his debut solo album, The Messenger, along with three more releases through his most recent Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 in 2022. Over the years, Marr has also written a handful of songs, outside of his diversified catalog, for other artists.
Marr recently told American Songwriter that nothing much has changed since he started to write songs at the ages of 11 and 12. “It’s like Picasso’s quote, ‘Inspiration does exist, but it has to find you working,’” he said. “You have to be okay with that being the foundation, then the magic happens absentmindedly when those critical faculties are switched off.”
He continued, “I’ve been on this journey from being a kid that’s happy to be in rock music, but when something tells me that I need to dig deep, then that’s what I do. Maybe it’s my working-class mentality, but I can’t imagine making albums in any way other than going, ‘Now is the time I need to make a record,’ so I’ve always done it that way. I’m not here waiting until I’m filled with inspiration or some cathartic thing happens in my life.”
Here are three songs Marr wrote for other artists from the late ’80s through the early 1990s.
1. “The Right Stuff,” Bryan Ferry (1987)
Written by Johnny Marr and Bryan Ferry
Following the success of his previous solo album Boys and Girls in 1985, Bryan Ferry continued his signature swoon-pop on his seventh release, Bête Noire.
Co-written with Marr, “The Right Stuff,” was adapted from The Smiths‘ song “Money Changes Everything,” which was originally released as a B-Side to “Bigmouth Strikes Again.”
Got your money on the table
And the devil in your eye
Who is that woman with the crooked smile?
You got to go with what you feel
A little loving is a dangerous thing
Black is the ocean a burning sky
Her nature’s wild hard to beat the right stuff
It’s mountain high river deep the right stuff
Got your pearls on a string
2. “The End of a Perfect Day,” Kirsty MacColl (1989)
Written by Johnny Marr and Kirsty MacColl
Kite was the second album by British singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl, and featured two songs that she co-wrote with Marr—the closing “You and Me Baby” and the penultimate “The End of a Perfect Day.” Marr also plays acoustic and electric guitar, along with harmonica on several Kite tracks.
In 1991, Marr teamed up with MacColl again on her third album, Electric Landlady, co-writing the opening “Walking Down Madison” and “Children of the Revolution.” Marr and MacColl worked together once more on “Can’t Stop Killing You,” off her fourth album, Titanic Days, in 1993.
I want to tell you something
It’s not a secret or anything
You’re not alone in being alone
At the end of a perfect day
And if you leave all your dependants
Then they will gain their independence
Don’t make a martyr of yourself
It’s just the end of a perfect day
And it’s never how it seems
The rain may fall on the best-laid schemes
But in a written testimonial I’d say
I never really knew you anyway
3. “Sexuality,” Billy Bragg (1991)
Written by Johnny Marr and Billy Bragg
On Billy Bragg‘s sixth album, Don’t Try This at Home, “Sexuality” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and centered around the issue of homophobia. Co-written by Bragg and Marr, who also plays guitar on the recording, “Sexuality” is accepting of all types of sexual relations —Sexuality, don’t threaten me with misery … I demand equality. The music video, directed by comedian Phill Jupitus, also features Kirsty MacColl (and Jupitus) singing backing vocals.
In 2021, Bragg updated the opening verses of “Sexuality” to show his support of trans rights with Just because you’re gay, I won’t turn you away / If you stick around, I’m sure that we can find some common ground to Just because you’re they, I won’t turn you away / If you stick around, I’m sure that we can find the right pronoun.
“Times changed,” said Bragg on social media about the updated lyrics. “Anyone born since the song was released would wonder why it’s a big deal to find common ground with a gay man. The front line now is trans rights.”
Bragg added, “Sexuality is a song about learning to respect difference. In 1991, the LG community was marginalized by AIDS and Section 28. Now that we have gay marriage etc., the song needs updating and today, it’s the trans community who are marginalized and need our ally-ship. As for pronouns, they’re a simple way of showing respect.
A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden
Headlines give me headaches when I read them
I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade
He said some things are really best left unspoken
But I prefer it all to be out in the open
Sexuality, don’t threaten me with misery
Sexuality, I demand equality
Photo by Andy Cotterill / The Oriel
