The song was written and recorded during the last week of the sessions for the album "The Queen Is Dead", in November 1985, at Jacobs Studios in Farnham (Surrey). Morrissey and Johnny produced the recording, with Stephen Street as recording engineer. It was a last minute addition to the album's track listing, taking the place of "Unloveable".

album / single version {2:21}

• "The Queen Is Dead" album

• "Panic" single, all formats (except Germany 12")

• deluxe edition of "The Sound Of The Smiths" [remastered 2008]

Whistle Test 20 May 1986 [tv]

This 2-song performance (including "Bigmouth Strikes Again") is circulated on video bootlegs. The audio is commonly found on various manufactured bootlegs as well as in digital format on the internet.

This song has been done in concert 24 times by the Smiths. It was introduced to a public during the handful of 'loose' dates the band did between tours in February 1986 (total 4 performances). It was done a further 20 times later in the year on the Queen Is Dead tour. It was a live fixture on the two UK legs and on the four Canadian dates, but the only American audience who got to hear the song in concert was Washington.

live Kilburn 23 October 1986 {2:33}

• "Rank" (live album)

Morrissey also did the song after the Smiths days. It was on the setlist for the final 6 concerts of the Greatest Hits tour in June-July 2008.

live London's Hyde Park 4 July 2008 {2:41}

• "Satellite Of Live" single

instrumental demo {4:43}

Taken from a record company cd-r of a scrapped reissue project, this has not yet leaked on bootlegs.

Quotes

"Johnny had this riff, where he and Morrissey had worked on it I don't know, but Morrissey's looking through the window and we're playing away there and Mozz is going (look of extreme satisfaction). Yep, again, again, yep, this is it, this is the one. But that song's all over the place, all over the place."
- Mike Joyce, Select, April 1993