William, it was really nothing

Release date: 1984, August

UK chart:  17

Cover star: Uncredited photograph of a man sitting on the edge of a bed for included in a 1982 advertisement for A.D.S. speakers (on the cover of the single a speaker can be seen on the bed). However due to legal reasons later pressings were replaced by Morrissey for a still of Billie Whitelaw from the film Charlie Bubbles, directed by Albert Finney, 1967.

Etchings on the single’s matrix: A- THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST / B- ROMANTIC AND SQUARE IS HIP ‘N’ AWARE

Listen to the song here

William, it was really nothing – The Smiths, 1984, Aug

William, it was really nothing

The rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down
Oh, the rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down
Oh, no, and everybody’s got to live their life
And God knows I’ve got to live mine
God knows I’ve got to live mine
William, William it was really nothing
William, William it was really nothing
It was your life …

How can you stay with a fat girl who’ll say :
“Oh ! Would you like to marry me ?
“And if you like you can buy the ring”
She doesn’t care about anything
Would you like to marry me ?
And if you like you can buy the ring
I don’t dream about anyone – except myself !
Oh, William, William it was really nothing
William, William