Buck and Chick Both Learned About The Smiths From Older People

Hey, The Smiths! Nice t-shirt!

Are you a fan?

No. Well, kind of. Not really but sort of. I mean it’s like they’re my favorite band that I don’t listen to.

That’s strange.

Yeah, I know. I don’t really like Morrissey’s voice. I love The Smiths’ music and Johnny Marr and they way they marketed themselves with all the cool photos and everything and they have great song titles and they have the absolute greatest band name in the world ever.

But you don’t listen to them.

No. Well, kind of. I love Strangeways, Here We Come but I haven’t really gotten into their other three albums. I should, really.

I love Strangeways! It’s by far my favorite.

I got the tape from a friend back in 1994. Right after I graduated high school I got a job driving the delivery truck for a furniture store in town. It was the greatest job I ever had. I mean, I think it ruined my back, but it was so great. Me and this really cool guy who was three years older than me would drive this big truck around the whole part of the state delivering couches and tables to people and listen to awesome music the whole time. He’s the one that gave me the Strangeways tape. He loved it. We’d listen to it all the time. That and Nirvana. And the Pumpkins. It was so great. Best job I ever had.

That’s cool. I had an older brother that was really into music. He was eight years older than me so he really knew a lot of stuff. He’d gone to London right after he graduated high school and came back with all this British music. But The Smiths were by far his favorite. He had all their albums as well as posters and t-shirts—in fact this was his t-shirt.

That’s cool. And he gave it to you?

Well, he actually…uh…passed away the year after he graduated. I took it after he died. I took a lot of his stuff.

I’m sorry.

That’s okay. I mean thank you.

Did you know Strangeways was the name of a prison?

Yeah.

I love “Death of a Disco Dancer.”

Me too. And “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” and, of course, “Girlfriend In a Coma.”

So do you still listen to Morrissey?

Of course.

Huh. That’s too bad.

No, too bad for you!

I'm just teasing. What about Modest Mouse?

Well, I never listened to them but then I heard that Marr joined up with them so I got We Were Dead when it came out.

Do you like it?

Yeah. It’s so different from The Smiths.

It is.