This Charming Man

In this song, Morrissey sings:
"Ah! A jumped-up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said 'return the ring'
He knows so much about these things."

This is a reference to the WWII novel Loving, by Henry Green. In this story, the caretaker of an Irish castle, Charlie Raunce, accuses his pantry boy of being "Jumped-up" and "Not knowing his proper place." Later events include the theft of a ring for which the pantry boy is wrongly accused. The boy bravely takes the fall for a girl he admires, which would interest a man like Morrissey. Also of interest is the setting: English servants in an Irish castle. (thanks, Lannie - Cedar Rapids, IA)

This song was composed by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer/lyricist Morrissey. Marr wrote the tune for a John Peel session on his radio show. After performing it on the show, his record company suggested The Smiths release it as a single rather than their original choice of "Reel Around The Fountain.

In 2006 the Conservative party leader David Cameron named this as one of the 8 songs he would like to have with him on a desert island on the British radio show Desert Island Discs. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 2)

Johnny Marr told Mojo Magazine March 2008 about how the success of Rough Trade label-mates Aztec Camera spurred him on to write this song: "A couple of days before I wrote 'This Charming Man' I'd heard 'Walk Out To Winter' (by Aztec Camera) on Radio 1, and I felt a little jealous. My competitive urges kicked in. I felt that we needed something up-beat and in a major key for Rough Trade to get behind. That's why I wrote it in the key of G, which to this day I rarely do. I knew that 'This Charming Man' would be our next single." He added, "I did the whole thing in one go into this TEAC 3-track tape recorder that I used to write on. I came up with the basic chords and immediately overdubbed the top line and intro riff."