A Different Gun

Album: Call The Comet (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was written about the Nice lorry attack on evening of Bastille Day 2016, when a cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France by an ISIS terrorist. It resulted in the deaths of 86 people. Johnny Marr told Uncut:

    "I didn't want to sing about the actual event because that would be wrong and inappropriate. But I saw the palm trees, and I know what it's like to walk down a beautiful seafront with the warm wind, with children around you and families around you, watching fireworks go off. We all know that feeling when you're on holiday. It's a very evocative, sensuous experience. The sultry night-time seafront.

    But there are bodies strewn in the road. And the shock of seeing dead bodies in that environment, caused by another member of the human race, is something that stayed with me. I just tried to depict some human kind of story in it, and make the music slightly woozy and otherwordly. I hope there's a sense of humanity in it, a sense of hope. But also: what next? There's always a different gun, a different bomb."
  • Marr told the BBC he was recording the song when news started to break of the terrorist attack that killed 22 concertgoers outside of an Ariana Grande show at the Manchester Arena. He initially had second thoughts about including it on Call The Comet but "something in me said that I was being a bit of a chicken if I didn't tackle it."

    "I was trying to musically create a song that paid tribute to this feeling that I couldn't quite shake off," Marr added. "So I did what I've done all my life really, since I was able to play, I just tried to turn it into music."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.