The Smiths

"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a song by The Smiths. It appears on their third album The Queen Is Dead and was the lead single from the album, reaching #26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1986. It was also the closing song on The Smiths' only live album, Rank. Since the breakup of The Smiths, Morrissey has performed this song live in 2004, including it on his Live at Earls Court (2005). Johnny Marr sang and played it in a Later With Jools Holland TV broadcast (June 2013). The lyrics describe the protagonist's frustration of being hounded by others for his comments, to which he replies "I was only joking". During the song, the protagonist compares himself to Joan of Arc as the flames rose to her Roman nose.[2] The proceeding line, "and her Walkman started to melt'", is often changed by Morrissey in live performances, to the more technologically-current "and her iPod started to melt".[3] The high-pitched voice in the background is actually Morrissey's voice altered to a higher pitch. The backing vocal is credited to "Ann Coates", a reference to the Manchester district of Ancoats.