It’s unsurprising that the Smiths are referenced in two of the best indie films released in the past ten years (in my humble opinion), 500 Days of Summer and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. There is something intensely romantic about their music, and I do not say that easily. It’s also deliciously dark, and captures something of the teenage angst that is central to the narrative of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 500 Days of Summer encompasses a different kind of angst – the one that accompanies the search for a significant other. Is it possible to feel nostalgic for a time that passed before you were born? There is a Light that Never Goes Out was released in 1986, but it carries such a wealth of emotion and lyricism that it has a distinct timelessness to it.
Perhaps this is also due to the universal quality of the words. “Driving in your car, I never want to go home, because I haven’t got one anymore...” I may be mistaken, but I’m quite sure that everyone, at some point, has felt ill at ease in the house they live in. Again, I stand under correction, but I don’t think I know anyone who is yet to experience the magic of sitting in the passenger seat, content to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Perhaps this song is so easy for us millenials to enjoy because bands like Death Cab for Cutie, the National, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Killers and the Decemberists capture something of the same beautiful melancholy thread.
The lyrics also embody something of the intensity of young love and the promises made in that mesmerising space. These feelings are contextualised within the space of growing pains, knowing it is time to leave home but still not being quite sure how to. Perhaps the song is also painted with the darker shades of destructive familial relationships and relational chaos – the desperation to escape them that often colours a romance with intensified opportunity.
There is a Light That Never Goes Out is simply one of those great songs, layered with flute, strings and synth sounds, that has great longevity and will probably remain a classic for many years to come.
