Song · Live covers
The Headmaster Ritual
The Smiths song Radiohead played once, at home in Oxford.
1985
belligerent ghouls
Johnny Marr wrote the music, Morrissey the words, and it opened Meat Is Murder. It is an attack on English schools and on corporal punishment, and it caused trouble for saying so.
Marr wrote it in open E: “I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote it, and I quite like that. I think it's a handy device for cutting out the brain static that gets in the way of coming up with chord changes.” It is also the only Smiths song where he suggested a lyric change to Morrissey, from “bruises bigger than dinner plates” to “bruises big as dinner plates”.
An eyebrow was very definitely raised at this point, and he went away to mull it over. When we reconvened 24 hours later, he said he'd given it a lot of thought and was impressed by my observation. Then, of course, he went on to do sod-all about it!
johnny marr · rolling stone, 1 august 2017
9 nov 2007
oxford
Radiohead, who took a great deal from this band, played it once, in Oxford on 9 November 2007. Two years earlier they had built a guitar part for “Knives Out” out of the same admiration.
the video
Their Smiths cover.· Janiswatch on youtube →
Live history
| Times played | 1 show |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Friday 9 November 2007 · Oxford |
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
sources3
- Rob Sheffield, “Rob Sheffield ranks all 73 Smiths songs”, Rolling Stone, 1 August 2017.
- “Johnny Marr teaches viewers how to play ‘The Headmaster Ritual’”, Rolling Stone, 17 April 2020.
- Performance date from this site's own setlist archive, via setlist.fm.