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The 1968 song that broke up The Smiths: “The last straw”
The article argues that The Smiths’ decision to record a cover of Cilla Black’s 1968 single ‘Work Is a Four-Letter Word’ became the symbolic final disagreement between Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Marr reportedly saw the choice as evidence that the band’s creative direction had run its course, calling it “the last straw”, and left shortly afterwards.
The cover was recorded during the sessions for the band’s final studio work in 1987, shortly before their split was announced. Although the song itself was not necessarily the sole cause of the break-up, the article presents it as encapsulating wider tensions over artistic control, management and the group’s future.
In short
- A Cilla Black cover symbolised The Smiths’ final creative rupture.
- Johnny Marr reportedly called it “the last straw”.
- The band split soon after recording it.
Explained simply
The Smiths were an influential British rock band of the 1980s, formed around the songwriting partnership between frontman Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. The group became hugely popular, but by the late 1980s tensions were growing between its two leading members over the band's musical direction and future.
In 1987, whilst recording what would become their final album, the band decided to cover 'Work Is a Four-Letter Word', a 1968 single by Cilla Black. Johnny Marr objected strongly to this choice, reportedly viewing the cover as a sign that the band had exhausted its creative possibilities and calling it "the last straw". He left the band shortly afterwards.
Whilst this one decision did not cause the break-up on its own, it came to symbolise the deeper disagreements between Morrissey and Marr about the band's artistic identity and control over their music. The Smiths' split was announced later that year, ending one of the most significant partnerships in British rock music.