Meat Is Murder

"That was a riff I'd been playing around with for a few days before. Really nasty, in open D. I didn't know the lyrics but I knew the song was gonna be called 'Meat Is Murder' so it all just came together in the take."

"I think 'Meat Is Murder' is in open G tuning,or open D,it might have a capo on the second fret."

- Johnny Marr

Until reading the above quote, I had no idea that this song was played in an open tuning. I haven't investigated any live performances to see if he played it in standard tuning as well, but I know he tuned his les paul up to E when playing Headmaster Ritual.

I haven't ever seen a tab for the song in open D, and I haven't seen anyone on youtube play it this way. Maybe someone will pick it out[edit: buckleyboyben has done it, video below]?

However, I do have a good Guitar Pro tab of this, and I have uploaded it here.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:




Here are the scans from the Meat Is Murder songbook:







Thanks to Ted Maul for these scans.


pljnr did a near perfect cover here:




Oscar80It did a really great job with this cover, in standard tuning:




buckleyboyben has done a cover of the live version, in open D with a capo on the second fret:

Well I Wonder

"'Well I Wonder' I really like as well. It's one of those things that a modern group could try and emulate but never get the spirit of. It's so simple."

"I remember the start of the record because I moved back to Manchester very deliberately- to get the atmosphere right for the instrumental tracks I was writing. And that worked out immediately because 'Well I Wonder' came out of that, with the rain and everything. When we did it I knew it would be popular because it had that real sense of yearning in it."

"I think [the outro] is an A minor shape capo'd, I'd have to listen to it."


-Johnny Marr

Well I Wonder is another one of my favorites. The ending guitar coda is one of my all time favorite Marr guitar runs. It comes at the perfect time, after setting up a great musical tension.

I have found a Guitar Pro tab for this song which I have uploaded here. The ending riffs aren't exactly right, but the rest of it is very good in my opinion.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:




Here are the scans from the Meat Is Murder songbook:






Thanks to Ted Maul for these scans.


This version by ResidentSmith78 is very good:




Rodtomcab does a nice cover as well, integrating the bassline at times:




Oscar80It does a cover here with vocals. He doesn't get the end guitar part exactly right, but he's the only one who's attempted it. It still sounds cool, and it's in the right direction.




dhowellbassist has a great multi-tracked version here:




I don't usually post full-band renditions, but this one by rider1967 is truly great. The Smiths never played this song live! Que lástima.




Here's an amazing version by davidguitarist91. He does a great job on the coda:




frankshankley does a cool rendition of the intro/outro chords on bass: