Players
Morrissey (Voice)
Johnny Marr (Guitars)
Andy Rourke (The Bass Guitar)
Mike Joyce (The Drums)

Officially Released Versions
1. Studio Version - Released as a single in May 1986 and on The Queen Is Dead LP in June 1986. Produced by Morrissey and Marr. Also included on following compilations: The World Won't Listen, Best... II, Singles, and The Very Best of The Smiths.
2. Live Version - Rank (Rough 126 - Released September, 1988).
3. Morrissey Live Version - Live At Earls Court (March 2005). Morrissey revisited this old chestnut during his 2004 You Are The Quarry tour. His band is surprisingly good at replicating The Smiths' vibrant sound. Gary Day is especially good at Andy Rourke's bass part. Morrissey isn't in the best of voice, but he sounds like he's genuinely enjoying himself and you can almost imagine you're listening to The Smiths. He updates the line "... and her Walkman started to melt" to "...and her iPod started to melt" and insists, "Sweetness - I wasn't joking at the beginning...". He ends the song by saying, "Yes, the past is a strange place..."

Critical Commentary
"The Smiths' self-mockingly-titled 'Big Mouth [sic] Strikes Again' is another guitar-laden dazzler. How anyone can croon lines like 'Sweetheart, I was only joking when I said/You should be bludgeoned in your bed' and convey warmth, vulnerability, and irony at the same time is a continuing mystery." - Creem

"The Smiths' 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' finds Morrissey making the unlikely claim, 'Now I now how Joan of Arc felt,' and moaning, 'I've got no right to take my place in the human race.' Fortunately, guitarist Johnny Marr kicks ass, and the whole group rocks harder than they did on the last album." - Spin

"It's just a very good song. I like it greatly. It really is as simple as that." - Brian Eno on "Bigmouth Strikes Again", Q, September 1992

"It's as disappointing as baked beans for Christmas dinner. OK, so the main parts are all present and correct, but does the light of Sandie's life still expect us to swallow it whole? 'And now I know how Joan of Arc felt,' he oscillates mildly. On the evidence, Joan Collins seems more likely." - Danny Kelly, NME, May 17, 1986

"'Bigmouth' finds Morrissey at his most testingly wry, but is really little more than Smiths by numbers." - Adrian Thrills, NME, June 14, 1987

Videos And Television Appearances

No formal video was ever produced for "Bigmouth" but The Smiths did perform the song live on The Old Grey Whistle Test on May 20, 1986.

Quintessential Bootleg Version
Nothing comes to mind - all live versions of the song that I've heard are virtually identical to the recorded version with the exception, of course, of the ending which fades out on the recording but ends with two chords banging the "Bigmouth" rhythm when played live. The Rank version is as good as any.

Controversy
The Smiths were mired in contract disputes for nine months prior to the release of "Bigmouth" - the longest drought of their career. Hence, since this single mark the Return of the Smiths, Rough Trade was quite concerned about it. Rough Trade head Geoff Travis wanted "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" to be the single, but The Smiths - especially Johnny Marr - were determined that "Bigmouth" be released. Guess who won?

Smiths-Speak
"Take 'Bigmouth' - I would call it a parody if THAT sounded less like self-celebration, which it definitely wasn't. It was just a really funny song - whenever I heard it on the radio it made me laugh and the same was true of at least half The Queen Is Dead."
- Morrissey, Melody Maker, September 26, 1987

"With 'Bigmouth Strikes Again', I was trying to write my 'Jumping Jack Flash.' I wanted something that was a rush all the way through, without a distinct middle eight as such. I thought the guitar breaks should be percussive, not too pretty or chordal -- I wanted a cheap, Les Paul sort of sound. The main riff is based on an Am shape, with a capo at the 4th fret. I buried this one little guitar part in just the right place, so it sounds like overtones of the main part, but it's really there. On the first of the two breaks, I'm playing slide through an AMS harmonizer, really high. For the second one, I used a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty and a Rickenbacker together, playing a regular Em shape, but it's sampled and triggered off the snare drum roll. We credited the background vocals to 'Ann Coates,' but that's a joke -- it's the name of a place in Manchester. It's really Morrissey's voice, speeded up."
- Johnny Marr, Guitar Player, January, 1990

Comtesse Review (As If You Care)
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is one of the greatest pieces of music that The Smiths consigned to vinyl. (Yes, it were all vinyl in them days!) Johnny's opening chords are absolutely classic, and Mike Joyce's powerful drumming in the middle of the song is nearly as memorable. And, as usual, Andy Rourke holds it all together with another typically brilliant sinewy riff. Wonderful stuff... but... I remember listening to this song for the first time back in June, 1986 and thinking that the lyrics were absolute rubbish. In fact, I thought much of The Queen Is Dead was pathetic. I did not appreciate the humorous, self-mocking lyrics at all! I was madly in love with the Morrissey who wrote songs like "What She Said" and "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" and "Rusholme Ruffians" and "Asleep" - serious songs about life and death and the unbearable anguish of love. I didn't want this Morrissey, who sang about melting Walkmans, vicars in tutus, and some girls being bigger than others. (To say that I was appalled by the new songs on the second side of The Queen Is Dead - save "There Is A Light..." - is an understatement.) I thought this lapse into self-parody was completely indefensible and I was really quite seriously upset about it for weeks. (Fortunately, "I Know It's Over" helped to ease my pain.) So, even today, although I can now appreciate the lyrics as amusing and fun, I still would never rank them anywhere near Morrissey's best.