"How Soon Is Now?" is one of the best-known songs by British band The Smiths. Despite its prominent place in The Smiths' repertoire, however, it is not generally considered to be representative of the band's style.

Originally a B-side with "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" on the 12" single version of "William, It Was Really Nothing" in 1984, the song was subsequently featured on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow and on US, Australian and Warner UK editions of Meat Is Murder. It was belatedly released as an A-side in the UK in 1985, reaching #24 on the singles chart. The single did not make the US Top 40.

Although a club favourite, "How Soon Is Now" did not chart as well as writers Morrissey and Marr expected it to; most commentators put this down to the fact that the song had been out on vinyl in a number of forms before being released as a single in its own right. The original track ran for nearly 7 minutes; however, the 7" single edit cut the length down to under 4 minutes. The complete version is generally used on compilations.

The tune is built around a guitar chord that rapidly oscillates in volume. It contains only one verse which is repeated twice, a chorus, and a bridge. The subject is an individual who cannot find a way to break out of his shyness. Two couplets from the song are well known in pop culture, the opening to the verse: "I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular", and the chorus: "I am human and I need to be loved / Just like everybody else does". The opening was adapted from a line in George Eliot's Middlemarch: "To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular".

As to how the song's distinctive resonant guitar sound was achieved, the following was offered by Patrick Frawley on a fan site ^*:

"There is a 'vibrato' or 'tremolo' twist knob on certain guitar amplifiers; some Fender models come to mind. It specifically produces that unmistakable wooga-wooga sound, originally intended to emulate a skilled stringed instrument player's fingered tremoloing (think concert violinists, cellists, etc). It's basically an electrically-induced volume oscillation; one can hear the chord being played, bouncing back and forth on the volume scale, but Marr's good enough to mask the changes. Early guitar rock god Bo Diddley used it extensively on his Fifties singles, which have influenced generations of guitarists, including (obviously) Marr. The distinctive drumbeat of the track is also a blatant/loving Diddley nick".

A live version was used to open Morrissey's album Live at Earl's Court. Another was recorded during the concert for The Smiths' live album Rank, but was not used.

A music video was made using the 7" edit of the song. The video intercuts clips of the band playing live (including a shot of Johnny Marr showing Morrissey how to play the guitar), an industrial part of a city, and a girl dancing. The video was not made with cooperation from the band.

The song featured in the film The Wedding Singer, and has been covered by various artists, including the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. in 2003, as well as UK indie band Hundred Reasons & US post-grunge band Everclear. The guitar track was sampled, with the band's approval, in 1990 by indie-dance band Soho on their UK Top 10 single "Hippychick".

"How Soon Is Now?" became well-known to television viewers as the theme from Charmed, performed by Psychedelic Furs spinoff band Love Spit Love; the same recording had earlier featured on the soundtrack for another tale of young witches, the film The Craft. The song also featured in the movie Closer.

In 2006, "How Soon Is Now?" was voted runner up in VH1’s "Top Lyrics" poll for the lyrics, "So you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die" and marginally missed out on top spot to U2’s "One". ^*

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine rated the song #486 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Track listing

• 7" version:
  1. "How Soon Is Now?" – 3:53
  2. "Well I Wonder" – 4:00
• 12" version:
  1. "How Soon Is Now?" – 6:43
  2. "Well I Wonder" – 4:00
  3. "Oscillate Wildly" – 3:24

References

• Simon Goddard (2004). The Smiths - Songs That Saved Your Life. ISBN 1-90-311184-6.

The Smiths songs | 1984 songs | 1985 singles | Sampled songs