”There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths

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The Smiths’ frontman Morrissey isn’t squeamish about death. He’s mused on the subject dozens of times throughout his expansive career in The Smiths and as a solo artist. His fascination with death is showcased best in the 1992 hit “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.”

The lyrics follow a narrator who has either left or been kicked out of his childhood home. He gets into a car with a friend, and as they’re driving, he realizes that they could both be in a fatal car crash at any moment. The narrator imagines a bus hitting their car and killing them both.

For such heavy and frightening thoughts, Morrissey’s character isn’t afraid. In fact, he welcomes death straight-on.

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine

While the song sounds suicidal, Morrissey actually paints a scene of serenity. The “light” he sings about in the song is the joy of spending his final moments with someone special. He doesn’t want to die, but he would be at peace knowing he died with this person seated next to him.

Many people fear dying alone and afraid more than anything else. Morrissey plays on this fear in “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.” He shows us that embracing the possibility of death doesn’t have to be scary. Even when the reality of the narrator’s thoughts sink in, he still comes to a moment of peace within himself:

And in the darkened underpass
I thought oh God, my chance has come at last
(But then a strange fear gripped me and I
Just couldn’t ask)

By the end of the song, the narrator realizes that death isn’t something to be feared when you’re experiencing pure joy. The elation he felt riding in that car, feeling young and alive, eclipsed his instinct to run away from death. He would rather die in joy than in fear.

Read the full lyrics for “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” right here. Listen to the song below: