Meaning of “Miserable Lie” by The Smiths

Miserable Lie is a song performed by The Smiths. In the song, the narrator (Smiths’ singer Morrissey) talks about having his naïve and innocent (flower-like) life destroyed by someone, with whom he apparently had an encounter of a sexual nature for the first time. The narrator never makes it clear to the listeners whether that someone is male or female. Many fans of The Smiths believe that the song is based on an actual event in Morrissey’s life. However, this has never been confirmed.

Favorite Line from “Miserable Lie”

This is our favorite line from the song:

Facts about “Miserable Lie”

• The music of Miserable Lie was written by Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr while the lyrics of the song were written by Morrissey.
• The song was produced by John Porter.
• The song has a run time of 4 minutes and 29 seconds.
• Miserable Lie is the 3rd track on The Smiths – the band’s highly acclaimed 1984 debut album which in 2003 was placed in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of Greatest Albums of All Time.
• The theme of the song is almost similar to another Smiths’ song titled Pretty Girls Make Grave, which also appears on the same album as Miserable Lie.
• The Smiths didn’t make a music video for the song.
• No other musician performed on this track besides the four members of The Smiths.
• The famous line from the song in which the narrator (Morrissey) talks about having his “flower-life” taken away from him was derived from the legendary Irish writer Oscar Wilde’s famed 1897 letter titled De Profundis.