1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr Quotes

Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter and singer, best known as the guitarist and – with Morrissey – co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987.

Born in Ardwick, Manchester, to Irish parents, Marr formed his first band at the age of 13. He was part of several bands along with Andy Rourke before forming the Smiths with Morrissey in 1982. The Smiths attained great success and were critically acclaimed, with Marr's jangle pop guitar style becoming distinctive of the band's sound, but separated in 1987 due to personal differences between Marr and Morrissey. Since then, Marr has been a member of the Pretenders, The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse and the Cribs, and has become a prolific session musician, working with names such as Talking Heads and Hans Zimmer. He released his first solo album, titled The Messenger, in 2013, followed by his second, Playland, in 2014. His autobiography, Set the Boy Free, was published in 2016. His third solo album, Call the Comet, was released on 15 June 2018.

Voted the fourth best guitarist of the last 30 years in a poll conducted by the BBC in 2010, Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo, has described Marr as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist". In 2013, NME honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award, hailing him: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet."

✵ 31. October 1963
Johnny Marr photo
Johnny Marr: 7   quotes 0   likes

Famous Johnny Marr Quotes

“Birkenstock desert boots have been a part of pop culture since the beatniks. I made such a fuzz about them being discontinued that the company send me an "lifetime supply", which initially turned out to be seven pairs at two years apiece. They weren’t giving me very long. I think that’s why I gave up smoking.”

Johnny Marr

from "Pieces of me", The Guardian (June 2007).

“About the cover of "The world wont’ listen"
It represents the band to me. On the front you've got four guys who look like, if not the band, then Smiths fans. On the back you've got the female side of it - individually they really look like the Smiths: Morrissey on the far right, me on the second right, Andy [Rourke, bass] on the second left and Mike [Joyce, drums] on the far left. To find a picture like that is really clever. We didn't discuss it, but I understood.”

Johnny Marr

from "The 100 best record covers of all time", Q (June 2001).

“I think when something's over, events have a way of conspiring to make you realise that it's over. As cryptic as that sounds, it's true. Things would happen and I'd be like, Am I going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life? And it was a very, very emotional band. It's in the music. The relationship between me and Morrissey was very emotional. It wasn't volatile in that we would row or anything like that, but it was so intense that if rocked slightly it would be a big deal. Was the lack of a manager important? Massively, I think. I was nursemaiding people when I needed nursemaiding myself. And I couldn't see where we were going to go in the near future musically without repeating ourselves and not being as good.”

Johnny Marr

from "Trouble at Mill" by John Harris, Mojo (April 2001).

“When I crashed my BMW and managed to walk away pretty much unscathed, it was a turning point. I'd been living the life, and when people see photos of the car wreck, they can't believe I got away with it. It was like a fog had lifted. I stopped drinking a bottle of Tequila before grabbing my car keys. It was time to wise-up and get a haircut.”

Johnny Marr

from " The Smiths: Johnny Marr looks back http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-smiths-johnny-marr-looks-back-526130.html", The Independent (24 February 2006).

“I've always believed that any instrumentalist is basically just an accompanist to the singer and the words. That's born out of being a fan of records before I was a fan of guitar players -- I'm interested in melody, lyrics, and the overall song. I don't like to waste notes, not even one. Who was it that said, "The reason why all those guitar players play so many notes is because they can't find the right one"? I like to put the right note in the right place, and my influences have always been those kinds of players. Keith Richards comes to mind, and I really like Nils Lofgren's soloing, because he's so melodic. I love John Lennon's rhythm playing, and George Harrison was an incredible guitarist.
There's a lot of guitar culture that I don't like at all. I find the traditional idea of the guitar hero to be really irrelevant to the 1990s. I don't think that young people are that impressed with some guy brandishing Spandex trousers and a hideously shaped guitar, playing that kind of masturbatory, egotistical noise. Being a soloist who wants to just display virtuosity is a dated philosophy, and I don't think there's any room for it in pop music. It's the last stand of late-'60s/early-'70s rockism, and it should have gone a long time ago.”

Johnny Marr

from an interview by Joe Gore, Guitar Player(January 1990).

“Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
JM: Never get into a situation you can’t get out of. I really have stuck to it, because it’s good advice for all walks of live.”

Johnny Marr

from "Famous last words", Q (February 2003).

“And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt”

Johnny Marr

Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Queen Is Dead (1986), co-written with Morrissey.

Variation in Live at Earls Court: "And her IPod started to melt."

Similar authors

Brian Molko photo
Brian Molko 2
musician
Keanu Reeves photo
Keanu Reeves 39
Canadian actor, director, producer and musician
Till Lindemann photo
Till Lindemann 2
German industrial metal musician
James Hetfield photo
James Hetfield 9
American musician, songwriter and record producer
Marilyn Manson photo
Marilyn Manson 78
American rock musician and actor
Johnny Depp photo
Johnny Depp 76
American actor, film producer, and musician
Tyler Joseph photo
Tyler Joseph 6
American singer-songwriter and record producer
Billie Joe Armstrong photo
Billie Joe Armstrong 26
American singer and guitarist
Ville Valo photo
Ville Valo 3
Finnish rock musician
Jon Bon Jovi photo
Jon Bon Jovi 26
American singer and musician