Johnny Marr ha descritto un incontro con Morrissey nel 2008, incontro nel quale è stata discussa la possibilità di riformare gli Smiths.

L’ex chitarrista della band di recente ha scritto un’autobiografia, in uscita il 3 novembre, dal nome Set The Boy Free. L’autobiografia segue quella di Morrissey, uscita nel 2013.

In un estratto pubblicato sul The Guardian, Marr ha descritto dettagliatamente un incontro sorprendente, raccontando come un giorno di settembre nel 2008, trovandosi entrambi a Manchester, abbiano deciso di incontrarsi in un pub. I due non si incontravano da ben 10 anni e dopo i soliti preamboli, racconta Marr, la discussione entrò più nello specifico.

The drinks kept coming and we sat talking for hours. We chatted, as we always did, about the records we loved, and eventually we moved on to “that subject”. There had been rumours for years that The Smiths were about to re-form, and they were always untrue. I had never pursued any offer.

Improvvisamente però, per un momento, la reunion divenne possibile:

Suddenly we were talking about the possibility of the band reforming, and in that moment it seemed that with the right intention it could actually be done and might even be great. I would still work with the Cribs on our album, and Morrissey also had an album due out. We hung out for a while longer, and after even more orange juice (for me) and even more beer (for him) we hugged and said our goodbyes.

Sembrava potesse accadere davvero:

I was genuinely pleased to be back in touch with Morrissey, and The Cribs and I talked about the possibility of me playing some shows with The Smiths. For four days it was a very real prospect. We would have to get someone new on drums [original drummer Mike Joyce sued Morrissey and Marr over royalties in 1996], but if The Smiths wanted to re-form it would make a hell of a lot of people very happy, and with all our experience we might even be better than before.

Purtroppo non ci fu un lieto fine:

Morrissey and I continued our dialogue and planned to meet up again. I went to Mexico with the Cribs, and then suddenly there was radio silence. Our communication ended, and things went back to how they were and how I expect they always will be.

Come Marr ha tenuto ad aggiungere, l’idea della reunion venne fuori così, senza una reale intenzione. Ciò che sappiamo è che tutti, TUTTI, T-U-T-T-I vorrebbero gli Smiths di nuovo insieme, anche senza un nuovo album.

Magari la speranza è l’ultima a morire.