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There is a light that never goes out: is a Smiths reunion genuinely impossible?

Relations between Morrissey and Johnny Marr seem at their lowest ebb following disagreements over trademarks and reissues. But fans will hold out hope nonetheless

Inaccurately thought of as fey and/or moping, they were musically tough and dynamic, and coupled with Morrissey’s devastatingly funny and emotionally daring lyrics: such waspishness, keen feeling and intense energy was arguably not the stuff of long, serene careers. The band split in 1987, amid a lack of management plus the usual excess and creative differences: Marr said he “didn’t form a group to perform Cilla Black songs”, as latterly proposed by Morrissey, though you rather feel the Cilla-free and astoundingly good final LP Strangeways, Here We Come suggests that there might have been more to it. Despite the very material differences between Morrissey and Marr, and the evidently worn patience of both parties in their respective clipped tones this month, rock’n’roll carries enough mythos to make fans keep the faith.

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