There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Soul Music
BBC
4.7 • 831 Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2014
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' by The Smiths is explored through personal stories.
Released in 1986 on 'The Queen Is Dead' album, it's become an anthem of hope, loss and love.
As a teenager, Andy listened to it with his father, as he drove him to work. They had a moment of connection, and when his father died suddenly a few weeks later, the song took on huge significance.
When her young son was ill, Sharon Woolley drew strength from this music as she sat by his bedside in the small hours of the morning.
For comic artist Lucy Knisley, the song got her through a bad break-up with her long-term boyfriend - and it's meaning changed for her when unexpected events unfolded.
Also featuring:
Mike Garry Teddy Jameison Mark Gatiss Simon Goddard
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.1 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.2 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse range of skills and strengths, |
| 0:23.0 | we have trained journalists, people who love digging through archives, |
| 0:26.6 | we've got drama and even comedy experts. |
| 0:28.9 | We really can do those stories justice. |
| 0:31.5 | So if you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds |
| 0:34.2 | where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:44.2 | One of the things I loved about the Smith songs was that there was rain in them. |
| 0:48.5 | And it wasn't a romantic rain, it was just a wet rain. |
| 0:53.8 | My name is Teddy Jameson and I'm a journalist. |
| 0:58.4 | In 1986 I do remember I just graduated and I was doing nothing with my life. |
| 1:05.0 | I was unemployed, spending my days, wandering around the town with nothing very much to do. |
| 1:12.4 | I had no job. I had no prospects. I was living in a B&B at the time. The highlight of my day was going back to the digs and |
| 1:17.8 | getting my meal, which I never liked, but it was a highlight anyway. I do remember one day, |
| 1:21.9 | I was sitting on a bench, end of a miserable day in a miserable summer, and a guy in his |
| 1:27.3 | 20s maybe came along |
| 1:28.4 | and was carrying a boombox. |
| 1:30.4 | As he was approaching it, I could hear the smiths |
| 1:32.7 | and it was there as a light that never goes out. |
... |
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