I might be the only one who gets this, but when you listen to [artist]The Smiths[/artist], do you feel a nagging sense of disappointment? Of a great opportunity missed? They often strike me as a group that could have been wonderful, but were sucked down by a lack of musical imagination. 

My primary concern is an inability to write a delicate song. Pretty much every single song is placed on an oompah-oompah bassline, even the delicate ones. Morrissey is so wrapped in sounding arch and aloof he refuses to stoop to showing any emotion or vulnerability. The result of this is that dozens of musicians have done Smiths covers that far outstrip the originals. Compare, for instance, [track artist=Scott Matthews]The Boy With the Thorn in his Side[/track] (MP3 available [url=http://news.q4music.com/2007/06/track_of_the_day_14.html]from Q Magazine's website[/url] to the original [track artist=The Smiths]The Boy With the Thorn in his Side[/track]. Or [track artist=Joshua Radin]Girlfriend in a Coma[/track] with [track artist=The Smiths]Girlfriend in a Coma[/track]. Both of which approach the originals with the tenderness that was always there and bring it to the surface. The original Girlfriend in a Coma plods along and stirs nothing, while the original Boy With the Thorn runs ahead of itself in a mad dash for the end, like it's willing it to be over. If only they'd stopped, maybe listened to some [artist]Fleetwood Mac[/artist] or [artist]Nick Drake[/artist], and realised "It doesn't have to be like this." 

To their credit they scrapped the oompah sound for [track artist=The Smiths]How Soon is Now?[/track] but [artist]Morrissey[/artist] refuses to come down from his high horse, sounding arrogant, bored, and vacant. Compare that to [artist]t.A.T.u.[/artist]'s - t.A.T.u.'s! - rendition ([track artist=t.A.T.u.]How Soon is Now?[/track]) where they manage to sound like they actually care that they're crippled with loneliness. A pair of manufactured faux-lesbians stir more emotions than Manchester's most venerated poet. They had another stab with [track artist=The Smiths]There is a Light[/track] and actually knocked out a fairly decent bit of pop, but [artist]Neil Hannon[/artist] had a crack at it and made [track artist=The Divine Comedy]There is a Light[/track] which matches the mood of darkened underpasses and being crippled with shyness far more. 

The saddest thing of all is that The Smiths weren't oblivious to this. It's not like they couldn't do it. [track artist=The Smiths]Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me[/track] gets it all right; a languorous introduction followed by a crash of guitars, followed by a kind of astronomical, open bit of music with tinkly peals of guitar. On top of this sits Morrissey's vocals where for once I can believe that he had his miserable existence brightened through his dreams. The sarcasm is put aside and the emotion shines through. Sadly, such tracks are the exception rather than the rule. It seems The Smiths are destined to always disappoint, and be remembered as a group that didn't realise how high they could reach.