How Soon Is Now?
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
There’s a club if you’d like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home and you cry
And you want to die
When you say it’s gonna happen “now”
Well when exactly do you mean?
See I’ve already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
In 2024, Martin Kierszenbaum posted about the song on his Instagram:
Recording t.A.T.u.’s version of The Smiths’ classic “How Soon Is Now?” involved just a little bit of pressure.
The group had a rocket ship in “All Things She Said” which was shooting up the charts around the world at the time and we were under deadline to deliver the full album. I was racing back and forth from my house to the studio in LA and always transporting different instruments. In the haste, I cracked my acoustic guitar by dropping it on the front stoop (I still used it to record the album). We needed a heartbeat sound. Wait, I had just the right machine to create it. And the iconic guitar motif? Well, I played it using a little Yamaha travel guitar I’d found in Toronto and ran it through a Line 6 rack mount unit. Oh, tube amp aficionados will grimace. But, it sounded wicked. Then again, Robert Orton, aka @thehitmixer – engineer, mixer and my co-producer on this track – can make just about anything sound wicked.
We recorded Julia’s and Lena’s inspired vocals and the track was sounding great. But, I felt there was something missing. I thought about it, searched for it. No luck. It wasn’t going to be better than The Smiths’ original, of course, but it had to be great in its own right. It hit me: Piano! I played a contrapuntal line on it which weaved across the vocal melody in the chorus. It felt great.
Robert mixed the song and we got the album out in time. It ended up selling over 5 million copies, but perhaps the most unexpected thing – other than the fact that people continue to listen to it and send me notes about it to this day – is that Morrissey himself likes to play this very version of “How Soon Is Now?” before he takes the stage at his own shows – a huge honor.
Shout out and much gratitude to Julia and Lena who brought their distinctive talent to this special recording.
Thank you to the extraordinary Robert Orton, my dear friend and long-time musical collaborator, to all of the avid listeners and steadfast t.A.T.u. champions and, of course, to Morrissey and The Smiths for the beautiful song.
(https://www.instagram.com/p/C45nFA-M-aL/?hl=en&img_index=1)