What Difference Does It Make?

"What Difference Does It Make?" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was the band's third single and is featured on their debut album, The Smiths. A different version, recorded for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1, is included in the compilation album Hatful of Hollow.

"What Difference Does It Make?"
Single by the Smiths
from the album The Smiths
B-side
  • "Back to the Old House"
  • "These Things Take Time"
Released16 January 1984
RecordedOctober 1983
StudioPluto (Manchester, England)
Genre
Length
  • 3:51 (album version)
  • 3:25 (single edit)
LabelRough Trade
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)John Porter
The Smiths singles chronology
"This Charming Man"
(1983)		 "What Difference Does It Make?"
(1984)		 "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The song was one of the band's first significant chart hits, peaking at No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart.

Background

The character Ray Smith in the Jack Kerouac novel The Dharma Bums repeatedly says "What difference does it make?" as well as "Pretty girls make graves", the title of another track featured on The Smiths.

"What Difference Does It Make?" was released without an accompanying music video. Speaking to Tony Fletcher on The Tube in 1984, Morrissey remarked that he felt that the video market was something that was going to "die very quickly", and that he wanted to "herald the death" of it.[2]

Cover artwork
The original cover artwork with Morrissey re-enacting the image of Terence Stamp

The single cover is a photograph of Terence Stamp, taken on the set of the film The Collector. Originally Stamp denied permission for the still to be used, and some pressings featured Morrissey in a re-enacted scene. In the re-enactment, Morrissey is holding a glass of milk, as opposed to a chloroform pad in the original. However, Stamp soon changed his mind, and the original cover was reinstated.

Track listings
7-inch RT146
No.TitleLength
1."What Difference Does It Make?" (single edit)3:25
2."Back to the Old House"3:04
12-inch RTT146/CD RTT146CD
No.TitleLength
1."What Difference Does It Make?"3:50
2."Back to the Old House"3:04
3."These Things Take Time"2:20

Personnel

Charts
Chart Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[3] 12
UK Singles (OCC)[4] 12

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[5] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "What Difference Does it Make rating". Allmusic. Retrieved on 29 October 2012.
  2. The Tube interview with Tony Fletcher 27 January 1984. Channel 4. The Haçienda, Manchester
  3. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – What Difference Does It Make?". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  4. "The Smiths: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. "British single certifications – Smiths – What Difference Does It Make". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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