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"Girlfriend in a Coma" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was the first of three UK singles from the band's fourth and final studio album "Strangeways", Here We Come. Inspired by the song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Girlfriend in a Coma" features a lilting acoustic guitar line performed by Marr and lyrics about a hospital-bound lover sung by Morrissey.
"Girlfriend in a Coma" was released as a single in August 1987, it reached reaching number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. The single infamously features a cover of the Cilla Black song "Work Is a Four-Letter Word" on the B-side, a decision made by Morrissey that infuriated Marr to the point that it became a reason for the band's break-up in the aftermath of the single's release. As a result, Morrissey appears alone in the song's music video.
"Girlfriend in a Coma" has seen critical acclaim for Marr's guitar work and Morrissey's witty lyricism. It has since appeared on multiple compilation albums and has been ranked by music writers as one of the band's best songs.
The song's lyrics are told from the perspective of a man whose girlfriend is a coma after an accident. The singer's anxiety is balanced by his memories of the bad times in lyrics such as "There were times when I could have murdered her/But you know I would hate anything to happen to her. The song quotes the Four Seasons' "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)," a song that reached number one in the UK when covered by the Bay City Rollers. The repeated assertion "I know it's serious" is undercut by his careless tone and "the light playful accompaniment by the other members of the band". Armond White of Rolling Stone calls "Girlfriend" a song about AIDS which responds "to the crisis that took the lives and broke the hearts of so many friends and lovers" during the 1980s.
"Girlfriend in a Coma" was one of two songs on "Strangeways" selected to receive music videos. The song's video saw moderate success on MTV, though it only featured Morrissey, as the band had disbanded before the videos could be made. The music video, which was directed by Tim Broad, featured clips from the 1964 film The Leather Boys—as stated by White, the scene present in the music video depicts "a young man (Colin Campbell) who marries too soon and faces doubts about his masculinity, egged-on by his equally immature wife (Rita Tushingham)".
Morrissey was hesitant to take part in the videos, but was implored by Rough Trade's Geoff Travis to participate in order to boost the album's singles. Morrissey recalled in his autobiography, "Tim Broad steps in to make sense of it all, hotch-podging two videos for both 'Girlfriend in a Coma' and 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before'. The results for both are frustratingly unwatchable, although Tim did his beast with such a mealy-mouthed budget."
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