This song was only performed live once on 1 October 1985, at Eden Court in Inverness, on the final day of their 1985 Scotland tour. A piano was found on stage during soundcheck and the venue management refused to move it off stage. Morrissey performed the song and by the end of it was centre stage in a foetal position.[1]
Track listing
7-inch RT191
No.
Title
Length
1.
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
3:17
2.
"Asleep"
4:09
12-inch RTT191
No.
Title
Length
1.
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
3:17
2.
"Rubber Ring/Asleep"
7:56
CD Single RTT191
No.
Title
Length
1.
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
3:17
2.
"Rubber Ring"
3:48
3.
"Asleep"
4:10
The original 12-inch and CD singles have "Rubber Ring" and "Asleep" segued into a continuous piece with the voice sample at the end of the former looped and faded into the wind noise preceding the latter. Described by Simon Goddard (in Songs That Saved Your Life, 2nd edition, p. 154) as a "spectacular combination" — a suggestion with which Johnny Marr concurs — this carefully executed sequence could only be found on the original 12-inch and CD singles, before the 2017 release of the remaster/re-issue of The Queen Is Dead, which includes the same songs with the same segue as tracks 10 and 11 (respectively) of its "Additional Recordings" bonus disc. The two tracks are separated on all other compilations.
