The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out Lyrics Meaning

This song may be packaged as a happy love song, featuring upbeat guitar strums and orchestral melodies, but inside the pretty package is the thoughts and feelings of someone who is depressed. "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" disguises itself as a love song, particularly in its earliest stages of infatuation and excitement, when the true meaning of the song isn't hidden at all, in fact, it's hiding in plain sight. The title itself screams depression, for seeing life as something that will never end or a "light that never goes out", is a strange way to describe something as simple as love. Therefore, by accepting that this song is simply a love song, and explaining the lyrics about death by saying that the protagonist is so incredibly happy, that they could die next to their lover, you are completely overlooking the fearful undertones, repetitious lyrics, the style of Marrisey's voice, and the sheer nature of this song! In the first verse, "there's people and they're young and alive", alive is key. Why would he say "alive"? It's an unusual way to describe wanting to be around young people having fun. Everyone is alive, not everyone is living, there's a distinct difference. An organism is dead or alive, but living is more a way of life, excitement and experience, but being alive is much more life vs death, the word choice matters here. And in the second verse again, "I want to see life", and how this hopelessness has taken over his "home", he's begging for a reason to live, wants to see a reason to be alive, to continue life, etc. The obvious lyrics about crashing into a bus I need not address, but what gets to me the most is the pleading and indifference (simultaneously) in Morrissey's voice when he repeats "take me anywhere I don't care I don't care I don't care". While yes this could mean he is so infatuated with the person he doesn't care where they go, but, if he is simply in love with a person how can you explain dying as a "pleasure" when if you're actually in love you want it to never end, you want it to last forever, and I can never get past the exhaustion in his voice with the "I don't care"s, it's so telling of what is truly going on here. And also, it ends with nine, yes NINE receptions of "there is a light and it never goes out", and the wording of that is telling, you wait for something to "go out" and if it "never" goes out, that means you are impatient and eager for it to go out, which is not love, that is depression, and wanting life to end. So overall, yes there are elements of love in this song, but it is so much more than that. I see it as a person who's desperately trying to find a reason to live, and may have found a person who brings him some happiness, and is hopeful they will allow him to recognize and truly see other people who are "alive", take him to (a place) (a state of being, a mindset) where he is able to see "life". (not in the literal sense, in the metaphorical). And under this light, the musical arrangement and lyrics put together just make sense, so this song is many things all at once, but we shouldn't dismiss it as just a love song.