Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of former Smiths, Modest Mouse and Cribs' guitarist Johnny Marr 's debut solo album. "We're all messengers, aren't we?" he said to NME of the song. "It can be a gesture, positive or negative, it can be the ultimate act of selfless love. As a brother, sister, musician, famous person, whatever, you're still a messenger."
• The Messenger album has a central theme of the environments you live in shaping the person you are. Marr explained to The Sun: "It's about how the ideas you have leaving school are pretty much the ideas that stick with you. The notions that I had about music, work, teachers, politicians have not changed. It's about life and being wide awake and having energy in the life around you."
• Johnny Marr finally stepped out from behind his guitar to release his debut solo album at the age of 49. Billboard magazine asked him what took him so long? "The time just seemed right now," Marr replied. "I've really enjoyed everything I've done so far. All the collaborations have been great. I just think that after the last few years of a couple of bands and touring, touring, touring, and then doing that movie soundtrack (for Inception), I was able to get into a different sort of frame of mind. I guess the important thing is I built up a lot of ideas of what I wanted to say and my impression of how I wanted it to sound. All these things just fell into place at the right time, I guess."
• When Johnny Marr was a member of The Cribs he used to play this song's guitar line as a warmup in dressing rooms and at soundchecks on their 2010 tour. "No one pounced on it," he told Uncut magazine. "I knew it was a song waiting to be written. It became the signature sound of my solo career. I am grateful to the riff gods for giving it to me."