Officially Released Versions
Meat Is Murder album (February 1985) - Produced by The Smiths
"Barbarism..." was also released as a single (with "Shakespeare's Sister") in Germany and other countries.

Quintessential Bootleg Version
The most interesting version of this song was recorded at the Electric Ballroom, December 19, 1983, when it was played live for the first time. "Here's one for the bootlegs, friends," introduces Morrissey, before the band kicked off a chaotic version of the song. Morrissey sounds especially crazed, capping off the song with a mish-mash of lyrics which would soon disappear from the song forever, such as "I am the man to keep you in place" and "I've always been such a decent lad". Andy Rourke's distinctive bass line had not yet been fully formed at this time either. A fascinating snapshot of the song in its infancy.

Mike Joyce later reminisced with Andy Rourke about this show: ""Do you remember when we played it at the Electric Ballroom? It was what we first came on to when we were supporting The Fall, and Mozzer had been knocking the red wine back (laughs) and we got out there - first song of the set, support band, we've got to impress - and it was about 17 minutes long (Rourke nods sadly). Mozz kept going into that middle bit (sings the yodelling bit). Fuckin' on and on. Johnny kept coming over and looking at me, and every time he did it I thought, thank God, he's going to stop it. We were knackered. I started using my feet to save energy."

This version is available on the bootlegs Live At The Electric Ballroom (LP), Live at the Electric Ballroom, 19 December 1983 (LP), Electric Stars (LP), and Devils Charm (2LP).

Another interesting bootleg version of this song is the duet with Pete Burns at the Royal Albert Hall on April 6, 1985. This is available on the bootleg LP A Nice Bit Of Meat.

Critical Commentary
"... the only turkey on [Meat Is Murder] is the brave but lead-booted funk of 'Barbarism Begins At Home'." - Bill Black, Sounds
"'Barbarism Begins At Home' (a savage swipe at the taking of savage swipes at young children) [is] perhaps the plainest Smiths fare on this record. Just occasionally, the group are Smiths by nature as well as name, serving up standard rock with more efficiency than inspiration. Closing 'Barbarism', Andy Rourke's funkoid bass work-out is aimless in the context of an otherwise tightly-paced LP." - Paul Du Noyer, NME, February 16, 1985
"'Barbarism Begins At Home' cites current abused child theories, and then strikingly illustrates the point with the sinister sensuality of I'll-tickle-you-until-you-cry guitar from the ever-astute Marr - guitar that reprises again and again (each time you think it's over)." - Richard Riegel, Creem

Comtesse Review (as if you care)
I've never much cared for "Barbarism Begins At Home". The bass line is, of course, astounding - and it's an absolutely scandal that Johnny Marr claimed complete credit for writing the music, when the bass line IS the song, and that came completely from the mind of Andy Rourke. (I met Andy back in 1997 and asked him if he remembered writing that bassline. He smiled and nodded and said that yes, he was quite pleased when he came up with that one. He knew he'd nailed it.) But of course, Morrissey & Marr being the greedy little bastards that they are, they would not share the writing credits with Rourke. In any event, the music is great, but the lyrics and vocals are dull and repetitive. The whole song goes on about three minutes too long, and turn the end of Meat Is Murder (along with the equally dull title track) into a snore-fest. The bootleg version from the Electric Ballroom is much more fun than the recorded version, but the song is still a bit of a snooze.