"Redondo Beach" is a rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 song written by Patti Smith

Patti Smith

Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

, Richard Sohl

Richard Sohl

Richard Arthur Sohl was an American pianist, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy...

 and Lenny Kaye

Lenny Kaye

Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...

, and first released on Patti Smith's 1975 album Horses

Horses (album)

"Horses" is often cited as one of the greatest albums in music history. In 2003, the album was ranked number 44 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. NME named the album number 1 in its list "20 Near-as-Damn-It Perfect Initial Efforts"...

. Also published as a poem on Smith's 1972 book kodak

Kodak (book)

kodak is a poetry collection by Patti Smith, published in 1972.- Contents :# Untitled# "k.o.d.a.k."# "Star Fever"# Untitled # Untitled # "Radando Beach"# "Conch"# Untitled # "Balance"...

under title "Radando Beach".
The song is about a lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 who commits suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 after an argument with her girlfriend.

Cover Versions

The song had been part of Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

's live setlist throughout his December 2004 Arena Tour. "Redondo Beach / There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" was a double A-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 single released by Morrissey to promote his live album Live at Earls Court

Live at Earls Court

Live at Earls Court is a live album by Morrissey. Its sleeve notes state that it was "recorded live at Earls Court in London on the 18 December 2004 in front of 17,183 people."-Track listing:...

in 2005.

7" vinyl

1. "Redondo Beach" (live) (Patti Smith
   Patti Smith
   Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
   
   , Richard Sohl
   Richard Sohl
   Richard Arthur Sohl was an American pianist, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy...
   
   , Lenny Kaye
   Lenny Kaye
   Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
   
   ) – 4:07
2. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
   There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
   "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a song by the British alternative rock group The Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was originally featured on their third album The Queen Is Dead , and was released as a single in 1992, five years after The Smiths split up...
   
   " (live) (Johnny Marr
   Johnny Marr
   Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
   
   , Morrissey
   Morrissey
   Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
   
   ) – 4:50

CD single

1. "Redondo Beach" (live) (Patti Smith, Richard Sohl, Lenny Kaye) – 4:07
2. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (live) (Johnny Marr, Morrissey) – 4:50
3. "Noise Is the Best Revenge" (Janice Long session 2004) (Morrissey, Boz Boorer
   Boz Boorer
   Boz Boorer is a British guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group, The Polecats, and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey.-The Polecats:The band "Cult Heroes" was formed in 1977 by Tim Worman , Boz...
   
   ) - 4:03

DVD single

1. "Redondo Beach" (live) (Patti Smith, Richard Sohl, Lenny Kaye) – 4:07
2. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (live) (Johnny Marr, Morrissey) – 4:50
3. "It's Hard to Walk Tall When You're Small" (Janice Long session 2004) (Morrissey, Alain Whyte
   Alain Whyte
   Alain Gordon Whyte is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is most known for being Morrissey's main songwriting partner since 1991 and his lead guitarist from 1991-2004...
   
   )
4. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (live promotional video)
5. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (video taken from Manchester Evening News Arena)

Charts

Chart (2005)	Position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	11
Ireland Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	45
Sweden Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	33
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Eurochart Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles has been compiled by Billboard and Music & Media magazine since March, 1984. The chart is based on national singles sales charts in 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,...	41
Hot 100 Singles Sales Hot 100 Singles Sales The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...	10

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
UK United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	2005	Attack Records	7" vinyl Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...	ATKSE011
UK	2005	Attack Records	CD CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s... #1	ATKXS011
UK	2005	Attack Records	CD #2	ATKXD011