Patti Smith’s Horses – my favourite record for much of my life – plays a part in a couple of key scenes in Wim Wenders’ wonderful film Perfect Days.

In particular this wistful song, whose jaunty reggae-like tune provides a kind of light relief after the intensity of the long title track – even though its lyric is sad and slightly sinister.

Smith wrote it as a poem in 1971 following a row with her sister Linda, who subsequently disappeared for the day, causing Patti to fear for her safety – and, judging by its lyric about a young woman who drowns after at the beach after a quarrel with the narrator, feared for the very worst.

It first appeared (as ‘Redando Beach’) in her 1972 poetry collection ‘kodak’, long before Horses came out.

I remember the first time I saw Patti Smith live, at The Roundhouse in 1976 (and on many subsequent occasions), she used to present the song as having a lesbian theme, with the introduction: “Redondo Beach… is a beach… where… women… love… other women.”

Perhaps that’s what attracted the attention of Morrissey, who I only now discover, performed Redondo Beach – and released it as a 2005 solo. I rather wish I hadn’t heard it now; especially as he gets the words of the very first line wrong. The prick.