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| Please Please Please Let Me Get What I WantThe Smiths |
Writer(s): Johnny Marr, Morrissey (see lyrics here) Released: August 24, 1984 Peak: 9 CO, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 13.0 video, 202.81 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:I discovered the Smiths in 1986 because of this song. It is a mournful plea “written from the perspective of someone in desperate need of some good luck.” SF It appeared on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack along with some of the other staples of college rock such as New Order, INXS, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Psychedelic Furs, and Orchestra Manoeuvres in the Dark. Like those other groups, though, the Smiths were already well established in the UK. I just hadn’t caught up yet. The Smiths formed in Manchester, England in 1982. Lead singer Morrissey gave the group clever lyrics that were simultaneously maudlin and toe-tapping and Johnny Marr backed it with his jangly guitar. When Pretty in Pink came out, the Smiths had two albums under their belt and would release their classic The Queen Is Dead by year’s end. In the tradition of great British ‘60s groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the Smiths were adamant about treating albums and singles as different products. That meant the songs that climbed the charts in the UK (and were ignored stateside) were rarely featured on their albums. Their first two singles – 1983’s “Hand in Glove” and “This Charming Man” have become new wave staples. In the case of “Please Please Please,” however, it wasn’t even a single. Instead, it was the B-side of “William, It Was Really Nothing,” which reached #17 in the UK in 1984. Morrissey later said, “Hiding it away on a B-side was sinful.” SF He explained that the record company, Rough Trade, asked “Where’s the rest of the song?” Morrissey, however, defended the length (just shy of two minutes) as “a very brief punch in the face [and] lengthening the song would, to my mind, have simply been explaining the blindingly obvious.” SF After the Pretty in Pink soundtrack introduced me to the Smiths, I was ready to embrace them. In early 1987, they released Louder Than Bombs, a career-retrospective of their non-album singles and B-sides. It was a U.S. release that consolidated much of the material featured on the UK collections Hatful of Hollow and The World Won’t Listen into one double album. It became a pivotal album for me, introducing me to treasures such as “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” and “Half a Person” which had managed to fly under my radar upon their initial release. However, it was “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” which would always remain my favorite. Resources:
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First posted 12/10/2022. |
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