The Smiths: A Retrospective, 1982-1988

The Smiths A Retrospective: 1982-1988

Overview: The Smiths were an alternative-rock band that formed in Manchester, England in 1982. They only lasted five years but had a significant impact on the British independent music scene and the American college-rock movement. The Smiths released only four studio albums over their short career from 1984 to 1987. However, it was only months “after releasing their first album, [that] the Smiths issued the singles and rarities collection Hatful of Hollow, establishing” HH a “funny, annoying, and/or incredible thing about both the Smiths and Morrissey” WL – “a tradition of repackaging their material as many times and as quickly as possible.” HH This may not be entirely troublesome to Smiths fanatics, however, since “many people consider the Morrissey/Marr duo to be the last great songwriting team [hence] any release by the Smiths is indispensable” WL to “any die-hard fan of the Smiths.” WL Besides, “many of their finest songs were never issued on their studio albums” HH because “the Smiths treated singles as individual entities, not just ways to promote an album.” HH The Players Morrissey (vocals) Johnny Marr (guitar, et al) Andy Rourke (bass) Mike Joyce (drums, percussion) On the Web: Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Songs: The Smiths/Morrissey www.OfficialSmiths.co.uk (official site) Facebook Wikipedia

Awards

Studio Albums

Compilations/Archives/Live Albums HH Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84, released 1984) R Rank (live, recorded 1986, released 1988) WL The World Won’t Listen (archives: 1984-87, released 1987) LB Louder Than Bombs (archives: 1983-87, released 1987) VB The Very Best of (compilation: 1983-87, released 2001) Spotify Playlist Here’s my Singles 1983-1987 playlist at Spotify for The Smiths. Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. Click for codes to charts.

The Smiths The Smiths

Released: February 20, 1984 Peak: 150 US, 2 UK, 65 CN, 77 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: college rock Rating: 3.930 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings)

Tracks: Reel Around the Fountain HH You’ve Got Everything Now HH Miserable Lie Pretty Girls Make Graves The Hand That Rocks the Cradle This Charming Man HH, VB Still Ill HH, R, VB Hand in Glove HH, LB, VB What Difference Does It Make? HH, VB I Don’t Owe You Anything Suffer Little Children About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

Hatful of Hollow (archives) The Smiths

Recorded: 1983-84 Released: November 12, 1984 Peak: -- US, 7 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.13 US, 0.3 UK, 0.43 world (includes US + UK) Genre: college rock Rating: 4.414 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) William, It Was Really Nothing (2) What Difference Does It Make? * (3) These Things Take Time * (4) This Charming Man * (5) How Soon Is Now? (6) Handsome Devil * (7) Hand in Glove (8) Still Ill * (9) Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now (10) This Night Has Opened My Eyes * (11) You’ve Got Everything Now * (12) Accept Yourself * (13) Girl Afraid (14) Back to the Old House * (15) Reel Around the Fountain * (16) Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want Total Running Time: 56:11 About the Album: This was an odd collection gathering some of the Smiths’ early singles and B-sides alongside BBC recordings (marked with an asterisk). The BBC recordings are of cuts that first appeared on The Smiths’ self-titled debut album. They “are nervy and raw – and they’re also not the selling point of the record.” HH Instead, this collection deservers celebration because it includes a fair share of “classics, including the sweet rush of William, It Was Really Nothing, and the sardonic Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, the tongue-in-cheek lament of Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, the wistful Back to the Old House, [and] Girl Afraid.” HH “With such strong material forming the core of the album, it’s little wonder that Hatful of Hollow is as consistent as The Smiths and arguably captures the excitement surrounding the band even better.” HH

Meat Is Murder The Smiths

Released: February 11, 1985 Peak: 110 US, 11 UK, 40 CN, 58 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.10 US Genre: college rock Rating: 3.765 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

Tracks: The Headmaster Ritual Rusholme Ruffians R I Want the One I Can’t Have What She Said R That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore WL, VB How Soon Is Now? HH, VB Nowhere Fast Well I Wonder Barbarism Begins at Home Meat Is Murder About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

The Queen Is Dead The Smiths

Released: June 28, 1986 Peak: 70 US, 2 UK, 29 CN, 30 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.85 US, 0.3 UK, 1.25 world (includes US and UK) Genre: college rock Rating: 4.638 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings)

Tracks: The Queen Is Dead/ Take Me Back to Dear Old Blightly (medley) R Frankly, Mr. Shankly I Know It’s Over R, VB Never Had No One Ever Cemetry Gates R Bigmouth Strikes Again R, WL, VB The Boy with the Thorn in His Side R, WL, VB Vicar in a Tutu R There Is a Light That Never Goes Out WL, VB Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others VB About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

Rank (live) The Smiths

Recorded: October 23, 1986 Released: September 5, 1988 Peak: 77 US, 2 UK, 82 CN, 33 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.10 UK Genre: college rock Rating: 3.793 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)

Tracks: (1) The Queen Is Dead (2) Panic (3) Vicar in a Tutu (4) Ask (5) His Latest Flame / Rusholme Ruffians (Medley) (6) The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (7) Rubber Ring / What She Said (Medley) (8) Is It Really So Strange? (9) Cemetry Gates (10) London (11) I Know It’s Over (12) The Draize Train (13) Still Ill (14) Bigmouth Strikes Again About the Album: This live album was recorded during the supporting tour for The Queen Is Dead but wasn’t released until 1988 after the band broke up.

The World Won’t Listen (archives) The Smiths

Recorded: 1984-87 Released: February 23, 1987 Peak: -- US, 2 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: college rock Rating: 4.011 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

Tracks: (1) Panic (2) Ask (3) London (4) Bigmouth Strikes Again (5) Shakespeare’s Sister (6) There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (7) Shoplifters of the World Unite (8) The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (9) Money Changes Everything (10) Asleep (11) Unloveable (12) Half a Person (13) Stretch Out and Wait (14) That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore (15) Oscillate Wildly (16) You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby (17) Rubber Ring Total Running Time: 59:26 About the Album: In 1987, Rough Trade released this UK-only collection of singles (including those from the Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead albums) and B-sides. “Shakespeare’s Sister, Panic, Ask, [and] Shoplifters of the World Unite…are all definitive, as are “the sneering, bouncing pop of You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” LB and “the elegiac Unloveable, Asleep, Stretch Out and Wait, and Half a Person.” LB

Louder Than Bombs (archives) The Smiths

Recorded: 1983-87 Released: March 30, 1987 Peak: 62 US, 38 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: college rock Rating: 4.552 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Is It Really So Strange? (2) Sheila Take a Bow (3) Shoplifters of the World Unite (4) Sweet and Tender Hooligan (5) Half a Person (6) London (7) Panic (8) Girl Afraid (9) Shakespeare’s Sister (10) William, It Was Really Nothing (11) You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby (12) Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now (13) Ask (14) Golden Lights (15) Oscillate Wildly (16) These Things Take Time (17) Rubber Ring (18) Back to the Old House (19) Hand in Glove (20) Stretch Out and Wait (21) Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (22) This Night Has Opened My Eyes (23) Unloveable (24) Asleep Total Running Time: 72:44 About the Album: In 1987, neither Hatful of Hollow nor The World Won’t Listen were available in the U.S. American audiences were thus treated to this 24-track package which featured 13 cuts from Listen and 8 from Hollow. It “makes the record a little redundant for most Smiths fans.” LB However, it “boasts a wealth of brilliant material” LB and “mostly does a great service by tidying up the Hollow and Listen collections. By whittling out the songs on those collections that appeared on the Smiths’ studio albums, Bombs fits neatly beside the studio albums without overlap. The one exception is the presence of Hand in Glove, the band’s first single. This seems an odd choice since there were still three non-album cuts (Handsome Devil, Accept Yourself, and Money Changes Everything) from Hollow and Listen that weren’t transported over to Bombs. Bombs also adds “the bizarre travelogue of Is It Really So Strange?,” LB Sheila Take a Bow, and Sweet and Tender Hooligan, all of which rank with the Smiths’ best. In fact, in the opinion of the DMDB, Bombs showcases the best of the Smiths throughout their career, making it the ideal launch pad for beginners even more so than any of their official studio albums.

Strangeways, Here We Come The Smiths

Released: September 22, 1987 Peak: 55 US, 2 UK, 27 CN, 28 AU, 2 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.50 US, 0.10 UK, 0.60 world (includes US and UK) Genre: college rock Rating: 4.024 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)

Tracks: A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish VB Death of a Disco Dancer Girlfriend in a Coma VB Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before VB Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me VB Unhappy Birthday Paint a Vulgar Picture Death at One’s Elbow I Won’t Share You About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

The Very Best of (compilation) The Smiths

Recorded: 1983-1987 Released: June 4, 2001 Peak: -- US, 30 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.3 UK Genre: college rock Rating: 4.412 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

Tracks: (1) Panic (2) The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (3) Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now (4) Ask (5) Bigmouth Strikes Again (6) How Soon Is Now? (7) This Charming Man (8) What Difference Does It Make? (9) William, It Was Really Nothing (10) Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (11) Girlfriend in a Coma (12) Hand in Glove (13) There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (14) Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (15) That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore (16) I Know It’s Over (17) Sheila Take a Bow (18) I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish (19) Still Ill (20) Shakespeare’s Sister (21) Shoplifters of the World Unite (22) Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (23) Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before Total Running Time: 78:34 About the Album: For a group that only released four studio albums, there are WAY too many compilations out there, including Best…I, Best…II, Singles, The Sound of the Smiths, AND the three B-side collections highlighted on this page. This is the one that makes the most sense and gathers the biggest and best for the casual fan.

Resources/References: HH All Music Guide review of Hatful of Hollow by Stephen Thomas Erlewine LB All Music Guide review of Louder Than Bombs by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WL All Music Guide review of The World Won’t Listen by Tim DiGravina Related DMDB Links: First posted 4/27/2008; last updated 9/20/2026.

The Smiths released their debut album

The Smiths The Smiths

Released: February 20, 1984 Peak: 150 US, 2 UK, 65 CN, 77 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: college rock

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Reel Around the Fountain [5:58] You’ve Got Everything Now [3:59] Miserable Lie [4:29] Pretty Girls Make Graves [3:44] The Hand That Rocks the Cradle [4:38] This Charming Man [2:41] * Still Ill [3:23] Hand in Glove [3:25] What Difference Does It Make? [3:51] I Don’t Owe You Anything [4:05] Suffer Little Children [5:28] * Added to US LP/cassette and UK cassette. Total Running Time: 45:36 Other Songs from This Era: Handsome Devil These Things Take Time Accept Yourself This Night Has Opened My Eyes Back to the Old House Jeane Wonderful Woman The Players: Morrissey (vocals) Johnny Marr (guitar, etc.) Andy Rourke (bass) Mike Joyce (drums)

Rating: 3.930 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Arrival of The Smiths “The Smiths were reminiscent of early R.E.M.: they were arty, they appealed to students, had unusual lyrics, plenty of Rickenbacker jangle, an unconventional vocalist, and a healthy contempt for chart formulas.” TB “They looked like nothing else on the UK music scene. Singer Morrissey was the anti-rock star, with a bunch of gladioli hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans and sporting a pari of National Health Service glasses. His lyrics were allusive, anguished, and droll…His melodies were free of blues inflections, one reason why the music sounds so English.” TB Expectations for the Smiths’ debut album were high after “their acclaimed debut single Hand in Glove in 1983.” TG-12 “Pop fans all over the UK thought that their upcoming debut album would be something really spectacular.” TG-12 Recording the Debut Album Unfortunately, the first attempt didn’t go so well. Geoff Travis, the label boss for Rough Trade, paired the band with Troy Tate, the former guitarist with The Teardrop Explodes, as their producer. They recorded fourteen songs together but they “were deemed too bad to release – they just didn’t capture the band’s energetic live sound in a good way.” TG-12 The band turned then to John Porter, who they met while recording a BBC session. The results were “more acceptable…[but] far from great.” TG-12 Nonetheless, the album became what Morrissey humbly called a “landmark in the history of pop.” TG-13 The Reception “Arriving in an era dominated by synth pop and gloomy post-punk, the Smiths’ eponymous debut was the bracing beginning of a new era.” AM “On the surface, the Smiths’ sound wasn’t radically different from traditional British guitar pop – Johnny Marr’s ringing, layered guitars were catchy and melodic – but it was actually an astonishing subversion of the form, turning the structure inside out.” AM Their first album is a showcase for “Morrissey’s morose wit and Johnny Marr’s guitar chime.” RS “Marr’s inventive songwriting was made all the more original and innovative by Morrissey’s crooning and lyrics” AM, “cultivated from a batch of Morrissey’s diaries.” CL The Songs “Writing about unconventional topics, from homosexuality (Hand in Glove) to child molestation and murder, Morrissey had a distinctively ironic, witty, and literate viewpoint whose strangeness was accentuated by his off-kilter voice, which would move from a croon to a yelp in a matter of seconds.” AM “Very few of the songs followed conventional verse-chorus structure, yet they were quite melodic within their own right” AM and the “juxtaposing of [Morrissey’s] lopsided grin of gloom and the light doodling of [Marr’s] almost always perfectly placed guitar was virtually unheard of.” CL “Reference points were rare, apart from Morrissey’s adopted Oscar Wilde demeanor, to which the press clung with a morbid fascination. It remains a delicate set of knowing quaffs and rounded, innocent eyes, beguiling the listener with some wonderfully crafted pop – when they weren’t laughing behind their hands.” CL “While the production of The Smiths is a little pristine, the songs are vital and alive, developing a new, unique voice within pop music. Though the Smiths continued to improve over the course of their career, their debut remains startling and exciting.” AM Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs featured on The Smiths as well as other songs recorded during this era.

Hand in Glove The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 2/27/1983 at Strawberry, Stockport, England Released: 5/13/83 (single), The Smiths (1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), Louder Than Bombs (archives: 1983-87), The Very Best of (compilation: 1983-87, released 2001) B-side: “Handsome Devil” (live) Peak: 19 CO, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 58.79 streaming About the Song: This was the debut single for The Smiths. “The single version has a fade-in and fade-out, and Rourke’s bass is a bit louder in the mix here. The version later included on the album was remixed by John Porter from the original tapes, recorded in 10cc’s Strawberry Studios in early 1983 and has a cold start.” TG-10 Morrissey has said the line “Yes, we may be hidden by rags / But we’ve something they’ll never have” is his favorite of his lyrics. TG-10

Handsome Devil The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 2/4/1983 live at the Hacienda in Manchester; 5/18/1983 at John Peel session for BBC Released: 5/13/1983 (B-side of “Hand in Glove”), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 23.82 streaming About the Song: The version of this song that was released as a B-side for “Hand in Glove” was recorded live at the Hacienda in Manchester on 2/4/1983. It was also recorded for the BBC at a John Peel session on 5/18/1983. “It’s a great song and a good example of the more energetic early Smiths sound.” TG-10 “The lyrics made this one of the songs accused of having pedophilic tendencies…but Morrissey insisted that the ‘essence of the song’ was in the final two lines – the now-classic: ‘There’s more to life than books, you know / But not much more.’” TG-10

What Difference Does It Make? The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 5/18/1983 at John Peel session for BBC, October 1983 at Pluto studio in Manchester, England Released: 1/16/1984 (single), The Smiths (1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), The Very Best of (compilation: 1983-87, released 2001) B-side: “Back to the Old House,” “These Things Take Time” Peak: 5 CO, 12 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 65.31 streaming About the Song: This was the third single from The Smiths. Its #12 peak in the UK was their highest charter yet. The band, however, wasn’t actually happy about it and dropped it from their setlists. The version recorded for the Peel session is commonly viewed as superior because it captured “the band’s live energy in a much better way.” TG-15

Reel Around the Fountain The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 5/18/1983 at John Peel session for BBC Released: The Smiths (1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84) Peak: 35 CO Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 37.62 streaming About the Song: “The album kicks off with one of those controversial songs, with lyrics that were reportedly pedophilic.” TG-13 “Morrissey strongly denied the accusation, and it blew over.” TG-13 “The song was originally planned to be The Smiths’ second single, but when the label heard the new song ‘This Charming Man’…they changed their mind.” TG-13 “Musically, the song starts off with Joyce’s steady drumbeat and then evolves into one of the slower songs on the album. The song also features one of the rare guest appearances on a Smiths record, as Paul Carrack…plays the piano and organ.” TG-13

These Things Take Time The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 6/26/1983 at David Jensen session for BBC Released: 1/16/1984 (B-side of “What Difference Does It Make?”), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), Louder Than Bombs (archives: 1983-87) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.27 streaming About the Song: “This is another one of Morrissey’s lyrics about wanting love and never seeming to obtain it.” TG-41 The song first showed up as a B-side on the 12” version of “What Difference Does It Make?”

You’ve Got Everything Now The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 6/26/1983 at David Jensen session for BBC Released: The Smiths (1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 34.26 streaming About the Song: “This, a fairly straightforward pop song, features some really classic Morrissey lyrics…In interviews, he often talked about how he could never imagine working for a living (that is, having a ‘regular’ job), and this song is surely a comment on this, as well as on how he saw the world around him turning more and more materialistic and that riches don’t make people happy.” TG-13

Accept Yourself The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 8/25/1983 at David Jensen session for BBC Released: 10/31/1983 (B-side of “This Charming Man”), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.72 streaming About the Song: “This song was planned to be included on the debut album at the time of the recordings with Troy Tate that were later scrapped, but was later placed on this B-side when it was re-recorded with John Porter. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, with Morrissey telling the listeners to be themselves, no matter what. Musically, Marr has admitted that he was heavily inspired by Tamla Motown in general and the Four Tops in particular, which is quite audible in his guitar playing on this song.” TG-11

Still Ill The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 9/14/1983 at John Peel session for BBC Released: The Smiths (1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), The Very Best of (compilation: 1983-87, released 2001) Peak: 37 CO Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 90.91 streaming About the Song: One “could easily think that the lyrics are referring to the hypochondriac tendencies of Morrissey and that might as well be true. But it has also been interpreted as being about him realizing that the dreams he once had were now dead and gone, and there’s also a healthy dose of the typical Morrissey pessimism.” TG-15 “Even Encyclopedia Britannica concludes that ‘songs such as Still Ill sealed [Morrissey’s] role as spokesman for disaffected youth.” TG-15 This was one of the band’s “early live favorites, and the band kept playing it more or less to the bitter end.” TG-15

This Night Has Opened My Eyes The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 9/14/1983 at John Peel session for BBC Released: Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), Louder Than Bombs (archives: 1983-87) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 370.42 streaming About the Song: This is “a true masterpiece which was close to not being released at all.” TG-42 “Recorded live for the September 1983 session for John Peel, this song has only been officially released in this version, even though there’s supposed to be a regular studio version hidden away somewhere (recorded in the summer of 1984 with John Porter) – it was meant to be released as the B-side to the ‘Nowhere Fast’ single that never came to be.” TG-42 “Lyrically, this more or less tells the story of the play, and later movie, A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney, rewritten into a three minute and 41-second pop song, with Morrissey even taking the liberty of borrowing a few lines directly from the script. It’s a heartbreaking story of an unwanted pregnancy, which sees the desperate mother contemplate drowning the baby.” TG-42 “Marr’s marvelous melody fits the lyrics perfectly.” TG-42

Back to the Old House The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 9/14/1983 at John Peel session for BBC Released: 1/16/1984 (B-side of “What Difference Does It Make?”), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), Louder Than Bombs (archives: 1983-87) Peak: 32 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 18.35 streaming About the Song: This was first recorded for the BBC and that version was released on Hatful of Hollow. It “only features Morrissey and Marr on his acoustic guitar, making it unique in the Smiths catalogue. Marr’s fingerpicked melody is beautiful and melancholic (he reportedly wrote it with his then-girlfriend, now-wife, Angie, in mind), which suits Morrissey’s lyrics about not wanting to think about long lost love.” TG-43 A newly recorded version was released as the B-side of “What Difference Does It Make?” It “features the full band, which doesn’t really suit the song. It’s a lot more beautiful with just the two songwriters doing what they do best.” TG-43

This Charming Man The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: 9/14/1983 at John Peel session for BBC; October 1983 at Strawberry, Stockport, England Released: 10/31/1983 (single), The Smiths (US LP/cassette, UK cassette, 1984), Hatful of Hollow (archives: 1983-84), The Very Best of (compilation: 1983-87, released 2001) B-side: “Jeane,” “Accept Yourself,” “Wonderful Woman” Peak: 1 CO, 8 UK, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 783.11 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: This was “one of the band’s most famous songs” TG-14 and “was probably the first real ‘pop hit’ the band had, being their first single to enter the charts,” TG-11 reaching #25 in the UK. It went even higher when re-released in 1992, peaking at #8. The song was not featured on the original UK release of The Smiths but was added to the U.S. release and later included on all reissues in the UK and U.S. “Lyrically, it tells the story of a man who gets a flat tire on his bike and then gets a lift by a ‘charming man’ in a ‘charming car,’ a man who eventually asks the biking out that night. However, the biker declines the offer.” TG-11

Jeane The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: ? Released: 10/31/1983 (B-side of “This Charming Man”) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 5.27 streaming About the Song: “This is actually the only recording made with original album producer Troy Tate that was officially released, and it’s surprisingly non-jangly for an early Smiths song. Indeed, Marr has revealed in later interviews that he did try to get away from the band’s trademark jangle when he wrote this song. It was originally played at a slower pace until Morrissey insisted that they should speed it up a little. The ‘Jeane’ in the song has been rumoured to be Morrissey’s old friend Linder Sterling, but it could be any one of his adolescent friends, really. The song was later covered by Sandie Shaw (as a B-side to her ‘Hand in Glove’ single in 1984) and modern-day protest singer Billy Bragg.” TG-11

Wonderful Woman The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Recorded: ? Released: 10/31/1983 (B-side of “This Charming Man”) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 16.86 streaming About the Song: This is “reportedly about Linder Sterling,” TG-11 an old friend of Morrissey’s. It was “originally called ‘What Do You See in Him?,’ with completely different lyrics, but later transformed into this lovely song. Morrissey later admitted that the song was a bout a woman who was quite the opposite of ‘wonderful,’ but despite her horrible ways, he would still forgive her. The song was recorded with Troy Tate, but this version s the re-recording done with John Porter.” TG-11

Miserable Lie The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Released: The Smiths (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 14.27 streaming About the Song: “This early live favorite starts out slowly, but then suddenly changes tempo and finishes at a much more furious pace. Lyrically, songs like these were part of the reason why the journalists at the time (and the fans) started wondering whether Morrissey’s lyrics were autobiographical or not. Some of them obviously weren’t, but when writing about losing the love of your life or about longing for love, it all seemed a lot closer to home.” TG-14

Pretty Girls Make Graves The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Released: 11/2/1987 (B-side of “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”), The Smiths (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 145.24 streaming About the Song: “Taking its title from Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums, the lyrics reverse a more traditional (but nevertheless sad) situation as a girl pressures her boyfriend into having sex with her, though he ends up losing her anyway.” TG-14

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Released: The Smiths (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 15.23 streaming About the Song: “Originally meant to be the album’s title track…this is another one of the alleged ‘pedophilic’ lyrics.” TG-14 It “could be interpreted as being about a man who’s having deeply inappropriate thoughts about a young child. But Morrissey also writes from the eyes of a child, with a lot of disturbing images that could be taken from a horror movie – a piano playing in an empty room, bloody cleavers, wavering shadows.” TG-14 “The song was one of the very first Morrissey and Marr wrote together and was featured on the first demo they made…before Rourke and Joyce joined the band.” TG-14

I Don’t Owe You Anything The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Released: The Smiths (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 76.63 streaming About the Song: “Mike Joyce once claimed that this song was ‘one of the most powerful songs that Morrissey had ever done.’” TG-15 However, one “would have to search for a long time to find a Smiths fan that holds this as her or his favorite.” TG-15 When Sandie Shaw recorded the Smiths’ “Hand in Glove” as a single, she recorded this as the B-side.

Suffer Little Children The Smiths

Writer(s): Morrissey (lyrics), Johnny Marr (music) Released: 5/21/1984 (B-side of “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”), The Smiths (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 21.20 streaming About the Song: This is “one of the oldest songs in The Smiths canon, recorded with original bass player Dale as ‘Over the Moors.’” TG-15 With its “creepy beauty” TB “The song is one of the band’s most powerful both lyrically and musically, although the band played it live just once.” TG-16 It is “also one of the most controversial.” TG-15 It is about “the infamous ‘Moors Murders’ that took place in and around the band’s hometown of Manchester during the mid-1960s.” TB From 1963 to 1965, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady kidnapped and murdered five children. “Some of the families of the victims didn’t like that Morrissey had written a song about their murdered family members, so the album was banned from sales in many of the UK record shops.” TG-16 Morrissey “insisted that his lyrics were meant as a tribute to the children and also met with the families. They withdrew their complaints and the singer even became friends with one of the mothers.” TG-16

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TG Tommy Gunnarsson (2021). On Track…The Smiths & Morrissey. Sonicbond Publishing: United Kingdom. CL Colin Larkin (1998). Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums. Virgin Books: London, England. RS Rolling Stone (2005). The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Edited by Joe Levy. Wenner Media, LLC: New York, NY. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 226. Related DMDB Pages: First posted 5/22/2010; last updated 9/18/2026.