Your all time top 10 Morrissey and Smiths songs

bailiffwithbadbreath

'so-slow liberation army'
Well I haven't thought of my top 10 yet so I'll repost in a short while with my 'top 10.' I always think top 10 lists work well at Christmas time. Anyone moaning about such lists is clearly a discussion board snob and worthy of contempt.

Don't forget, it has to be a Smiths and Morrissey joint top 10 - and you have to rank them and give reasons why!
 
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SMITHS
there's a light...
the boy with...
rubber ring
london
that joke...
handsome devil
rusholme...
nowhere fast
bigmouth...
shakespeare's sister

MORRISSEY
Late night, Maudlin Street
Why don't you find out...
Lucky lisp
Never played symphonies
Billy Budd
Our Frank
Hairdresser on fire
Now my heart is full
Life is a pigsty
Suedehead
 
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I'd really be struggling with a top ten, so here is a top five!

Smiths
This Charming Man
There is a light.....
Please please please.......
Half a person
You just haven't earned it yet baby

Morrissey
Everyday is like Sunday
First of the gang
Interlude
I'd love to
Why dont you find out for yourself?

Jukebox Jury
 
This is 'my favourite 10' at the present moment rather than a definitive all-time 'best song' list.

10 "Handsome Devil"

Dark, malevolent. Lyrically, unlike anything else before or since. Musically, established the Smiths as a pop band with a harder, sharper edge than their early 80s counterparts. The crisp chords and jaunty guitar sound suggest a Stones influence in Marr's playing, possibly for the first time.

9 "Paint a Vulgar Picture"

Morrissey somehow combines biting cynicism and the tender romance of adolescent hero-worship within a Dylan-esque 'essay-type' lyric. The chiming guitars, languid rhythm and classic song structure predicted Britpop a decade ahead of time. The archetypal 'indie song?'

8 "Last Night I Dreamt"

An ode to self-pity, loneliness and despair so dripping in pathos and irony, was 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' strictly necessary? The closest Morrissey has ever come to the torch singers and girl singers he admired and admires. Begins in understated fashion and builds to a self-mocking climax of biblical proportions. Your mother is guaranteed to wince and 'not get it.'

7 "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice"

This glam-punk stomper eclipses much of You Are The Quarry in terms of quality. Simple, powerful guitars and a mightily impressive rhythm section with discordant keyboards drive the song into T-Rex territory, minus naivety.

6 "What She Said"

Simple powerpop with a slight rockabilly/punk tinge. The oxymoron of Marr's feisty playing and Morrissey's reflective lyric replete with references to 'tattoo'd boys from Birkenhead' and cigarette smoking creates a seminal Smiths moment: conflictedness, gritty realism and re/dejection all in one 3 minute pop moment.

5 "First of the Gang to Die"

Morrissey's voice sounds... blissfully light. Buddy Holly tackles 'Everyday is Like Sunday' with a touch of black comedy thrown in.

4 "Dear God, Please Help Me"

Morrissey's most tender moment. The strings are so much a part of the song, it feels very natural.

3 "Seasick, Yet Still Docked"

The most wonderful live vocal performance ever by a pop singer on 'Beethoven Was Deaf' gives this wistful number a new lease of life. The live version is soaring, subtle and played beautifully by a band at the height of their powers and about to begin work on 'Vauxhall And I.' Has longing ever sounded so attractive?

2 "Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbank"

My favourite song from 'Years of Refusal.' The anti-authority lyrics and military drum beat amidst a maelstrom of impassioned singing and subtle melody make for an enveloping song. I love it. It's a protest song, Morrissey style.

1 "I Know It's Over"

Just remember the teenage tears.

Don't forget your reasons why.
 
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The Smiths:
1 - There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Godly, all that needs to be said)
2 - Bigmouth Strikes Again (Marr and Morrissey both pushing their limits)
3 - I Want the One I Can't Have (Great transitions throughout the whole song)
4 - Still Ill (Does any song have a better hook? Joyce's drumming instantly catches everyone's attention and Morrissey's powerful intro makes this song forever memorable)
5 - Pretty Girls Make Graves (More of a poem than a song, which is why I love it, creates such vivid emotions and images)
6 - You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby (I don't know why I just do)
7 - The Headmaster Ritual (Simply a great combination of Marr and Morrissey)
8 - Handsome Devil (That riff...)
9 - That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (The lyrics are amazing)
10 - What She Said ("I smoke because I'm hoping for an early death, and I need to cling to something" might be the most powerful line in any song I've ever heard)

Morrissey:
I'm slowly going through his solo work now, so far only been through Viva Hate and You Are the Quarry, (Don't make fun of me!) but..

1 - Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
2 - Hairdresser on Fire
3 - I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
4 - Suedehead
5 - Irish Blood, English Heart
6 - Everyday is Like Sunday
7 - Alsatian Cousin
8 - How Can Anyone Possibly Know?
9 - I Like You
10 - Bengali in Platforms
 
1. life is a pigsty.

2. half a person

3. there is a light

4. every day is like sunday

5. find out for yourself

6. i have forgiven jesus

7. how soon is now

8. ganglord

9. lifeguard sleeping, girl drowning

10. disappointed (live)
 
8 of them would be Morrissey from the first four records. I'll fill in the details after I have some more coffee.
 
9. lifeguard sleeping, girl drowning

Great selection. I thought I was the only one to love that song. The weirder ones like 'Dykes,' 'Lifeguard,' 'Spring-heeled' and 'Mama' very much appeal to me.
 
Yes i am blind
Let me kiss you
Girl Afraid

that says it all
why do we need to mention 10?
if you fall for this three songs your in love with them all...
Julie-Budd
 
"I Know Very Well How I Got My Name" is another wonderful moment I forgot about.
 
These may not be the 'best' or even in any order, but they are some of my favourites:

1. Alsatian Cousin - (A note upon his desk: PS 'Bring me home and have me'/'on a groundsheet under canvas with your tent-flap open wide)

2. Whatever Happens, I Love You

3. I've Changed My Plea To Guilty - 'see how your rules spoil the game'/'emotional air raids exhausted my heart' (The second is probably my favourite Moz lyric ever. Also, THAT live version introduced by Wossy is absolutely brilliant.)

4. I Know Very Well How I Got My Name

5. Let The Right One Slip In

6. All The Lazy Dykes - Slightly weird and very good.

7. Honey You Know Where To Find Me - 'I'm happy to be as I was in the first place'/'kicking away from the mundane everyday'/'envy is beyond me, I'm not gonna pine for the things that can never be mine'

8. Handsome Devil - First Smiths song I ever heard, I had never heard anything like it before. (Or since?).

9. These Things Take Time

10. I Know It's Over - 'and as I climb into an empty bed, oh well, enough said'/'I know it's over, and it never really began, but in my heart it was so real'/'cause tonight is just like any other night, that's why you're on your own tonight'/it's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind'.

and LOTS more...I really don't know anything about the music/the band other than whether or not I like the sound of it! But the lyrics alone are SO great, he could probably sing along to the bongos and I'd still enjoy it.
 
Bigmouth strikes again
Rubber Ring
Suedehead
The Never Played Symphanies
The First of the gang to die
What difference does it make
Handsome Devil
Stop Me.............
Children in Pieces
Panic

and in 11'th place
How soon is Now :guitar:
 
'Bigmouth' and 'The Queen is Dead' sound better on 'Rank.' As does 'Still Ill.' The stripped-down punk version of TQID off 'Rank' shuffles into my top 20, I think. The studio version is too bloated.
 
These may not be the 'best' or even in any order, but they are some of my favourites:

1. Alsatian Cousin - (A note upon his desk: PS 'Bring me home and have me'/'on a groundsheet under canvas with your tent-flap open wide)

I just think Alsatian Cousin/Little Man/Everyday is the perfect way to open a record. It always grabs me by the throat when I listen to 'Viva Hate.' It's just a shame the album wobbles into the twlight zone on the B-side.
 
The very question twists my mind into a knot, but I'll try...

The Smiths

- I Know It's Over
- Bigmouth Strikes Again
(Panic is setting in at this point because I want to include half their catalog and I feel sad for the ones that I'm going to leave out.)
- Pretty Girls Make Graves
- Last Night I Dreamt
(And now I almost feel like just giving up... This is too hard. There are so many I could choose from. My list has become meaningless.)
- Stop Me... Or is it Sweet And Tender Hooligan... Or Shakespeare's Sister... Or A Rush And A Push... *grips head*

Morrissey

- You Have Killed Me
- Alsatian Cousin
- I'm OK By Myself
- Sing Your Life
(Suddenly I don't feel so confident in my choices, yet I don't want to remove any... What to do?)
- Trouble Loves Me... Or is it First Of The Gang... Or Come Back To Camden... Or Far Off Places... Or I Have Forgiven Jeebus... Or Something Is Squeezing My Skull...

Yeah... My lists are meaningless because I have too many favorites.
 
"- Sing Your Life
(Suddenly I don't feel so confident in my choices, yet I don't want to remove any... What to do?)"


I love 'Sing Your Life' too! Not to get into the needless band (or more specifically, Jesse Tobias)-bashing but I did love the band he had then.
 
Not in order because impossible. Most songs for comforting lyrical content during various stages and all songs for appealing to my ear musically. I wish I could be more detailed but it’s a difficult question to answer.

Morrissey

Little Man, What Now?
The Ordinary Boys
I’m OK By Myself
Life is a Pigsty
Dial-a-Cliché
Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference
He Knows I’d Love to See Him
Mute Witness
On the Streets I Ran
He Cried
Father Who Must Be Killed

Smiths

The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
What She Said
Death of a Disco Dancer
Hand in Glove
Hand that Rocked the Cradle
I Won’t Share You
Miserable Lie
A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours
Rusholme Ruffians
Stretch Out and Wait
Cemetry Gates
 
But can you name ten you hate?

Here's my attempt:
1 Papa Jack - haven't met anyone who liked it, ever.
2 You're The One For Me, Fatty - tuneless. Hopeless. Morrissey overlooked 'I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday' to release this as a single. Why?
3 Hold Onto Your Friends - Morrissey-by-numbers.
4 Barbarism Begins at Home - a rare lapse in quality control on a Smiths record
5 Get Off The Stage - its one redeeming feature is the fact few have heard it
6 Roy's Keen - quite stonkingly unfunny but at the same time not serious
7 Ask - A bit silly, really
8 Do Your Best and Don't Worry - a frumpy housewife in brown skirt gets upset that she's over-boiled the carrots again. A truly dire filler.
9 The Slum mums - bland and tuneless
10 Frankly, Mr Shankly - tries - but fails - to ruin the best album of the 1980s.
11 The Youngest Was The Most Loved - I know this is a popular one but for me it has nothing.
 
But can you name ten you hate?

Here's my attempt:
1 Papa Jack - haven't met anyone who liked it, ever.
2 You're The One For Me, Fatty - tuneless. Hopeless. Morrissey overlooked 'I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday' to release this as a single. Why?
3 Hold Onto Your Friends - Morrissey-by-numbers.
4 Barbarism Begins at Home - a rare lapse in quality control on a Smiths record
5 Get Off The Stage - its one redeeming feature is the fact few have heard it
6 Roy's Keen - quite stonkingly unfunny but at the same time not serious
7 Ask - A bit silly, really
8 Do Your Best and Don't Worry - a frumpy housewife in brown skirt gets upset that she's over-boiled the carrots again. A truly dire filler.
9 The Slum mums - bland and tuneless
10 Frankly, Mr Shankly - tries - but fails - to ruin the best album of the 1980s.
11 The Youngest Was The Most Loved - I know this is a popular one but for me it has nothing.
Oh, good sir! D: We disagree. Barbarism Begins At Home, Roy's Keen, Do Your Best And Don't Worry, Frankly Mr. Shankly, and The Youngest are all fantastic songs in my opinion.
Get Off The Stage and Papa Jack do but me a bit though. Slum Mums... I can't get past the opening scream.
 
1. I Know It’s Over – beautiful, haunting, painfully too close to home. I wrote the lyrics hundreds of times in my school notebooks.
2. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle – I find it incredibly comforting. I know there are several layers of meaning, but I focus on the basic just putting myself in Morrissey’s hands and finding safety.
3. November Spawned A Monster – A song for the misshapen and rejected, and someone finally calling out all those do-gooders for being offensive idiots. I love the music, I love seeing it live. Very powerful.
4. Jeane – Catchy as all hell.
5. Rubber Ring – Morrissey is bold enough to demand our eternal affection. What other pop star would dare?
6. Christian Dior – Morrissey has been depressed, silly, murderous, witty – but regretful? Not about an affair but about his life? I just feel like the curtain got pulled aside for a few lines and I’m touched that he trusts us enough to share.
7. Paint A Vulgar Picture – I love the narrative. I’ve always loved this song, not sure exactly why. I do pull it out every time a new compilation album comes out and say “I wish I could sit Morrissey down and make him listen to this!!”
8. Girl Least Likely To – “She lives for the written word, and people come second or possibly third.” Finally, someone who doesn’t judge me for it.
9. Come Back To Camden – beautiful and suggestive.
10. At Last I Am Born – dramatic music, and every time I listen to it, I want to scream, “What changed?????” Morrissey being very un-Morrissey (IMHO) so the curiosity keeps me coming back. This is the song I’d ask him about if I had the chance.
 
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