Throughout the short amount of time the Smiths were around, they released three compilation albums along with their studio output: Hatful of Hollow, The World Won’t Listen and Louder than Bombs. On those albums are both different takes and performances of songs from other albums – including the famous Peel Sessions – and songs that otherwise were singles or B-sides. Honestly, these compilations are just as important as the studio albums, some recordings even better than their traditional counterparts, and it is through my own fault that we didn’t cover them in the week. However, to make amends, I wish to talk about my own top 20 songs that were not on any studio album. The treasures here can make most bands output weep.
My metric for comparing these songs was however I bloody felt like! Let’s get started:
- This Night Has Opened My Eyes – Hatful of Hallow
With a the kind of dark funky beat that makes you want to roll down your car windows on the empty Saturday night streets, Morrissey’s decrees his A Taste of Honey fandom again with a combination of lines from the text and some of his own gems (“A shoeless child on a swing/Remind you of your own again”).
- Half a Person – The World Won’t Listen
Not going to lie, spending six years on someone’s trail borders on stalker territory. But that kind of incredible awkwardness bordering on the creepy works for the song’s “sixteen, clumsy and shy” protagonist. The percussion and bass work on here is relatively simple, but it really works for Marr’s quiet but layered guitars; everything really culminates to let you into this character’s mind set.
- Asleep – The World Won’t Listen
On many a Smith Wikipedia page you will see them get labelled with the term indie rock. I’ve always found this the least unhelpful of genre descriptions, but I will say on this delicate piano I can find shades of tone that would be replicated by Indie bands like The National.
- Shakespeare’s Sister – The World Won’t Listen
The first single of the Meat is Murder was an indication of both the change in lyric direction and the experimentations that would occur in their latter two albums. This 2 minute track backed by a music hall piano is not long, but it makes its mark with a dark story of manic depression masked by exuberant playing from Joyce.
- Is it Really That Strange? – Louder than Bombs
A blues rock style chorus, and generally lower sounding guitars, this is one of the sonic experimentations in the Smiths final year that paid off in a big way. Marr and Joyce play off each other really well (particularly during those pauses after the chorus), and whilst this is another example of Morrissey’s “murderous” tendencies (horses and nuns!), speaking as someone also moving between the North and the South now, I can understand the frustrations.
- Girl Afraid – Hatful of Hollow
A lyrical example of the convoluted self-mythologies and plain old misunderstanding that results from, and in, unrequited love. This is then followed by a verse chorus verse repetition structure incredibly appropriate for the subject in hand, and especially awesome when counteracted with Marr’s guitars, and especially here Rourke’s catchy bass riff.
- London – The World Won’t Listen
When I was talking about “The Queen is Dead” I commented how I thought it was one of the hardest songs in the history of the Smiths. And the reason I was wrong there is because I forgot that this existed. Well, I’m not making that mistake again, as “London” is the Smiths at their most post-punkiest, with fast, staccato rhythms from both the guitar and bass and the constant cymbal hits from Joyce’s drums. This could constitute as a headbanger…
- Sweet and Tender Hooligan – The World Won’t Listen
…as could this! Another pulsating rhythm from the band backs a story of social injustice and a comically casual take on multiple murders. Morrissey’s repetition of “Etcetera” is a great take on how these pleas for forgiveness or rehabilitation can dissolve into platitudes that the person simply doesn’t believe. Oh, and I should stress again, it rocks hard!
- You Just Haven’t Heard It Yet Baby – The World Won’t Listen
Am I one for whom the initial riff reminds them a little bit – a little tiny bit – of “Maniac” from Flashdance. Oh well, after that comes this scrapped, scrapped, single that despite coming from an album whose title was a comment on why not enough people bought Smith records, sounds to me like another trademark piece of self-deprecation.
11. Back to the Old House – Hatful of Hollow
Another early Morrissey tale on the perils of history and nostalgia, as well as a story of unrequited love similar to “Girl Afraid”, the key difference between those two songs is the gorgeous acoustic ballad from Johnny Marr. The only reason this isn’t a little higher is because there is a Smiths acoustic ballad I love even more. Also, Billy Bragg did a good cover of this!
- William It Was Really Nothing – Hatful of Hollow
The first song from Hatful of Hollow lets us know why it as essential as any Smiths studio release. The way that Johnny Marr works the guitars to the point of hearing barely any strumming, it gives the feeling of weightlessness. Allegedly a love triangle tale based on the lead singer of the associates, this is depending on your take a marriage built on someone hiding their homosexuality, or a criticism of marriage in general. Either way, the subject apparently wasn’t too keen!
- Rubber Ring – The World Won’t Listen
Another outright funky track in the Smiths’ canon, with a killer bass hook and tight chords from Johnny Marr. I also love the high hat goodness coming from Joyce, but the main reason this is so high on the list is Morrissey’s performance; just how fast and immediate some of the lyrics are, it predates the kind of style we would see from singers in the era of 2000’s indie rock (like the Arctic Monkeys).
- Shelia Take A Bow – Louder than Bombs
I’m actually surprised to hear this was The Smiths’ highest charting single during their tenure, but hey I guess it’s as good as any. I love the bass in such a high register, the screeches from those, those transitional thumps from Joyce’s drums and Morrissey’s youthful and playful lyrics (particularly those la la la’s in association with the keyboards. I just find it so funny!) This song is awesome, regardless of what Sandy Shaw thinks! Who?..exactly
- How Soon is Now? – Hatful of Hollow
Yeah, I’m surprised it’s not in the top five too. I guess when it came round to I had to concede I liked the following songs more. It is often said to be unlike many songs in the Smiths’ discography, but after Strangeways, Here We Come I can’t really see it as an outlier. Marr here came up with a riff so good and so strange that even he finds it hard to replicate. The Middlemarch inspired piece of self-deprecation that opens this track is one of my favourite Morrissey lyrics in his whole discography. A classic! But you already knew that.
- Ask – The World Won’t Listen
“If it’s not love, then it’s the bomb that will bring us together,” and its delivery thereof, is another on my top 5 all-time Morriseyisms. Another great mix of electronic instrumentation with the traditional Smiths sound, apparently we have the only other member of the Smiths, Craig Gannon, to thank for some of the guitar parts. Whether that is true or not, all I know is I nearly clap along the beat to this song any time it comes on. There are two versions of this song, and one has a more prominent appeareance from guest backing vocalist Kirsty MacColl. Either way, both are fantastic.
- Shoplifters of the World Unite – The World Won’t Listen
I really can’t imagine another lyricist of the time coming up with the central image of this song other than Morrissey. The anthemic quality of the chorus is of course fantastic, with the harmonies on the bridge being an equally amazing edition. But the verses really make the song for me, with the build of the drums, the fast bass accompanying rising chords. Yeah man, lets all rise up! Wait, what?
- Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now – Hatful of Hollow
For me the opening chord to this song is as iconic and as instantly recognisable as A Hard Day’s Night. The way the drum hits compliment it as it moves into the main verse, this another iconic riff from Marr, especially the colourful fills in between Morrissey’s complaints. One of the best examples – if not the best – of Morrissey’s dour humour, “I was looking and then I found a job/and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” is a lyric I’ve grown do love as much for its self-depreciation as I do for the general truth it contains.
- Panic – The World Won’t Listen
Hilariously and memorably used in Shaun of the Dead – and embroiled in a race row that I will stubbornly refuse to understand – “Panic” is just one of the Smiths’ catchiest songs, even if proclamations to “burn down the disco” and “hang the DJ” would probably go down less well in a more electronic age (whatever, I still sing it). With a riff and sound that sounds remarkably close to “London Calling,” this song is just anthemic and full of energy as that classic. Just don’t ask me to choose.
- Jeane – “This Charming Man” B-Side
Yeah, annoyingly one of the Smiths single best creations wouldn’t be found on any compilations until after their disbandment. Like a lost Who track that has been given the Smiths magical touch, “Jeane” is as awesome as that sounds. Those bass twangs, the Keith Moon style drumming from Joyce, Marr’s infectious chord progressions, all tie together Morrissey’s tale of love and poverty. The ambiguous chorus of “we try and we failed,” ending on the former for the first chorus and then the latter the final time, is a brilliant summation of both the optimism and frustration in the midst of great struggle. Just a fantastic song that more people need to listen to.
- Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – Hatful of Hollow
When I came to this list I so, so, so didn’t want to put this as my number one. It’s the easy choice. It’s too short. It’s the song that has been used to death in everything from John Hughes movies to John Lewis adverts. And yet, when that mandolin solo kicks in, that is precisely the moment when I stop caring. Morrissey’s short lyrics break down into some of his most emotional and pointed (though I’m very certain he has, indeed, at some point, got what he has wanted). And Marr here just absolutely wrote a perfect melody, and I don’t use that word perfect lightly. In such a perfect amount of time The Smith’s convey such a simple emotion and such a complicated feeling. That’s what music is.
The best thing about the Smiths though is that this list is almost pointless (great thing to put at the end of your article). Ask me again in a week and every position on this list could have changed. The Smiths put out such great work in such a short time frame, and despite the four years they lasted, we have until the rest of time to argue about them.
What is your list, though?