The Smiths

From top left, clockwise: Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce.

The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. Consisting of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, and drummer Mike Joyce, critics consider the band one of the most important to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the Smiths' focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound, and fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk, were a rejection of the synth-pop sound that was predominant at the time.

Song lyrics

All lyrics are written by Morrissey; all music is composed by Johnny Marr.

The Smiths (1984)

• It's time the tale were told
  Of how you took a child
  And you made him old.

  It's time the tale were told
  Of how you took a child
  And you made him old.
  You made him old.

  Reel around the fountain,
  Slap me on the patio.
  I'll take it now.

  • "Reel Around the Fountain"

• I know I need hardly say
  How much I love your casual way.
  Oh, but please put your tongue away,
  A little higher and we're well away.
  The dark nights are drawing in
  And your humour is as black as them.
  I look at yours, you laugh at mine,
  And "love" is just a miserable lie.
  • "Miserable Lie"

• Upon the sand, upon the bay,
  "There is a quick and easy way," you say.
  Before you illustrate,
  I'd rather state:
  I'm not the man you think I am.
  I'm not the man you think I am.

  And sorrow's native son,
  He will not smile for anyone.
  And pretty girls make graves.

  • "Pretty Girls Make Graves"

• Ah, a jumped-up pantry boy
  Who never knew his place.
  He said, "Return the ring."
  He knows so much about these things.
  He knows so much about these things.
  • "This Charming Man"

• Under the iron bridge we kissed.
  And although I ended up with sore lips,
  It just wasn't like the old days anymore.
  No, it wasn't like those days.
  Am I still ill?
  Ohh...
  Oh, am I still ill?
  Ohh...

  Does the body rule the mind?
  Or does the mind rule the body?
  I dunno...

  • "Still Ill

• Hand in glove.
  We can go wherever we please
  And everything depends upon
  How near you stand to me.

  And if the people stare,
  Then the people stare.
  Oh, I really don't know,
  And I really don't care.

  Kiss my shades...

  • "Hand in Glove"

• All men have secrets and here is mine.
  So let it be known.
  For we have been through hell and high tide.
  I can surely rely on you,
  And yet you start to recoil.
  Heavy words are so lightly thrown,
  But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you.

  So, what difference does it make?
  So, what difference does it make?
  It makes none.
  But now you have gone,
  And you must be looking very old tonight.

  • "What Difference Does It Make?"

Hatful of Hollow (1984)

• I am the son and the heir
  Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.
  I am the son and heir
  Of nothing in particular.

  You shut your mouth, how can you say
  I go about things the wrong way?
  I am human and I need to be loved,
  Just like everybody else does.

  • "How Soon Is Now?"

• I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour,
  But heaven knows I'm miserable now.
  I was looking for a job and then I found a job,
  And heaven knows I'm miserable now.

  In my life, why do I give valuable time
  To people who don't care if I live or die?

  • "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"

• Good times for a change.
  See, the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad.
  So please, please, please,
  Let me, let me, let me
  Let me get what I want this time.
  • "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want"

Meat Is Murder (1985)

• I want to go home,
  I don't want to stay.
  Give up education
  As a bad mistake.
  • "The Headmaster Ritual"

• On the day that your mentality
  Decides to try to catch up with your biology,
  Come round.

  Cause I want the one I can't have.
  And it's driving me mad.
  It's all over, all over, all over my face.

  • "I Want the One I Can't Have"

• Park the car at the side of the road.
  You should know time's tide will smother you,
  And I will too.

  When you laugh about people who feel so very lonely,
  Their only desire is to die.
  Well, I'm afraid it doesn't make me smile.
  I wish I could laugh.

  But that joke isn't funny anymore.
  It's too close to home,
  And it's too near the bone.

  • "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"

• And if the day came when I felt a natural emotion
  I'd get such a shock I'd probably jump in the ocean.
  • "Nowhere Fast"

The Queen Is Dead (1986)

• Fame, fame, fatal fame
  It can play hideous tricks on the brain.
  But still I'd rather be famous
  Than righteous or holy, any day, any day, any day.
  But sometimes I'd feel more fulfilled
  Making Christmas cards with the mentally ill.
  I want to live and I want to love.
  I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of.
  • "Frankly, Mr. Shankly"

• It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate.
  It takes strength to be gentle and kind
  Over, over, over, over.
  • "I Know It's Over"

• The boy with the thorn in his side,
  Behind the hatred there lies
  A murderous desire
  For love.
  • "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"

• And if a double-decker bus crashes into us,
  To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.
  And if a ten-tonne truck kills the both of us,
  To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine.
  • "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"

The World Won't Listen (1987)

• Burn down the disco,
  Hang the blessed DJ.
  Because the music that they constantly play,
  It says nothing to me about my life.
  • "Panic"

• Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you
  From doing all the things in life you'd like to.
  Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you
  From doing all the things in life you'd like to.

  So, if there's something you'd like to try,
  If there's something you'd like to try,
  Ask me, I won't say no.
  How could I?

  • "Ask"

• Don't feel bad for me.
  I want you to know,
  Deep in the cell of my heart,
  I will feel so glad to go.
  • "Asleep"

Louder Than Bombs (1987)

• Is it wrong to want to live on your own?
  No, it's not wrong, but I must know
  How can someone so young sing words so sad?
  • "Sheila Take a Bow"

Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)

• Oh, but don't mention love.
  I'd hate the strain of the pain again.

  A rush and a push and the land that
  We stand on is ours.
  It has been before,
  So it shall be again.
  And people who are uglier than you and I,
  They take what they need and just leave.

  • "A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours"

• I started somethin.
  I forced you to a zone.
  And you were clearly
  Never meant to go.
  Hair brushed and parted.
  Typical me, typical me
  Typical me
  I started something
  ...And now I'm not too sure.
  I grabbed you by the gilded beams
  Uh, that's what tradition means.
  • "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"

• Girlfriend in a coma, I know
  I know - it's serious.
  Girlfriend in a coma, I know
  I know - it's really serious.

  There were times when I could
  Have "murdered" her
  (but you know, I would hate
  Anything to happen to her)
  No, I don't want to see her.

  • "Girlfriend in a Coma"

• Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before,
  Nothing's changed.
  I still love you, oh, I still love you
  Only slightly, only slightly less
  Than I used to, my love.
  • "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"

• Last night I dreamt
  That somebody loved me.
  No hope, no harm,
  Just another false alarm.
  • "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"